Things get repeated

My blog got neglected. In this week I hope to have enough time to post about the tradition about Holy Grail in the church of Bezlawki. Now simply my reflection about how things get repeated over and over again.

I watched for short moments the live broadcast by BBC  today, it was about pope retiring. One of the journalists said about the uniforms of the Swiss Guard that those were designed by Michelangleo. No, there were designed during the beginning of the XXc. Did Dan Brown was talking about it? Yes, he did. Pop cultural version of historical facts.

Form Wiki commons,  part of  treatise about opitcs by Bacon

 There are more opinions repeated as facts.For example that people during medieval times believed that Earth was flat. No, already ancient Greeks knew about spherical Earth and would be difficult to find any scholar who believed in flat Earth.Or that all believed that the Earth was center of the Universe. Or that medicine was based on prayers and superstition. ( Medieval medicine if wasn't folk medicine was exactly the same as in Antiquity). Or that in medicine there was no dissection of corpses at all. Or that there was no interest in chemistry. (It was, thanks to Arab writings which were  read by monks). There is quite a number of strange beliefs about history of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, which don't get corrected by the pop culture.Why? Because those beliefs help to create those periods in some kind of monolitic icons which than have more popular appeal.

 After all it is more interesting to say and believe that the Swiss Guards uniforms were designed by such a giant as Michelangelo himself, instead of giving credit to some obscure commandant of XXc. People often say that history was written by victors ( not exactly correct, it was actually written by others than victors too). Not only victors shape views of history, also common biases and what are common preferences, what people gladly believe, and what they dismiss as uninteresting, even if the uninteresting facts are closer to historical truth than interesting historical pieces of gossip.

Paradise on Earth-the legend

Legends were extremely important during the Middle Ages, sure. Some were the source of psychological strength, like the legend of the terrestial paradise, which gave people sense of hope and was interchangeable with the idea of heaven. First during the Renaissance this belief  faded away, but not completely, and when people stopped to believe in the paradise on Earth, their belief system became more gloomy, more fearful of devil and the punishing God. The disappearance of the belief  in terrestrial paradise is not the only factor that the times became very somber: more of natural catastrophes, more wars, including religious wars, legacy of black death,  increased activity of Inquisition, all combined with fire and brimstone preaching through XV-XVII c. gave way to a more depressive mood.paradise was no more to be found on the Earth full of suffering.

Medieval people were more optimistic: they believed that Paradise existed on Earth in their present times in some far away land, and trusted that some travelers indeed have seen it with their own eyes. Ancient manuscripts have maps, the Paradise was located somewhere in Armenia, China, India, later in Japan: in general it was very far  in the East. The Tree of Life was there, wonderful climate, of course vegetation was fabulous and abundant, with plenty of fruit to eat. There was not even a glimpse of darkness, day time always, never falling of a night,  and the Paradise was filled with light seven times brighter than the daylight on the rest of the planet.  The multitude of precious stones of many kinds was joy for the eyes. Abraham and Jesus was there too. This illuminated page from shows Christ on the lap of Abraham, with personifications of fours rivers in the circles of four corners of the mandorla. Those rivers are Euphrates, Gihon, Pison and Hiddekel were the four great rivers of the Paradise.

The Three of Life was in the center, also a Fountain of Life, which cured all imperfections a human  body could have. Sabine Baring-Gould wrote about this myth ( Curious Myths of the Middle Ages), mentioned maps pointing the location of the Paradise, but also writes about the manuscripts in which the legend is recorded as a  true fact, also he lists the various authors of the narration. For example he states that St Brendan took the journey to Paradise because one monk traveled there, and told about the wonder for this place, and St Brendan became very curious. St Brendan went to the East, very far, and reported on the Paradise he visited, and told about going further until he came to the place no one alive was allowed to cross.  According to Sabine-Baring a map in the Cambridge collection depicted the Paradise as a round island  located close to the mouth of Ganges. According to another legend  Alexander the Great was eager to see this land of delights, but hadn't possessed proper mind, as it was an inner Paradise, not the physical one. But the most detailed account was given in the Icelandic narration of Eirkes Saga Vidforla, form XIV c. mixing pagan and Christian beliefs. The following centuries the Paradise narrations didn't die completely out, the occurred as "learned  treatises."

What I was not aware of is the fact that the legend was also given strong  theological validity, and is found often in the books of sermons. Books of sermons in general are quite numerous, and give a good insight into medieval religiosity,  they also repeat legends. The master dissertation by Gavin S. Fort gives examples how this legend was functioning in religious life, specially interesting is the relation of this legend to medieval  monasticism. Monasteries were supposed to be images of Paradise on Earth, were people had the great opportunity to cleanse their souls ans enter the state of perfection, and have angelic habits. In monastic life celibacy was equated with the attempt to live like angels, than celibacy was a requirement in monastic life, later the argument for angelic life became a point in deciding that the celibacy should be extended to priests also. Later the belief  in a geographical location of the Paradise developed into the abstract meditative practice on the inner Paradise. Are you interested in additional reading? I recommend the Master degree thesis by Gavin S. Fort about Paradisal language in Medieval reform

  Take a look at this mysterious  diagram of a mystical Paradise  from the Rare Manuscripts Collection of Walters Museum of Art, by Conrad of Hirsau, XIII c.

