Symbolism in Religious Art Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/symbolisminreligOOcole Isvpmbolfem tn Religious art A Lecture given before the School of Applied Design for IV omen on the 17th of February 1898 by Caryl Coleman Esq re Bachelor of Arts New York: Printed for the School of Applied Design for Women dwell- ing at Number 200 West Twenty-third Street and there to be sold for the benefit of the School M dccc xcix COPYRIGHT BY CARYL COLEMAN MDCCCXCIX / oO AD LECTOREM T HE following lecture has been pub- lished at the request of the patrons of the New York School of Applied Design for Women. The proceeds accruing from its sale will be used in promoting the object of the School. The edition is restricted to thr ee hu ndred copies, of which this is Number f . . . “ And what surmounts the reach Of human sense I shall delineate so > By likening spiritual to corporal forms , As may express them best : though what if earth Be but shadow of heaven , and things therein JLach to other like y more than on earth is thought ?” T HE SUBJECT OF my lecture, Symbolism in Re- ligious Art, is a theme so vast that I cannot hope to give you this evening more than a mere summary of the general laws governing a single branch of symbology, viz., Christian Art, together with a brief statement concerning a few of its more common, but all important sym- I hope to demonstrate the importance of the subject to students of religious art, but more especially to those who have, or may have, like yourselves, to do with the decoration of churches. I also hope to make plain to all lovers of art, in its expo- sition of living truths, that the language of symbolism is not of an arbitrary or uncer- tain significance, but is to be interpreted in bols. 7 Symbolism in R eligious Art accordance with well defined definitions and fixed principles. It is an axiom that symbolism is a con- comitant part of all religious art. This is plain to be seen, because history tells us, both by documents and monuments, that man, whenever treating of divine matter pictorially, has been wont to veil the prin- ciples of things and deliver the truth enig- matically by signs and allegories — in other words, symbols. However, we do not find symbols as long as there is neither the desire to depict what is abstract by what is concrete — nor the consciousness that there is no identity between the symbol and the reality thus represented. Symbology in Christian Art, in con- tradistinction from that in heathen art, both ancient and modern, is a reasonable and not a superstitious usage. The reason for this is easy to understand when it is remembered that the church, the guar- dian and dispenser of the deposit of faith, has never cared for art for art’s sake, but only in as far as it could be employed as a 8 Symbolism in Religious Art handmaiden, in its mission to mankind, or as a material manifestation of a believer’s love for God ; hence the church, bound by the nature of its office, has always con- strained the artist to conform his art to some circumscribed moral, doctrinal or devotional end — to use it so as to lead men from sen- suous to supersensuous things, from material images to spiritual thoughts. In other words making visible things types of things invisible. To the primitive Christians, to the medieval church builders, and the Christ- ian artists of the Renaissance, symbolic forms and colors were as well known as the commercial symbols for dollars and cents are to us. In fact the representation of ideas by images and symbols was so com- mon, their use in all forms of art so uni- versal, that they became a sign or picture language familiar to all. By their means the uncultured, the most ignorant, could read in the sculptures and paintings, the colored windows and mosaics, with which the churches were so profusely adorned, the wisdom of God, the history of mankind, 9 Symbolism in Religious Art and the beauty of holiness. In the six- teenth century, in the countries where the so-called new learning dominated, symbols, together with most of the outward adjuncts of religion, were done away with, because some of them, it was said, had been per- verted to superstitious uses. Let us, lovers of the beautiful, hope, for the sake of art, that the day of religious narrowness and iconoclastic fanaticism, that would divorce art from divine truth, has passed away forever. IO T HE FIRST STEP we must take in order to understand our subject aright is to define our terms. Symbology is the art of determining the signification and right use of symbols and emblems. A symbol is a sign or mark by which some other thing than that portrayed is suggested to the mind ; it is a representation of something by something else; and it may signify a person, a fact, a virtue, a mystery, a spiritual idea, or it may be mani- fold in its meaning