I examined it carefully. In the centre stand the archangels Michael and Gabriel, in the Byzantine style; and below them, St. Ambrose blesses the donor, Bishop Angelbertus, and the goldsmith Wolvinus. Around, in twelve compartments, we have the principal incidents of the life of St. Ambrose, the figures being, as nearly as I can recollect, about six inches high. 1. Bees swarm round his head as he lies in his cradle. 2. He is appointed prefect of the Ligurian provinces. 3. He is elected bishop of Milan in 375. 4. He is baptized. 5. He is ordained. 6. and 7. He sleeps and beholds in a vision, the obsequies of St. Martin of Tours. 8. He preaches in the cathedral, inspired by angels. 9. He heals the sick and lame. 10. He is visited by Christ. 11. An angel wakes the bishop of Vercelli and sends him to St. Ambrose. 12. Ambrose .dies, and angels bear away his soul to heaven. Vienna. I was surprised not to find in his church what we consider as the principal event of his life-his magnanimous resistance to the emperor Theodosius. In fact the grand scene between Ambrose and Theodosius has never been so popular as it deserves to be; considered merely as a subject of painting, it is full of splendid picturesque capabilities; for grouping, colour, contrast, background, all that could be desired. In the great picture by Rubens, the scene is the porch of the Belvedere G. church. The emperor, surrounded by his guards, stands irresolute, and in a supplicatory attitude, on the steps; on the right and above, St. Ambrose is seen, attended by the ministering priests, and stretches out his hand to repel the intruder. There is a print, after Andrea del Sarto, representing Theodosius on his knees before the relenting prelate. In the Louvre is a small picture, by Subleyras, of the reconciliation of Ambrose and Theodosius. In our National Gallery is a small and beautiful copy, by Vandyck, of the great picture by Rubens. Invalides. There is a statue of St. Ambrose, by Falconet, in the act Paris, of repelling Theodosius, which is mentioned by Diderot, with a commentary so characteristic of the French antireligious feeling of that time,-a feeling as narrow and onesided in its way as the most bigoted puritanism, that I am tempted to extract it; only premising that, if, after the slaughter at Ismaël, Catherine of Russia had been placed under the ban of Christendom, the world would not have been the worse for such an exertion of the priestly power. "C'est ce fougueux évêque qui osa fermer les portes de l'église à Theodose, et à qui un certain souverain de par le monde (Frederic of Prussia) qui dans la guerre passée avoit une si bonne envie de faire un tour dans la rue des prêtres, et une certaine souveraine (Catherine of Russia) qui vient de débarrasser son clergé de toute cette richesse inutile qui l'empêchoit d'être respectable, auroient fait couper la barbe et les oreilles, en lui disant: Apprenez, monsieur l'abbé, que le temple de votre Dieu est sur mon domaine, et que si mon prédécesseur vous a accordé par grace les trois arpens de terrain qu'il occupe, je puis les reprendre et vous envoyer porter vos autels et votre fanatisme ailleurs. Ce lieu-ci est la maison du Père commun des hommes, bons ou méchans, et je veux entrer quand il me plaira. Je ne m'accuse point à vous; quand je daignerois vous consulter, vous n'en savez pas assez pour me conseiller sur ma conduite, et de quel front vous immiscez-vous d'en juger?' Mais le plat empereur ne parla pas ainsi, et l'evêque savoit bien à qui il avoit à faire. Le statuaire nous l'a montré dans le moment de son insolent apostrophe." Diderot goes on to praise the statue for its severe grandeur, and for the graceful drapery. St. Ambrose, he says, "n'est pas occupé, comme on a coutume de nous montrer ses pareils, à ramener sa drappe sous son bras, et a nous rappeler le geste familier de Pantalon." In Diderot's criticisms on art, which are often quoted even now, there is in general a far better taste than prevailed in his time, and much good sense; but a low tone of sentiment when he had to deal with imaginative or religious art, and an intolerable coarseness— "most mischievous foul sin in chiding sin." ST. AUGUSTINE. St. Austin. Lat. Sanctus Augustinus. Ital. Sant' Agostino. ST. AUGUSTINE, the third of the doctors of the Church, was born at Tagaste, in Numidia, in 354. His father was a heathen; his mother, Monica, a Christian. Endowed with splendid talents, a vivid imagination, and strong passions, Augustine passed his restless youth in dissipated pleasures, in desultory studies, changing from one faith to another, dissatisfied with himself and unsettled in mind. His mother, Monica, wept and prayed for him; and in the extremity of her anguish, repaired to the bishop of Carthage. After listening to her sorrows, he dismissed her with these words: "Go in peace; the son of so many tears will not perish!" Augustine soon afterwards went to Rome, where he gained fame and riches by his eloquence at the bar; but he was still