I didn't find the remnants of this legend in today's Europe, not a full narrative but just some short mention about which I am not sure if this is  truly oral tradition as told,  but this fragment is similar what wrote Baring-Gould. According to this mention the Paradise was sealed by the walls of fire, and is guarded by an angel and no one could step in. The walls of fire are relating to some medieval reports about inaccessibility, (Baring-Gould), the angel with sword is of course the cherubim of the Genesis.

Purple, the Imperial Color, History of Color #10

Byzantine Emperor Justinian, mosaic in St Vitale church, Ravenna, Italy

I wrote about red and blue as colors of power in my recent entry. But the ultimate color of power was purple, before red and blue rose to higher prominence. It was before the sack of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade in 1204, which I mentioned in the entry about the holy blood relic in Reichenau and Bruges. Constantinople never recovered enough to produce purple dyed clothes again. This fact might give you some insight how expensive purple dye was.

 The purple dye was so expensive that it was a subject of sumptuary laws, and mostly restricted for the imperial or royal families. It was produced from Murex sea snail, and tens of thousands were needed to dye one piece of garment. Color purple took the name from the dye, wasn't the description of color itself. The price of dye was equal of weight in gold.  The main center of the craft of dyeing in purple was Tyre, in Phoenicia. The name Purple of Tyre comes from it. This purple wasn't the hue we perceive today as such: it was more reddish brownish, a very muted but intense color. The emperors robe on the mosaic above looks more blueish than in person. The robe of Jesus looks more brownish, but it is difficult to take very accurate pictures of mosaics in the interior, where every detail will be of exact color. And the purple of Tyre doesn't get reproduced very well on the computer screens either. But you get the idea.

Mosaics at San Vitale church, Ravenna, Italy, via wiki commons, thanks to Tango

Not only rulers were depicted in purple, but also Jesus and Virgin Mary. Byzantine art showed them as rulers, full of dignity and somehow stern looking, as does the Christ dressed in purple on Byzantine mosaic from the church St Apolinare Nouvo, Ravenna, Italy (via wiki commons) The style is Early Byzantine.

And here is shroud of Charlemagne, early IXc. manufactured in Constantinople, today in Paris, Musée National du Moyen Âge. (via wiki commons). Purple on silk created wonderful effects that enchanted the eye: depending on light looked more blueish or reddish, had luster fro which was prized too. Not many fabric are left from Byzantine times, mostly fragments, and like this one found in the graves of the rulers of the time.

Shroud of emperor Charlemagne, purple dyed silk

 The purple was known already in Antiquity, and was mythologically credited to be discovered by the dog of Hercules. Plato mentioned this color in his Symposium as the greatest hue of all. It was used in Egypt, and became the color of Roman emperors. Sometimes the law was not harsh and women were allowed to wear purple, but other times anyone else than emperor wearing a purple robe would be killed. The first church in Europe was founded because of religious devotion and courtesy of a woman, Lydia, who was a business woman, a merchant in purple dyed fabrics. She must have only rich clients.

One of the Roman emperors forbid his wife to buy additional purples robes, as he considered too expensive.

Today, to all my knowledge there is only one pigment manufacturer mill, Kremmer Pigmente from Germany, which sells  this kind of  purple for art conservation purposes. One ounce would be 153,120 $, of course on the website for the art conservators this dye is sold in fractions of  1gram (1 once has 30 grams, to remind you), so , it is sold sold here in fractions of grams
According to Kremmer Pigmente, it takes 10,000 snails to make 1 gram of purple, which would be 300, 000 to make one ounce.

Later instead of purple silks were dyed with kermes, which was red dye made of the bodies of dried insects. I am for sure glad we use different process in fabric dyeing today, not involving killing masses of mollusc, or insects. (But still,  today fashion industry is terribly unfriendly toward the environment, one of the main polluters). Lucky for me, a fine artist, I can pick and chose which pigments I want. Honestly, I couldn't bear to buy paints or dyes containing colors made out of living creatures. I don't wear silk either for this reason.

This red coronation mantle of Roger II, silk and gold thread, pearls and precious jewels was done in royal workshops  from Palermo, Sicily. Now in Vienna treasury.We see the new fashion coming, replacing purple with red, which resulted in pictures of royals, nobles and Virgin Mary dressed in red mantles.

Roger's II coronation mantle, via wiki commons, by Gryfindor

Templar Treasure Legends in Poland, Templars-part 3

The believers of  the legends about the knights Templars escaping to Poland have one valid point: Poland was one of very few regions in Europe which practiced religious tolerance. Relatively, for those days. Later in the history several hundred different believers or atheists were killed. Poland wasn't "the country without burning stakes," as sometimes was called. This is a myth. However, the level of religious tolerance was higher than in other European countries, even later in comparison to for ex. tolerant Netherlands. For long no single religion dominated. However, the popular religious movements in Europe were also rebellions of the peasant and those of  urban poor as they spoke against the excesses of the religious leaders and aristocracy. Such rebellions were gladly helped by the feudal lords, who saw those as not only rebellions against religion, but also against their "God given" privileges. The Templars were of the privileged class.