and stand for all of these types. The cross, for example, is primarily and essentially the symbol of faith, but it is also the symbolic sign of Christ : a per- son ; the Sacrifice of Calvary : a fact ; hope : Symbolism in Religious Art a virtue ; the Passion : a mystery ; and the Standard of Salvation : a spiritual idea. An emblem, — that is, in Christian Sym- bology, — is a device or object belonging to some particular person, and is employed to distinguish that person from all other per- sons. For example: the keys belong to S. Peter; they are his emblem, because of the words of the Master : 1 will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven . (S. Matt, xvi, 19.) A cross in the form of the letter X is the emblem of S. Andrew, because it was the instrument of his passion. A box of ointment that of the poor sinner, Mary Magdalen, because when Jesus was in the house of Simon the leper, she came to Him, having an alabaster box of very precious oint- ment , and poured it on his head , as he sat at meat; moreover Christ Himself gives us a reason why it should be her emblem : Verily I say unto you , wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world \ there shall also this , that this woman hath done , be told for a memorial of her . One of the emblems of the B. V. Mary is a sevenfold sword. Why ? Because at I 2 Symbolism in Religious Art the presentation Simeon said to Mary : Be- hold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against . Tea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. But why sevenfold ? Because Mary had seven great sorrows in her life, the seven dolors : the Prophecy of Simeon ; the Flight into Egypt; the three Days’ loss; the Meeting With Jesus on the Way of the Cross; the Crucifixion; the Taking Down from the Cross; and the Burial of Her Divine Son. It Often Happens that an emblem is a symbol, and a symbol an emblem : the emblem of S. Paul is a sword, because he was decapitated with a sword, and because he said : A sword shall not separate us from the love of Christ ; but a sword is also one of the symbols of faith, Christ said : I came not to send peace, but a sword, and this sword was the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. In passing, I would call your atten- tion to the fact that the emblem of S. Paul Symbolism in Religious Art is a two-edged sword, because it is a tradi- tion of Christian art that such a one was used at his martyrdom ; there is also a mys- tical reason why it should be two-edged : S. Paul was a preacher of the Word of God, and you will remember that he compares the Word of God, in his Epistle to the He- brews, to a two-edged sword : For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword % 14 c HRISTIAN SYM- origin ; its sources will be found : B O L I S M is twofold in its First. In the religion itself of which sym- bolism is an inherent part. Second. In the necessity, under which the primitive Christians were placed, to conceal under symbolical forms many of their doctrines from the eyes of their pagan contemporaries. From these sources there was gradu- ally evolved the most perfect, far-reach- ing, and most beautiful system of sym- bolism the world had yet seen. The Bible is the great storehouse from whence the symbologist draws his symbols, and the history of the faith sup- plies him with his emblems. I do not *5 Symbolism in Religious Art know how I can better impress upon your minds and make you understand that sym- bolism is an inherent part of Christianity and hence of Christian art, than by quot- ing a few words of the late Henry Ward Beecher : “ What wonderful provision,” he says, “ God has made for us, spreading out the Bible into types of Nature ! What if every part of your house should begin to repeat the truths which have been com- mitted to its symbolism ? The lowest stone would say, in silence of night, ‘ Other foundation can no man lay.’ The corner- stone would catch the word, ‘ Christ is the cornerstone/ The door would add, ‘ I am the door/ The taper burning by your bedside would stream up a moment to tell you, ‘ Christ is the light of the world/ If you gaze upon your children, they reflect from their sweetly sleeping faces the words of Christ, ‘ Except ye become like little children/ If, waking, you look toward your parent’s couch, from that sacred place God calls Himself your father and your mother. Disturbed by the crying of your children, who are affrighted in a dream,you 1 6 Symbolism in Religious Art rise to soothe them, and hear God saying, *80 will I wipe away all tears from your eyes in heaven/ Returning to your bed, you look from the window. Every star hails you, but chiefest ‘ the bright and morning star/ By and by, flaming from the east, the flood of morning bathes your dwelling, and calls you forth to the cares of the day, and then you