Leemans’ Horapollo, 1835.
Leemans’ Horapollo, 1835.
Leemans’ Horapollo, 1835.
The following is the 31st figure in the plates which Leemans gives; it is the pictorial representation to explain “Whatthe Egyptians mean when they engrave or paint a star.”[28]“Would they signify the God who sets in order the world, or destiny, or the number five, they paint a star; God, indeed, because the providence of God, to which the motion of the stars and of all the world is subject, determines the victory; for it seems to them that, apart from God, nothing whatever could endure; and destinythey signify, since this also is regulated by stellar management,—and the number five, because out of the multitude which is in heaven, five only, by motion originating from themselves, make perfect the management of the world.”
Of the three figures which are delineated above, the one to the left hand symbolizes God, that in the middle destiny, and the third, the number 5, from five rays being used to indicate a star.
The same subjects are thus represented in Cory’s Horapollo.
Cory’s Horapollo, 1840.
Cory’s Horapollo, 1840.
Cory’s Horapollo, 1840.
Cory’s Horapollo, bk. i. c. 8, p. 15, also illustrates the question, “How do they indicate the soul?” by the accompanying symbols; of whichI. represents the mummy and the departing soul,II. the hawk found sitting on the mummy, andIII. the external mummy case. The answer to the question is:—
“Moreover, theHawkis put for the soul, from the signification of its name; for among the Egyptians the hawk is calledBaieth: and this name in decomposition signifies soul and heart; for the wordBaiis the soul, andETHthe heart: and the heart according to the Egyptians is the shrine of the soul; so that in its composition the name signifies ‘soul enshrined in heart.’ Whence also the hawk, from its correspondence with the soul, never drinks water, but blood, by which, also, the soul is sustained.”
And in a similar way many of the sacred engravings or drawings are interpreted. A serpent with its tail covered by the rest of its body, “depicts Eternity;”[29]“to denote anonly begotten, orgeneration, or afather, or theworld, or aman, they delineate aSCARABÆUS;”[30]aLionsymbolisesintrepidity,—itsFOREPARTS,strength, and itsHEAD,watchfulness;[31]theStorkdenotesfilial affection, theCraneon the watch, a man on guard against his enemies, and theFEATHERof an Ostrich,impartial justice,—for, adds the author, “this animal, beyond other animals, has the wing feathers equal on every side.”[32]
Christian Art, like the Religious Art of the world in general,—from thethouandtheeof simplest Quakerism, outward and audible sounds of an inward and silent spirit, up to the profoundest mystic ritualism of the Buddhist,—Christian Artabounds in Emblems; gems and colours, genuflexions and other bodily postures supply them; they are gathered from the mineral, animal, and vegetable kingdoms, and besides are enriched from the whole domain of imaginary devices and creatures. Does the emerald flash in its mild lustre?—it is of “victory and hope, of immortality, of faith, and of reciprocal love,” that it gives forth light. Is blue, the colour of heaven, worn in some religious ceremony?—it betokens “piety, sincerity, godliness, contemplation, expectation, love of heavenly things.” Do Christian men bare the head in worship?—it is out of reverence for the living God, whose earthly temples they have entered. The badge of St. John the Baptist, is a lamb on a book,—that of St. John the Evangelist is a cup of gold with a serpent issuing from it. The Pomegranate, “showing its fulness of seed and now bursting,” typifies the hope of immortality;—and a Fleur-de-lys, or the Rose of Sharon, embroidered or painted on a robe,—it marks the Blessed Virgin. With more intricate symbolism the Greek Church represents the Saviour’s nameΙHϹΟΥϹΧΡΙϹΤΟϹ.—IesuS CHristuS. The first finger of the hand extended is for I, the second bent forCor s, the thumb crossed upon the third finger forΧor Ch, and the fourth finger curved forϹor s. Thus are given the initial and final letters of that Holy Name, the Saviour, the Christ.[33]
Of early Emblems examples enough have now been given to indicate their nature. Whether in closing this part of the subject we should name a work of more ancient date even than the Greek version of Horapollo would admit of doubt, were it not that every work partakes of an emblematical character, when the descriptions given or the instances taken pertain, as
Whitney says, “to vertue and instruction of life,” or “doe tende vnto discipline, and morall preceptes of living.”
Under this rule we hesitate not to admit into the wide category of Emblem writers,Epiphanius, who was chosen bishop of Constantia in Cyprus,A.D.367, and who died in 402. HisPhysiologist, published with his sermon on the Feast of Palms, is, like many writings of the Fathers, remarkable for highly allegorical interpretations. An edition, by Ponce de Leon, a Spaniard of Seville, was printed at Rome in 1587, and repeated at Antwerp[34]in 1588. It relates to the real and imaginary qualities of animals, and to certain precepts and doctrines of which those qualities are supposed to be symbolical. As an example we give here an extract from chapterXXV. p. 106, “Concerning the Stork.”
Epiphanius, 1588.
Epiphanius, 1588.
Epiphanius, 1588.
The Stork is described as a bird of extreme purity; and as nourishing, with wonderful affection, father and mother in their old age. The “interpretation” or application of the fact is;—“So also it behoves us to observe these two divine commands, that is to turn aside from evil and to do good, as the kingly prophet wrote; and likewise in the decalogue the Lord commands, thus saying;—Honour thy father and thy mother.”
In a similar way the properties and habits of various animals,—of the lion, the elephant, the stag, the eagle, the pelican, the partridge, the peacock, &c., are adduced to enforce or symbolize virtues of the heart and life, and to set forth the doctrines of the writer’s creed.
To illustrate the Emblem side of Christian Art a great variety of information exists inSketches of the History of Christian Art, by Lord Lindsay (3 vols. 8vo: Murray, London, 1847); and Northcote and Brownlow’sRoma Sotterranea, compiled from De Rossi (8vo: Longmans, London, 1869) promises to supply many a symbol and type of a remote age fully to set forth the same subject.
Giovio, 1556.
Giovio, 1556.
Giovio, 1556.