One of the Templars forum member in Poland wrote once jokingly in his post that he will reveal where the Templar treasure is located, and this revelation will cause obsessions, mental illness etc. for those who will search for it. Poland, sadly, has its own brand of treasure hunters, who illegally dig and damage historical sites which could be properly excavated by archaeologists, and properly secured by them in order to prevent further damage. There is something of a touch of madness in such enterprises too by individuals armed with metal detectors, shovels, flash lights and night visors. Directed by greed and in search for becoming another Indiana Jones.Some inhabitants of the places associated with treasures fear them, (damage not only historical sites), and chase them away. In Rennes le Chateau associated with story about Templar treasure illegal digs was also a huge problem.

There are legends associated with Templar treasure in Poland, and in an old German folk song, telling about the Templars, their castle and their treasure in Poland. In Poland the  treasure legends are relatively numerous in comparison to the legend of the location of the Holly Grail, which is bound with one location only.

 I mentioned the legend of Templar fleet which was sailing from Marseilles to the Baltic Sea down the river Vistula already. It was supposed to carry Templar treasure from France, away from the greedy hands of the king Phillipe the Bel.

Some legends mention him by name, and there are other names of people involved, their kinship, if applicable, nationality, etc.One particular legend, which according to another oral tradition, resulted in treasure hunt by the Swedish, who during the Deluge (war with Sweden) were taking apart the walls of the castle of the local lord whose predecessor allegedly took the treasure for himself. This legend is strangely detailed, with the names of all people  involved, all details mentioned above, rank in the  Templar order, events such as hunting,  injuries on parts of their bodies, emotional and family relations etc.Long and very detailed story. With lots of details, which can of course make someones head spin. This is the story how a Polish local lord together with his relatives attempted robbery, knowing about the treasure, when the plan of the robbery didn't bring any desired results-as robbery happened,but  treasure wasn't there- they spied on the treasurer who hid it. (He was form Western Europe). Than they stole the treasure, and were in fight with the treasurer, with swords, when one of the robbers killed the treasurer with an arrow shot form the distance, a very un-knightly behaviour in addition to the robbery.

 I am omitting here the details of the story, which is long, and out of respect for the past troubles which this story excited. I was born and lived not too far from one of the locations of alleged Templar treasures, I respect oral traditions, but I found out that not everyone shares similar respect. Mentioned the treasure hunters already. Not like you and me, for  some people this stuff  simply creates confusion, oral tradition is only as interesting as can allegedly point to the location of the treasure. Sad but true.

The other legends about the Templar treasures are of course bound with the locations of former Templar commanderies, of villages owned by them with sometimes telling names as Templewo. Quite often they are very similar to the legends which were  teaching social mores, and were against the vice of greed. They are very similar to the legends about the treasure connected to the Summer Solstice hoard, just the treasure was Templars' and the access there was only during the Winter Solstice, during the Midnight mass, when the guardian spirits or the devils leaved the place leaving the doors open. The versions tell about one man who found the place, and was courageous enough not to be sacred of the spirits. Each year took some of the treasure, but one year he took too big of the sack, and busy to fill it with riches was captured there forever as the doors closed again when the mass was over. He was changed into one of the guarding spirits.

What about the legends which are not fantastic at all, like the legend above, which mentions just the events, without any supernatural involved? May they be true? Maybe yes, maybe not. People were gossiping during the Middle Ages and later, and were even paid for their gossip, when they told interesting story, as today. Their story might have been a sort of bestseller when they were journeying from village tot village, and from castle to castle, story telling was a profession. As today. Those stories than took life on their own when were retold. But sometimes the stories in oral traditions give pointers to the truth which is than confirmed by archaeologists, as the tale about Johannites, one of the military orders with which the Templars merged. The legend said that those knights were growing unloyal toward the Polish king, and also were minting counterfeit coins. The angry king took over their castle. Today's excavations in the castle lead by archaeologists unearthed minting presses and fake coins of various origins, among them fake coins of the Teutonic Knights, the other crusaders present in the country .

Sometimes I wish the rumors of the treasure will be combined with the treasure found in Poland, extremely valuable, hidden during XIV.c. found during the second half of the XX c. now is possession of museums.Why not to say this was the lost Templar treasure, and stop digging for it? Among the treasure's precious objects was also this beautiful royal crown. It is difficult to appraisals of  treasures, but this one was is worth today from 50 million to 100 million dollars. Fitting rich organization, like Templars.

Via Wikipedia Commons 

 And here is a rather creepy edited video with some castles in Poland, some of them associated with Templar treasure. I dislike the soundtrack, very much to be honest.

 Ruins of the Castle Ogrodzieniec is one of the alleged sites of the Templar treasure location. There is the well, recognized by the cross bars, from which according to another tale appears a huge black hound, very terrifying beast appears from time to time.  This  is the ghost of the one's of the owners who rebuilt the castle, and he was an immensely rich man. The castle itself was very rich. Actually competed in splendor with the royal castle in Cracow. But its owner was also a sadist, very protective of his treasures, and as the legend say, he was punished for his cruelties by becoming a hunting spirit in the the form of this huge black dog.
Treasure were always stuff of the legends, and excited human emotions as lotteries and Las Vegas slot machines are. Treasure stories are also archetypical belong to the quest category.