remember that God is the Sun, and that heaven is bright with His presence. Drawn by hunger, you ap- proach the table. The loaf whispers, as you break it, ‘ Broken for you,’ and the wheat of the loaf sighs, ‘ Bruised and ground for you/ The water that quenches your thirst says, ‘ I am the water of life/ If you wash your hands, you cannot but remember the teachings of spiritual purity. If you wash your feet, that hath been done sacredly by Christ, as a memorial. The very roof of your dwelling hath its utter- ance, and bids you look for the day when God’s house shall receive its top stone/' Christianity, through its wonderful power of appropriation and assimilation, drew its symbols not only from Holy Writ, 1 7 / Symbolism in Religious Art but also from mythology. In fact it used everything that would lend itself to promote the object of its existence. For some one has truthfully said : “ Whatever heathenism had of truth or morality, Christianity made its own.” i8 I N SYMBOLOGY there are a number of fundamental laws or principles with which the ecclesiologist or church decorator must make himself familiar, if he wishes to use his art in an intelligent manner These principles or laws very natural- ly group themselves under two general heads, viz., form and color. We will first study those appertaining to color. When God set the rainbow in the heavens. He not only gave to mankind the first letter in the alphabet of symbolism, but also the scale of symbolic colors. Man recognizing this lesson in symbolization, written by the hand of the Creater, was led, when and wherever he gave expression to his belief by religious art, to use colors sym- bolically, grouping them with reference to their symbolic values, focusing them upon 19 Symbolism in Religious Art a given aim by harmonizing their natural signification, mystical meaning and artistic effect, in view of their final effect on the passions, feelings and intellect of man. In a general way, in every-day par- lance, men are unconsciously bearing tes- timony to the symbolic and esoteric mean- ing of color by such expressions as a “ quiet color/' a “vulgar color," a “lady-like color," a “mournful color" and so on ad libitum , proving that colors in themselves, by some subtile quality, affect the mind and feelings of man, and as a rule convey, always and everywhere, the same meaning, in this way justifying their symbolic use in religious art. In Christian art the symbolism of color is largely an inheritance, either from paganism or Judaism. White, black, red, yellow, blue, green and purple had a marked symbolic signification to all pagan nations. The people of Mesopotamia, and through them the Medes and Persians, em- ployed in their architecture and decorative arts seven specific colors, each respectively symbolizing one of the seven great heavenly bodies, and also one of the seven days of the 20 Symbolism in Religious Art week. The seven stages of the observatory discovered at Nineveh by M. Place, were colored : the first was white, the second black, the third red, the fourth blue, the fifth orange, the sixth silver, and the seventh, the crowning stage, gold. Herodotus says the battlements of the seven walls surround- ing Ecbatema, the capital of the Medes, were colored. The colors used were those above enumerated and in the order desig- nated, beginning with the outer wall. Among the Romans it was a common custom to paint the statues of their gods with such colors as typified some supposed attribute of the divinity; red was ascribed to Mars, white to Jupiter, green to Venus, blue to Saturn and Neptune. They also saw a symbolic representation of the earth, fire, air and water as well as of the four seasons, in the colors green, red, blue and white. Among the Chinese, as long ago as two thousand B. C., there was a sys- tem of philosophy founded on five of these colors. “Whatever,” says Durandus, “the Jew- ish church received by law, that doth the 2 I Symbolism in Religious Art Christian church receive, and with large increase.” The sacerdotal vestments of the Jew, as you no doubt know, were of divers colors, for glory and for beauty . These colors were all symbolical, “the better,” says a sym- bologist of the middle ages, “to express the beauty which comes from the various virtues of the soul.” The robes of the high-priests were made of those colors which were be- lieved to be most precious : gold and violet and purple and scarlet twice dyed , and fine linen . “Purple, the color of kings, designated the pontifical power, which always proclaims itself with the royal voice of authority; scar- let, the color of fire, which should be twice dyed, represents the pontifical doctrine, which should like fire glitter and burn; the linen (white) is symbolical of truth and good fame ; violet, which is the color of the heavens, expresses the