unhappy and restless, nowhere finding peace either in labour or in pleasure. From Rome he went to Milan; there, after listening for some time to the preaching of Ambrose, he was, after many struggles, converted to the faith, and was baptized by the bishop of Milan, in presence of his mother, Monica. On this occasion was composed the hymn called the "Te Deum," still in use in our church; St. Ambrose and St. Augustine reciting the verses alternately as they advanced to the altar. Augustine, after some time spent in study, was ordained priest, and then bishop of Hippo, a small town and territory not far from Carthage. Once installed in his bishopric, he ever afterwards refused to leave the flock intrusted to his care, or to accept of any higher dignity. His life was passed in the practice of every virtue: all that he possessed was spent in hospitality and charity, and his time was devoted to the instruction of his flock, either by preaching or writing. In 430, after he had presided over his diocese for thirty-five years, the city of Hippo was besieged by the Vandals; in the midst of the horrors that ensued, Augustine refused to leave his people, and died during the siege, being then in his seventy-sixth year. It is said that his remains were afterwards removed from Africa to Pavia, by Luitprand, king of the Lombards. His writings in defence of Christianity are numerous and celebrated; and he is regarded as the patron saint of theologians and learned men. Of his glorious tomb, in the cathedral of Pavia, I can only say, that its beauty as a work of art astonished me. I had not been prepared for anything so rich, so elegant in taste, and so elaborate in invention. It is of the finest florid Gothic, worked in white marble, scarcely discoloured by time. Ambrose lies upon a bier, and angels of exquisite grace are folding his shroud around him. The basso-relievos represent the events of his life; the statues of the evangelists, apostles, and other saints connected with the history of the church, are full of dignity and character. It comprises in all 290 figures. This magnificent shrine is attributed by Cicognara to the Jacobelli of Venice, and by Vasari to the two brothers Agostino and Agnolo of Sienna; but he does not speak with certainty, and the date 1362 seems to justify the supposition of Cicognara; the Sienese brothers being then eighty or ninety years old. Single figures of St. Augustine are not common; and when grouped with others in devotional pictures, it is not easy to distinguish him from other bishops; for his proper attribute, the heart flaming or transpierced, to express the ardour of his piety, or the poignancy of his repentance, is very seldom introduced; but when a bishop is standing with a book in his hand, or a pen, accompanied by St. Jerome, and Dosso Dossi, with no particular attribute, we may suppose it to be St. Augustine; and when the title of one of his famous writings is inscribed on the book, it of course fixes the identity beyond a doubt. Brera, Milan. 1. St. Augustine seated on a throne, as patron saint, B. Vivarini. mitred and robed; alone, stern, and majestic. SS. Giovan e Paolo. Venice. 2. St. Augustine, throned as patron, attended by two Dosso Dossi. angels; he looks like a jovial patriarch. 3. St. Augustine writing in his chamber; no emblem, no mitre; yet the personalité so marked that one could not mistake him either for Ambrose or Jerome. Brera, Milan. F. Filippo Lippi. F. Gal. 4. St. Augustine standing; a fine, stern, majestic figure; v Carpaccio. he holds his book and scourge. 5. The Virgin and Child enthroned; the Virgin places on the head of St. Augustine, who kneels before him, the jewelled mitre. Brera, Milan. Paris Bor done. Berlin Gal. 6. St. Augustine, as bishop, and St. Monica, veiled, stand Venice Gal, on each side of the Madonna; by Florigerio. 7. St. Augustine standing under a canopy; in his right hand the flaming heart, in his left the crozier. The votary, a young priest, is presented to St. Augustine by John the Baptist. Here St. Augustine is exalted as an object of devotion above a saint of far superior rank. As a series of subjects, the history of St. Augustine is not commonly met with; yet certain events in his life are of very frequent occurrence. I shall begin with the earliest. 1. Monica brings her son to school; the master receives him; the scholars are sitting in a row conning their hornbooks. The names of Monica and Augustine are inscribed in the glories round their heads. This is a very curious little oval Vatican. picture of the early part of the fourteenth century. Chr. Mus. Benozzo Gozzoli has painted the same subject in a large fresco in the church of San Geminiano at Volterra. Monica A.D. 1460. presents her son to the schoolmaster, who caresses him; in the background a little boy is being whipped, precisely in the same attitude in which correction is administered, to this day, in some of our schools. 2. St. Augustine under the fig-tree meditating, with the old print. Anon. |