Mary Magdalene:Colors, Robes and Archetype History of Color # 8

I noticed in my blog's statistics that some of you came to my blog searching for info about the colors of Mary Magdalene's robes. I must have been a disappointment to see so little about it. I hope this entry will give you more of satisfying information.


Red was very common when she was depicted, but other colors were not rare either. I feel I need to move beyond the Middle Ages, as I was writing about vermilion robe of Mary Magdalene already. I am focusing in this post on Latin Christianity. Byzantine Christianity depicted her also in red robes, often with red egg in her hand. In this tradition she also she was considered extremely virtuous, one generation older than Jesus, died in Ephesus, her relics (body) were revered in Constantinople. Disappeared of course, maybe together with other relics after sack and looting of Constantinople they, tradition say were brought to Western Europe. But we don't know for sure what happened.

Mary Magdalene, Orthodox icon

 Red was often the color of choice by the later painters as well, but I would advise not to rely on red so much. Some people do, to some degree of annoyance of the well-educated art historians, when the non-art historians try to convince them, sometimes quite harshly,  they know it better because they read a few popular books. Thing can turn rather grotesque.About annoyances and my defence of art historians  later, in another entry, now I focus on colors and Mary Magdalene as a cultural phenomenon.

Magdalene was shown in red robes, quite often in a green dress. Green symbolized eternal life, color of paradise, hope and promise of eternal happiness in heaven. Green of the  paradise was shown already in the early Christian art. Shouldn’t be confused with non-religious matters, when green symbolized rebirth, Spring, fertility, hope in matters other than theological. It is important to know about such differences, not only for knowledge sake, but also for avoiding mistakes, for example reshaping Mary Magdalene into fertility goddess, as it sometimes happens in some books authored by some non-art historians. The context of the art matters, quite a lot.

 Red was common, yes, but not an exclusive color assigned to her only, nor she was shown in red only. This is a curious misconception, recently spreading. I would like to know about the sources of it. Assuming that she was shown only in red robes, isn't in relation with factual history of art, it is  huge over-simplification. Red in religious, not secular tradition  represented  love in sense of charity, (agape), martyrdom, sacrifice on the cross, redemption through crucifixion.

 But she was also depicted in lush and colorful robes, rich and beautifully embroidered, often golden. Look at this picture, which I got through twitter. One of many examples of colorful robes, from the collection in Kassel Museum, Germany. Cloak is elegant subtle shade of red.
Mary Magdalene and Jesus as Gardner

Or click to see life of Mary Magdalen at Chartres Cathedral stained glass window. Click on links to different images, and you will see range of colors, blue included.

Form gold we go to yellow, which was in certain times the color assigned by law to the common prostitutes and courtesans. Red wasn't. There is another misconception that red was color of prostitutes, which is not true: yellow was. Red sometimes only. I wonder if this assumption comes from Scarlet Letter? Who knows. Mary Magdalene could be dressed in yellow, or only be a part of her garment, like for ex. the sleeves were yellow, the dress itself  is black and white, and no cloak. Etc.

Piero di Cosimo, Mary Magdalene, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Penitent Magdalene by Artemisia Gentileschi,via wikimedia commons

Colorful, rich robes were shown too, or in very subdued colors, when she was depicted as a meditating penitent. Or dressed in shiny silvery silk, XIX c. And I am glad she was not depicted in red only, and not in vermilion only. She captured the imagination of the people of Latin Christianity as a very colorful personality anyway, as someone who lived a whole spectrum of human emotion and full spectrum of ethics. Why she should be than depicted in one color only? It would be very limiting. She was considered the accessible saint, giver of hope to fallen humanity, and as a personality more a symphony than a simple melody. She was one of the Latin Christianity highly elevated persons who was somehow considered unclean at the beginning.

Mary Magdalene by Jan van Scorel, via wikimedia commons

To the masses of believers she was the embodiment of a phenomenon of transformation. From a women from whom seven demons were expelled, a prostitute by profession, who than became no less than "Apostle to the apostles," the title given her by the Catholics church, a base metal changed alchemically to gold. Transformation which Oscar Wilde one described as: "every saint had a past, every sinner has a future." Initially a bad girl, but with golden heart, also in accordance to some societal views about the harlot with a heart of gold. Europe loved such stories, Europeans were not Puritans. La Traviatta is one of those stories, for example. I don't think there is an equivalent in the US. Different cultures, different views, different archetypes.

And she was an embodiment of a loving, yet a very independent woman. Sometimes I am asked if I believe Mary Magdalene was the Grail. Depends what you understand as "grail". To me grail as an archetype can’t be confined to the ideas of biological reductionism. Grail of the legends itself is an archetype of a quest, and it is elusive, as quest is often about elusive goals. Many people are on quest, but don't know what the quest is about. And nothing wrong with it. Mary Magdalene: it is nothing wrong in being a parent, it is something very noble in parenthood. I respect that. But did she really need to be a mother, a cup bearing diving DNA in order to be more important to us?