purity of con- science which should distinguish the priest.” Just as soon as the Christians set aside particular vestments for the exclusive use of their clergy, when celebrating the Holy Mysteries , they gave a symbolic value to the colors of the same. At first white and 22 Symbolism in Religious Art purple were the only ones employed ; grad- ually other colors were used, but without authority, which finally led to a confusion of usages contrary to unity of worship and catholicity of teaching. This abuse was not corrected until the end of the 1 2th century, when the choice of colors ceased to be optional, and the five colors, white, red, green, violet and black were so dis- tributed through the ecclesiastical year that each color told its own proper tale, by con- veying to the mind through the eye that the Christians were keeping a certain festival. In this way the real liturgical value of color was fixed, so that the same color, from that day to this, always and everywhere, has represented the same truth and has taught the same lesson to the faithful. The first fact the student must im- press upon his mind, in studying the sym- bolism of colors, is that the symbolic ex- pression or hidden meaning of a color is almost identical among all nations, and more particularly in the great religions of the world. It may be formulated in a general way, as follows : light , represented 2 3 Symbolism in Religious Art by white, is the source of all color and is symbolic of absolute truth — the divine wis- dom — the positive principle or God Him- self ; on the other hand, darkness, the nega- tion of light, is represented in its turn by black, the symbol of evil. Although white stands for the posi- tive principle, yet in art its manifestation is more often portrayed by red. From white and red are drawn the other primitive colors of symbolism, viz., yellow, blue, and green. Yellow is the rev- elation to man of the love and wisdom of God ; blue the breath of God, the spirit of truth ; green the love and wisdom of God in action, charity and regeneration. White, red, yellow, blue, green and black are governed in their mixture and symbolic application by two laws : that of combination and opposition; these laws in prac- tice are controlled by four rules, as fol- lows : I. The predominant color gives the GENERAL SYMBOLIC MEANING. 24 Symbolism in Religious Art II. The subordinate color the modified signification. Example: Purple is formed from red, divine love , and blue, the Spirit of Truth and Life , as red is the pre- dominant color, purple is therefore symbolical of a love of truth ; Hya- cinth is made of the same colors, but as blue predominates, it is a symbol of the truth of love ; again Violet is produced by an equal mixture of the same colors, and signifies the living truth or the revealed manifes- tation of divine love: Jesus Christ, the equal of the father. III. Any color in union with black, or worn BY AN EVIL BEING, HAS A SATANIC SIG- NIFICATION. IV. Black worn by holy persons at once BECOMES SYMBOLICAL OF SOME FORM OF GOOD. 2 5 Symbolism in Religious Art Example . Red (divine love) united to black (evil) is a symbol of hate; yellow (faith), worn by Judas, is the symbol of ingratitude and jealousy ; and black, worn by the Redeemer, is symbolic of truth wrest- ling with the powers of darkness. In symbolism white is looked upon as the source of all colors. And in these latter days natural science has come for- ward, unsolicited, to bear testimony to the truth of the proposition. Sir Isaac Newton held that white or solar light was a mixture of different colors. And Tyndall tells us that there is no color generated by any natural body whatever. “ Natural bodies have showered upon them,” he says, “in the white light of the sun, the sum total of all possible colors, and their action is limit- ed to the sifting of that total, the appro- priating from it of the color which really belongs to them, and the rejecting of those which do not.” Hence white, the source of all color, as we have seen, is symbolical of the eternal uncreated light, absolute truth, 26 Symbolism in Religious Art divine wisdom and unity : God Himself. Therefore in Christian art the representa- tions of the Eternal Father, and Christ, in his transfiguration and after his resurrection, are clothed in white. From this it is easy to understand that white is the color-sym- bol of a regenerated soul, of religious purity and innocence, of truth and integrity, of chastity and virginity, of eternal life and joy, and hence is used by artists to cloth the dead, neophytes, virgins, and angels, the un- justly accused, an upright judge and justice. Mary, the Mother of the Word made Flesh, when portrayed as the Queen of Heaven, is clothed in white, and also those happy souls, round about the Great White Throne, who have put on the incorruptible, or as S. John describes them— A great multitude , which no man could number, of all nations , and tribes , and people , and tongues: standing before the throne , and in sight of the Lamb , clothed with white robes , and palms in their hands . It would take us too far afield if we should consider either the liturgical use of white, or its symbolic signification in other religions than the Christian. It suffices to 2 7 Symbolism in Religious Art say that it is the color par excellence of sacerdotal vestments of all time and people. The reason for this can be found in what I have already told you, or in these words of Clement of Alexandria, who says that “ Plato followed Moses, in praising white garments as most proper for priests, who are children of light. ” (Prob. m, c. II.) It would also be well to remember that silver and the diamond are the symbolic equivalents of white. Light is made manifest through fire, and the color of fire is red ; hence in sym- bolism the manifestation of light or divine wisdom is symbolized by red. Conse- quently it is the symbolic color of the Holy Ghost : the Spirit of Love, Sanctification and Knowledge ; and also of the love of God for man, and man’s love of God, even to the loss of life : Martyrdom. You will remember that on the first Christian Pentecost, when the apostles re- ceived the Holy Ghost, there appeared to them cloven tongues like as of fire , and sat upon each of them , and they were all 28 Symbolism in Religious Art filled with the Holy Ghost . You will also remember that the soldiers of Pilate took Jesus into the common hall — stripped Him, and put on Him a scarlet robe — or as S. John says : He was clothed in a ves- ture dipped in blood . (Rev. xix : 13.) Again those who loved the Master even to the shedding of their blood were de- scribed by a prophet of old as being clothed in red : Tour garments are red like the gar- ments of those who tread the grape in the wine press. It is plain from all this that red is the color symbol of the Holy Spirit : Di- vine love, the creative power of love, love unto death or martyrdom, and hence that in Christian art it is worn by the -Master during His passion, the martyrs, and by Mary Magdalene to express her love for her Divine Spouse, who is white and ruddy ; (Cant. v. 10.) White in His purity and ruddy in His blood, the rose of the field and the lily of the valley. The Sinister Symbolism of Red is the opposite of love, viz., hatred and egotism. It also stands for the fire of Hell. The devil, the very em- bodiment of hatred and egotism, is therefore 29 Symbolism in Religious Art often dressed in red. In the middle ages the executioners were habited in this color as symbolical of sin. Yellow in symbolism, as in the art of Heraldry, is formed from a union of white and red into one signification : it is the manifestation of divine wisdom and love to man — the human understanding en- lightened by revelation — in one word : Faith. Hence, S. Peter, the divinely ap- pointed confirmer of his apostolic brethren, wears a golden yellow mantle; while S. Thomas Aquinas, the expounder of the dogmas of faith, bears a golden sun upon his breast. The sun, gold and topaz are synonym- ous with yellow, and can be used sym- bolically in place of that color. Yellow of a dull or dirty tone — faith polluted by sin— signifies inconstancy, jeal- ousy and deceit. The mantle of Judas is always of a dirty yellow : faith defiled by ingratitude and treachery. Blue, like yellow, emanates from red and white, and is the manifestation of the creative power of divine love and wisdom ; 3 ° Symbolism in Religious Art therefore it is the color symbol of the breath of God : the spirit of truth, immortality, fidelity, and the spiritual regeneration of man. Consequently Christian artists in de- picting Jesus the Messiah, during his minis- try, clothed Him in an outer garment of blue. Mary’s cloak was also blue to show her fidelity to grace. As blue is a symbol of immortal life it has been sometimes employed as a mortu- ary color, but when so used, it is generally toned with black. Just as green in the natural order is the symbol of the new birth of Nature, life in action after the long death of winter, just so it symbolizes in Christian art the new birth of the soul: regeneration in action, or love and sacrifice. It is the symbolic color of hope, charity, abund- ance, and victory; therefore the cross and the martyr’s palms are given a greenish tone. S. John tells us, in the Apocalypse, that on the last day the eternal God will be enthroned beneath a rainbow of emerald. Green associated with evil signifies 3 1 Symbolism in Religious Art degradation and folly ; hence the devil is often painted with green eyes. All that is false and evil is most reasonably symbolized by black : the nega- tion of white, the color-symbol, as we have seen, of absolute truth ; hence black is appropriately the color of the Prince of darkness, error and sin. I will not detain you to explain the symbolic signification of any of the other colors, such as purple, violet, rose, scarlet, orange, gray, etc., as you can easily determine for yourselves their meaning by applying the two laws I have already given you: Combination and Opposition. 