Penitent Mary Magdalene, by Vaccaro, via wiki commons

We may find out that today we are less tolerant toward her than the people who didn’t believe that she was the mother of Jesus offspring. Those people loved her anyway, even when they believed she was a reformed fallen woman. It seems they were quite  forgiving. She was loved and venerated the way she was perceived, with all her imperfect humanity, the way she was seen. Imperfect saint? People didn’t mind. This is not about who she was historically, as stories were often confused. Mary the Egyptian for example, or dispute which body was the real Mary Magdalene, as at times there was more than one body claimed to be Mary Magdalene's. Holy relics were not such clear business, and there are also cases of spurious claims. Her story is not so much about her, but very much about us: how much were are willing to accept in a person, specially in a women, in order to consider someones contribution a worthy one.

 And how many prejudices we have. Her story is a very interesting case in social history, indeed. Interesting, unique perspective in a Guardian article by the novelist and  columnist who was herself a prostitute, Tracy Quan. She mentions her visit in Southern France to see the relics whom she considers to be her patron saint. Specially important, I think, is the quote engraved on the stone tablets along the steps leading to the cave said to be saint's meditation hermitage: "Blessed are those who have been persecuted." Quan noticed this quote as she climbed the stairs. To me Quan's article was a gentle reminder and a rebuke, to all, me including, calling to not forget those who are in need, no matter who they are, or how "lowly" they are. Over a millennium and half Latin Christianity's message regarding this saint was: stop marginalizing, be open to others. 

The founder of  the first church in Europe was Lydia. She was a business woman, dealing with luxury goods prohibitively expensive purple cloth. She was unusual for the place and times, when women were considered deficient human beings, with human rights comparable of that of children assigned to them. Why she is not talked about now, along with Mary Magdalene? Not sexy enough? Not enough of sensationalistic dramas? No way to focus on her genitals/womb, as it was done in Mary Magdalene's case, and still is today?

In general this turmoil about Mary Magdalene and women, being not given enough enough respect,  not given enough place for them in the church, as much as it is healthy and good has it own flaws: conveniently blaming the Catholics for everything evil seems to be a little bit displaced, when we take women as archetypes. In Orthodox Christianity there was no mention of her as prostitute, and there she also has churches devoted to her, and the legend saying that she traveled to Ephesus, stayed there and her grave is there. After the schism this is a competing legend, as the legend  of Mary Magdalene traveling to France is more well known, as Western Europe is more well known. To me the position of Mary Magdalene is more problematic in Protestantism. It seems to me that the Catholic sisters of Protestantism don't complain as much about women not given enough place in the church theology, except complaints that women can't be ordained. And other issues not relating to theology, which I omit know as they don't relate to the subject directly. Mary Magdalene was always a very popular saint, tin Catholicism, if not the most popular one after all.

Here is Mary Magdalene in brown robe of a penitent, those often were extremely crude, made of goat hair or crude wool (other races of those animal than today), or was she was supposed to be covered only by her long flowing hair.

Ascension of Mary Magdalene, Anonymous, via wiki commons
Mary Magdalene here taken to heaven is dressed in coarse penitent robe, or according to the legend, 
her naked body was covered by her very long hair.

Their (Catholics) equivalent of the Sacred Feminine, a term so often used now, is Virgin Mary, given the title of the co-saviour, as saving together with Jesus. Mary Magdalene is the  apostle to the apostles. And other women saints. They say those personages are just humans among the Protestants, who reject cult of Virgin Mary, etc. not divine enough. Should we reject their opinions as illogical? Given the number of the churches devoted to Virgin Mary and and Mary Magdalene in Catholic countries in general? Look at the picture above, is this disrespectful? The word "vilified" is often used in relation to Mary Magdalene. Is she as vilified as it is complained in popular opinion? I think we need to to look deeper, it is easy to repeat catchy phrases, which can be emotionally satisfying, but on the long run those phrases make things shallow. And the subject of Mary Magdalene is not shallow, not matter which tradition we analyse or which one we like.

Art history gives another picture. On the last example above she is rather glorified than vilified.And it was one of many kind of depictions of Mary Magdalene.

Oral tradition. Folk Stories Geneis and Finding Sacred Art

 I wrote before that during middle Ages some ideas took lives on their own (proto- sciences). Today I will talk about folklore.

There is folk current in European Christianity, for example the  folk Catholicism. Secular or pagan  stories which were liked were appropriated, so, the Christian/religious current and the pagan/secular one created very interesting stream.

One  story is form Ukraine, and Belarus,( if I am right), and it is about a bird: the raven. It tells that "the raven’s plumage was very colorful as a rainbow, and even was radiating rays. Raven was a true bird of Paradise." When the paradise was no more, the land become barren, and the raven become black. But his plumage will be back in its full glory the moment the Paradise is back on Earth. Medieval art represented Paradise as radiant and colorful, cathedrals and basilicas were earthly representations of ideal of Paradise.