3 2 T HE FIRST FORMS employed by the Christians as symbols related exclusively to the person of the Redeemer, to regenerated souls, and to martyrdom. As I have already intimated, the early Christians in the economy of their worship, and daily intercourse, were compelled to adopt degrees of initiation in their sacred mysteries, and symbols in the external ex- pression of their dogmas, in order to guard them from profanation by their pagan con- temporaries. In their choice of symbols they generally selected some common and well- known object, for example: in place of the cross of Christ, an instrument of punishment most abhorrent to the pagan mind, they chose the anchor, which to the uninitiated had little to say beyond the fact that it was the every-day symbol of hope, but to the 33 Symbolism in Religious Art possessors of the Faith it was an exponent of the whole doctrine of the vicarious atone- ment. In the same way, in order to satisfy the needs of secrecy, they concealed the official name of the Redeemer by the means of a monogramic symbol : the chrisma, formed with the two first letters of the word Christ, under its Greek form X P I C T O C, the chi and the rho , two letters which re- semble the English X and P. The name Jesus (IHCOYC) was treated in a similar manner : abbreviated and monogramatised. The first three letters, the iota, eta and sigma , were used to form a monogram, from which the modern and familiar sign I H S originated. This monogram is supposed by many people to stand for the English sentence: I have suffered or I have saved, and among others for the Latin sentence "Jesus Hominum Salvator (Jesus Saviour of men). This view comes from not knowing the history of the symbol, and from confusing it with the letters I. H. S., taken from the arms of the Society of Jesus, which undoubtedly stand for the words Jesus Hominum Salvator . 34 Symbolism in Religious Art Although the early Christians were very careful about making a literal repre- sentation of the cross, yet they constantly used the sign, as we learn from Tertullian, a writer of the second century, who says : “ In all our travels and movements, in all our coming in and going out, in putting on our clothes and shoes, at the bath, at the table, in lighting our lamps, in lying down, whatever employment occupies us, we mark our foreheads with the sign of the cross.” The Edict of Toleration of the year A.D. 313; the abolition, throughout the Roman world, of the punishment of cruci- fixion ; the vision of Constantine ; and the discovery of the true cross by S. Helena in the year A. D. 326, ushered in a new state of affairs. The “ abhorred cross,” the “ ac- cursed thing,” was no longer hidden under hieroglyphic forms, but was everywhere to be seen and everywhere esteemed and held in honor. As an early Christian said : “It ceased as a punishment, it remained as a glory. From places of punishment it was passed to the foreheads of Emperors.” But 35 Symbolism in Religious Art even then, the old pagan dislike for the cross had so permeated society that the artist of the time, yielding to prejudice, partially concealed its form by enriching it with flowers and jewels. For the same reason the initial steps in development of the sim- ple cross into a crucifix, a cross bearing the body of Christ, was made slowly and with hesitation. The first step was to place on the cross an image of a lamb : the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world ; then a bust of Christ ; then the entire body, but clothed and crowned ; and finally the naked body. In this way the cross — the skeleton — was at last clothed with flesh and blood ; the consecrated vic- tim was placed upon the symbolical sacri- ficial altar of Calvary ; the tree of life put on its foliage and gave forth its fruit, for in the eyes of the Christian Christ Himself is here blossom and fruit , fragrance and perfume , leaf and crown . The cross — the most important symbol in the entire range of Christian symbology — in the hands of artist and architect became manifold in its symbolic meaning It was 3 6 Symbolism in Religious Art to them a ship “ in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves,” carrying human weakness through the tempest of life : “ To which men may cling in the wreck of the world” It was to them a tree : “ Thou art the tree of life that yields the living fruit to all mankind.” A banner — “ The great King's banner shines above , The glorious mystery of His love. The cross, where Life Himself would die. Our life thus dying to supply .” An altar — 6 6 How blest, how bright this altar. Wherefrom salvation beams ; Pour down the Lamb upon it His blood in ruddy streams ” A ladder— “ Lo, here the sinner's ladder Where Christ, from Heavenly throne. Hath to Himself drawn all things. And made each step his own.” 37 Symbolism in Religious Art An ark — “0 ark divine , which floating there , Where lay a wreck and sinking world.” A balance — “ Blest balance , on whose arm is weighed \ The price of our redemption paid.” A standard— “Its standard is our signal For victory and for joy.” In truth to their minds the depths of its symbolism was unfathomable, and the treasury of its symbolization inexhaustible. They sometimes gave it the color of hope, green ; of martyrdom, red ; of immortality, blue ; and of absolute truth, white. They held that the upright beam was made of cedar, the symbol of joy ; the transverse of cypress, the symbol of the deathlessness of the New Law; the piece upon which the feet rested of palm, the symbol of victory ; the inscription tablet of olive, the symbol of peace — the fruit of Good Works. Again, that the four arms stood for the love, the 38 Symbolism in Religious Art hope, the fear, and the long-suffering of God, and also for the four parts of the world from whence souls were to be drawn to Christ : And I, if I be lifted up from the earth , will draw all men unto me (S. John, xii. 22). And, again, that the foot signified faith, the sure foundation of hope. In ecclesiastical architecture the cross is the ground-plan upon which almost all churches are built, the underlying mo- tive of their construction. This is most distinct and perceptible in a fully devel- oped Gothic church: the nave typifying the shaft of the cross, the transept the arms, the choir the summit ; and in some of the English cathedrals there is a second tran- sept to represent the label or writing affixed to the cross by Pontius Pilate. The cross motive not only pervades the ground-plan, but every line of construction and orna- mentation. The ceiling is a network of cross-vaults ; a transverse section of the pil- lars shows a star-cross ; the rose-windows are on the plan of a Greek cross ; in fact the cross is imprinted upon every detail. In Christian Symbology there is a 39 Symbolism in Religious Art number of fixed forms and devices which have a symbolical signification apart from their particular iconographic application : such as the halo, the aureole, the crown, the sword, the palm, the rose, the lily, the olive and the vine, together with a number of beasts, birds and fish, and so on. We have only time to consider two of them : the halo and the aureole. The halo and the aureole are essen- tially one, in as far as they express the same symbolic thought, viz., light — the light that emanates from a divinity, or a deified person, or one imbued with divine influence, answering and corresponding heroically to grace, possessing divine or God-like qualities. The halo is the light that surrounds the head, while the aureole is that which encompasses the entire body. These sym- bolic expressions are used singly, or in com- bination, with representations of God, and also of men, either living or dead, but when combined they are called a glory. The halo and aureole of Christian art are survivals from the remote past, by the road of conflicting religious systems, be- 40 Symbolism in Religious Art ing marks of honor or sanctity of varying potentiality, and inherently they suggest glory or glorified light, from their having been in their origin the highest symbolic expression of solar worship. Among every people, at all times, the halo has always held an important place in religious sym- bolism. It was employed by the Egyp- tians and Assyrians, by the Greeks and the Romans, by the people of India and China, by the Mexicans and the North American Indians, by the Primitive, the Byzantine, and the Mediaeval Christians ; and it is in use to-day in many parts of the world, the property alike of Pagan and Christian. As I have already explained the rea- sons why the Christians adopted pagan symbols — mingled the old wine with the new — it is therefore unnecessary for me to justify the use of the halo in their incon- ography and symbology. In Christian art the halos belonging to the persons of the God-head are emanations, while those of the saints are reflections of these emana- tions, or in the words of S. John : the Lord God giveth them light (Rev. xxn), or 41 Symbolism in Religious Art better yet: when Moses had been in the presence of the Lord, on Mount Sinai for forty days his face shone with a great light . In form a halo may be triangular, square, polygonal or circular. The triangular halo is confined in its application to