Other legends relate to concrete objects,  art which were found and installed in local churches and enjoyed special devotion. Typical motive: the sculpture, for ex. a Black Madonna, or an  icon was lost during turmoil, than was found in a miraculous way. Or even appeared in a miraculous way from the beginning, without being lost. The finders were the animals, such as cattle, or an owl, or a sheep. It appears to me that the animals are the most frequent finders of religious art, but I am not a folklorist, and those are just my original studies. My formal studies in this subject are limited, were part of my anthropology class, and dealt with the subject of art objects which were subject of veneration in Catholicism, and especially those relating to healing. I don't claim special knowledge here, (reading and listening stories passed as part of living oral tradition).

Sometimes instead of the animals young children are the finders.find the art taken then to the local church, or a blind woman. The story about the blind woman whose blindness was healed when she stood in the river and the crucifix was floating on the water, the Jesus on the crucifix talked to her and she was healed. It relates to one small village in Poznan region, Poland. This particular story has variants, including the treasure which was dug up by the oxen. The finders are somehow innocent, or under-priviledged. Those stories represent the idea that the divine is very accessible, and approachable through intuition, no special intellectual training is needed.

But lets go back to the story about the blind women. When the women was told by Jesus on the crucifix he wanted to stay at the local church (common motive, the holy one depicted decides on location where he/she wants to stay). The crucifix was pulled out of the river and put on a cart which was supposed to be pulled by oxen. But the load became so heavy, the oxen couldn't pull the cart even a a single step forward. They just were stepping in place. They tried and tried, but couldn't move, were just digging deeper and deeper into the soil. And this is how the oxen dug up the chest with golden treasure, from which the money was spend for renovation of the church. The chest is still exhibited in the church; the crucifix itself is in Gothic style, dated by art historians as created during early 15 c. The church itself became a local pilgrimage site. The crucifix was moved to other churches, richer and more impressive.The crucifix appeared in a miraculous way back in its humble church which was chosen at the beginning. This is also common: the artifact wants to stay in one and only place. But always I didn't visit this place, I didn't see the crucifix and the chest, but I listen to the story told by very old people. Maybe one day, I will visit this place too.

Red: Mary Magdalene's Case:Medieval Art, History of Color # 7

Mary Magdalene wasn't depicted only in red though history, as Virgin Mary wasn't depicted in blue only. But let take a look at the red, as both Marys were depicted in red garments. For example the red of the robes of Mary Magdalene had a different, double symbolism, than for example red of other persons' cloaks. Mary Magdalene's robes were painted in cinnabar red, (vermillion), having more hint of orange. Red in general can tend toward more to direction of yellow, or blue, and during the Middle Ages the quality of red was important, which red was symbolizing which idea. The other red symbolized regal values and charity.

 Here comes Crucifixion by Juan Rexach from Northon Simon Museum, Los Angeles. Due to poor lighting conditions the color of Mary Magdalene robes not very accurate on this photograph, in person is like on the photo bellow.

 Crucifixtion by Jaun Rexach, Norton Simon Museum Los Angeles

Here you can see desctiption and a better quality photo 
You can zoom into, and see very well the specific color of Mary Magdalene's garment.

Crucifixion by Masaccio, Museo di Capodimonte, Naples,public domain,  via Wikimedia Commons
 

 I am glad that Maria Rzepinska wisely comments is her book about color that red in Middle Ages was not just red, but it had two aspects. Red was one color in which case people paid attention to its shade, shades had codified meaning. Two types of red were differentiated: the noble one, considered sublimed, and the earthly one, viewed as "sinful". Several examples of this red can be seen close to my living place in California: Norton Simon Museum and  the Huntington Library art collection.But today Massacio, as more widely known.

In general, red stood for love in sense of charity, blood of martyrs, sacrifice on the cross, redemption through crucifixion. But as it could be a color of love in spiritual sense, redemption, also when in specific tone, could symbolize sin, or lust, or both: redemption form sin.This dichotomy is visible in portrayals of Virgin Mary as the sinless one who is represented in another red than Mary  Magdalene  ( dressed in "sinful" red). A medieval painted wouldn't confuse those two reds.


We need to remember that color in medieval art isn't always symbolic: sometimes just the need of decorative usage of color was important. In Latin Christianity (Byzantium was another case) the robes of such a person as Virgin Mary wouldn't have been painted in the same as red of Mary Magdalene's.

Above the crucifixion scene by Masaccio, Mary Magdalene in dramatic gesture of devotion and anguish dressed in red so typical for her. Although there are quite a number of representations of Mary Magdalene in this type of red, specially at crucifixion, this one is probably the most famous one. It is still very medieval. But there are hints of coming of the new era: the Renaissance in Italian art,there are more of human emotions shown. Gothic was very emotional in other countries, (for example showing suffering of Jesus),  but art in Italy was more reserved, making more usage of  Byzantine ideals.

 All  older medieval representations of crucifixion in Latin Christianity would show Jesus fully dressed, each foot nailed separately, and no signs of his suffering. With the passing of time Jesus became more humanized, specially in the art of Northern and Central Europe. The body was more and more exposed, agony and blood shown, feet nailed together. For example in German art Jesus was shown with great attention to expression. From Jesus as a symbol there was a shift  toward showing Jesus as a human being.