the God-head, because it is composed of three equal parts, which stand for the three Persons of the Trinitarian Divinity. The square is given to the representa- tion of living persons who are believed to be saintly, and is so employed because a square symbolizes terrestrial life, or the earth — a four-sided world: “ A tower of strength that stood Four square to all the winds that blow — ” a symbolization common to all people from Egypt to Yucatan, and most familiar to Christians from the following words of the Apocalypse : “ I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth , holding the four winds of the earth!' The polygonal halo is purely orna- mental, having no esoteric meaning, seldom 42 Symbolism in Religious Art used out of Italy, and applied only to per- sonifications. The circular halo is the most com- mon form, and symbolically stands for eter- nity — heaven— celestial life, and is given to Christ and His saints. Color, as well as form, plays an im- portant part in the composition of a halo, but seldom at the expense of the artistic effect ; hence where the symbolic color would be inharmonious, gold is substituted. Sym- bolically gold is the color of the halos of the Persons of the Godhead, the Holy Mother, the apostles, martyrs, confessors and virgins ; silver of the prophets and saints of the Old Law ; green of married saints other than martyrs, and red or yellow, slightly tinted with white, of penitents. The halo of Christ is the same as those of the saints, except the field is charged with three limbs of a Greek Cross. This halo is also used in connection with the symbolic representations of the Persons of the Trinity. For example, God the Fa- ther : a hand with the thumb and two fingers extended, a symbol of the creative act. Thy 43 Symbolism in Religious Art hands have made me and fashioned me (Ps. 1 1 9) ; God the Son: the Agnus Dei, a symbol of the sacrifice. Behold the Lamb of God \ which taketh away the sin of the world (John 1, 29); and God the Holy Ghost : a dove, a symbol of divine wisdom and grace. The Spirit of God descending like a dove (Matt. 111, 16). Even Judas is entitled to a circular halo, but it is black ; the color, you will re- member, of evil. As I have already said, the halo is not always confined to the head, but sometimes surrounds the entire body, and is then called an aureole . This variety, although known to the ancients, did not make its appearance in Christian art till long after the head- halo had come into use. In form it is circular, oval, or quartrefoil, and is gener- ally depicted as a blaze of scintillations of light, and sometimes as parallel bands of sym- bolic colors. In use it is exclusively re- stricted to the divine Persons of the Trinity, to the Virgin Mother, to the souls of the redeemed ascending into heaven, to the mem- bers of the celestial hierarchy, and the apotheosis of a saint. The Virgin Mother 44 Symbolism in Religious Art is thus depicted only when she has the Holy Child in her arms, at her Assumption, and when she is portrayed as the woman of the Book of Revelation : “ Clothed with the sun , and the moon under her feet , upon her head a crown of twelve stars P The aureole of an ascending soul is composed of yellow, green and red clouds, or rays of light: the colors of faith, hope and love— the virtues with which a soul must be clothed in order to gain the Beatific Vision. To surround the body with an aureole and to crown the head with a halo must have always been a familiar thought to Christians, made so by a number of pas- sages in Holy Writ, such as the words of S. John, I saw a mighty angel come down from heaven , clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head ’ and his face was as it were the sun . 45 I H A V E GIVEN you this evening merely the outlines of Christian Symbology, and that in briefest of brief forms ; but I have detained you long enough. I can only say, in closing, that Christianity, more than any other religion, uses all things in the universe as instruments of instruction ; and hence Christian artists and architects have ever been inspired to employ symbolically in their buildings and decorations the colors of the rainbow, the flowers of the field, the beasts of the earth, the birds of the air and the fishes of the sea in order to awaken the human mind to a given truth. From this it is easy to see that it is impossible to under- stand Christian art without a knowledge of symbolism, and above all to practice intelli- gently ecclesiology without a knowledge of 46 Symbolism in Religious Art symbology, as it alone furnishes a key to the mystical meaning of the decorative forms used in beautifying God's house. I trust my words have aroused in your minds a lasting interest in the subject. 47 1 u g < ^63 a 6 ± NEW-YORK-V-SA ± THE CHELTENHAM PRESS 25 WEST IITH ST., N. Y.