What about Masaccio himself? His name was Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone. He died when he was only 27 years old, and he wasn't as famous as the other painters of his times. Even his name was a humorous take on his given name. Masaccio, as he is known even today, is a form from Tom, meaning "clumsy" Tom, as separated form his collaborator Masolino,  the "delicate " Tom.

Yet Masaccio influenced the other Italian artists. It was his example which caused a shift in art:  more and more toward realistic representations of the world around. Here we see a paintings which is still medieval: composition, golden background.  But carved into the golden background humans who were much more real, not idealized, captured in a moment of strong emotion. Figures are real, not ideal.

Other colors of Mary Magdalne's robes in another post, more colors.
And my post about Mary Magdalene depicted in blue click here

Byzantine Christianity depicted her also in red,  with an egg in her hand. In this tradition she was an extremely virtuous woman in similar age of Jesus's mother, and both women died in Ephesus. Mary Magdalene's body was was kept in Constantinople as a very venerated relic. This dissapeared still during the Middle Ages, but also later her relics started to be venerated in Western Europe, Latin Christianity. Relics were hot commodity then, and many stolen from the Churches in Constantinople in 1204 when crusaders sacked and looted this cultured city. Virgin Mary's house is believed still to be there, what was one part of the Byzantine Empire, among ancient ruins of Ephesus, today in Turkey, in a rather remote location but among the most wonderful ruins.

The Famous Blue: History of Color # 5- the Middle Ages

 Wilton Diptych: Virgin and Child with Angels, Unknown French Master, via Wikimedia Commons

Blue was famous during the Middle Ages. People valued the color of the sky, it reminded them of heaven, and its symbolism put it close to gold: it was also the color of divine wisdom, (but gold was used also as light), color of spirituality, calm, contemplation, and all things heavenly. It became also the color of power, but about this on another occasion. Today I will explain the dense code of visual symbolism of the picture above.

Still during 15th century Cennino Cennini, (artist, who was also a writer and theorist of painting techniques) wrote that blue was “illustrious, beautiful, and most perfect, beyond all other colors”.

People talked and wrote a lot about this color. It was considered extremely beautiful and working good on human psyche, it was praised a lot. Also blue pigment was extremely expensive, and for this reason people talked about it in a very different context: painting was a business like any other enterprise, and business talks and written contracts regarding  commissions in which using blue was necessary, specified how much blue should be used. Blue pigment was almost as expensive as gold, sometimes more than gold. It had a beautiful name: ultramarine. It was imported from a valley which is today Afghanistan, made from nothing less than high quality semi-precious lapis lazuli stone, also used in jewelry. The poetic name ultramarine means "from beyond the seas." The stone was extremely difficult to grind, which added to the high price of the pigment.

Artists wanted to make sure how much of ultramarine was to be used, on which parts of the painting. Because of the high price of the pigment, and together with red it was usually reserved for painting robes of the Madonna and Jesus. This example is saturated with blue. Blue was specially the color of French Gothic, especially Late Gothic. Many Madonnas in French art had blue robes, after times of purple and red. (Red for Madonnas’ robes was used more often in the North).

What is the symbolism included in this painting? You know already about gold as diving light and wisdom, blue as divine wisdom and contemplation, things heavenly. This picture is about joys of heavenly existence. First, we have the banner of victory, the banner of resurrection. The colors represent purity of the soul, the sins of humanity washed clean with blood of love ( the sacrifice on the cross) . Wreaths of white roses on the heads of angels symbolize purity and joy of heavenly life. The broaches of the stags represent Jesus: stag means purity and destruction of evil (stag tramples on evil and destroys it). Black on of angels wings stands for depth of the divine mystery. 

Flowers: white rose represents purity and is the flower of the Virgin. The iris was also her emblem, and daisies stand for baby Jesus, his purity and innocence. A lot about purity, right? The vegetation was also emblem of purity; the Virgin was often shown in a garden, which was her emblem, hortus conclusus, "enclosed garden," symbolizing her virginity. Garden had also other meaning starting from early on in Christian art: it was representation of heavenly paradise.

This painting was commissioned for King Richard II. Here the Virgin looks like a fine courtly lady surrounded by ladies in waiting. During Medieval times adoration of the Virgin and courtly love had often similar visual and linguistic vocabulary.

Symbolism of Color, Medieval: Red, Blue, White and Gold History of Color # 4

During the Middle Ages the idea of splendor and light was extremely important in material creative expression. Very rich vocabulary was  used to describe light in art theory and in theology. Colors were seen as a part of symbolic expression, they were not supposed so much to imitate nature, as it happened later, during the Renaissance, but the goal of using colors was to express an ideal reality. Therefore was not much interest in showing shadow in art, but a lot of interest in showing the most possible clarity in colors. Paints were even mixed such way that they stayed as close as possible to the ideal hue of the best of pigments. And beauty was a representation of some kind of ideal reality, was it  luxury of secular art, or visionary and also luxurious  world of religious art. This ideal reality was thought to exist in colors, and colors had, in opinions of medieval people, their own inner light.

This thinking about the  ideal essences of things was the legacy of the Classics, of Plato and than of Plotinus. I hope not to make things too complicated, but symbolism, philosophy, iconography, mysticism, theology, and technicalities of making art were all  interconnected.

Medieval art put extreme emphasis on purity of colors. When digging deeper in art history we will see that there were some differences between Latin Christianity and the  Byzantine Christianity, but in general color ruled the art world.

Raw pigments, powdered metal. Yes, I prepare some of my paint from time to time, like in old days.

You see here the four most important colors of the Middle Ages. Yes, gold was considered a color, unlike today. Speaking of hues, we have almost primary colors, red, blue and yellow, as gold is close to yellow, and was replaced by cheaper yellow sometimes. Plus a neutral: white.

I start this part with two of those powders on the picture, (one raw pigment, one metal powder), which were relating to light: white and gold.

White: symbolized light, also  in theology which influenced art. White was a symbol of purity, innocence and renewal of spiritual life. During the early Middle Ages angles were shown as white, but later were colorful. It truly depends on time and place: later Middle Ages had colorful angels. Also the elders of Apocalypse, robes of Jesus, prophets, newly baptized people, considered innocent, the righteous people, Jesus in moment of transfiguration. But Jesus was not always shown in transfiguration in white robes only, Middle Ages had codified symbolism, but not rigid rules.

St Sever Apocalypse manuscript. Public domain, courtesy of French Wikipedia

 This example shows white as light (stars),  and as a symbol of innate purity as seen in  this white lamb from St. Sever Apocalypse manuscript.

Gold: as white was more representing physical light in the world, and also had symbolic meaning, the divine light was gold. The light reflecting properties were used freely, not only for decorative purposes but also to communicate theological truth, to show light out of this world. As the divine light was closely relating to the idea of absolute divine wisdom which it represented, the backgrounds of paintings and mosaics are golden. But not always, blue was used too. Gold symbolizing divine light represented spiritual illumination, and to indicate this state of blessedness, connection to the divine, or divinity itself. Halos were golden most of the time. But also there were halos painted blue.

 Here is the link to Hagia Sophia interior video. for those of you on whose search engines videos embedded in this blog do not show.Hagia Sophia means the Holy Wisdom in Greek, and it was the most magnificent church in the Constantinople,  the capital of the Byzantine Empire. Usage of gold is befitting the name of the church very well.

Red was color of love in sense of selfless love, like Christ's love fro humanity, agape which is the unconditional love, and blood of redemption and blood of martyrs. Blue was symbol of heaven,contemplation, things which are divine, life lived in accordance to the highest standards. More about those colors later.

 We need to keep in mind that system of  color symbol was not  rigid. There were canons in iconography, but it doesn't mean that the artists were slavishly following them. The philosophers and theologians were interpreting colors quite freely as well, a lot of abstract thinking went into writings about colors. Does it means we can't rely at all on color symbolism in Medieval art? Yes, we can. But we should approach it with open mind, and remember that there are no absolutes. Also the symbolic language of colors in religious art was adopted by secular art, but the meaning of one color in religious art many not be exact the same in secular art. For example white was worn by French queens as the color of mourning. Purple was color of mourning too, in addition of symbolizing royal, or imperial power.

A very informative article about color http://renaissanceclothing.blogspot.com/2011/02/meaning-of-renaissance-and-medieval.html in Renaissance and Medieval  clothing. Not only is the author very well informed, but also gives warning not to interpret things too rigidly.

History of Color # 2: Color during Middle Ages

Yesterday I mentioned  the psychological impact the stained glass windows had on people during the Middle Ages, giving the viewers sense of awe. I have chosen to start with stained glass windows, as a window is very close to light by its function. And when glass is colorful it has strong similarity to a  precious stone. People during the so-called "Dark Ages" were obsessed with light and splendor. They loved bright hues, which reminded them of precious jewels. The comparison of color to precious stones was common among medieval writing which we still can read today.

People also loved gold, not only for its high material value, and being a metal  of bright color, but also for its light reflecting properties. Gold was, logically, the symbol of divinity, of spiritual illumination, and most of all, of divine light. Among the colors of  the rainbow the most  beloved color "trinity" during the Middle Ages was gold, blue and red. Yes, gold instead of yellow. Yellow was used as cheaper alternative to gold, but became also ambiguous, I will elaborate on this subject another time .

 Practical reasons also played a role in those choices: for example in a  dimly lit church, when you have bright colors and gold, everything looks more luminous, splendorous. And gold reflects light in the shadow, it gives a beautiful glow, as you see on the picture.

Interior of a church, can't recall which one, somewhere in the Black  Forest area, Germany.

As the medieval minds were so enamored with colors and light, it is understandable that a very complex metaphysics of light was developed by the scholars, theologians, and other  writers. When those people wrote about beauty, they often wrote  using therms describing light. This was not only comparison to the sunlight, but also to a fire. You can imagine the glow of gilded altar like on the photo above was fitting the aesthetic, religious and philosophical expectations of the viewers centuries ago. The Middle Ages used a very extensive vocabulary describing light.

To this  vocabulary of the aesthetics of light belongs the term "illuminated manuscripts,"  which refers to medieval books containing masterful calligraphy, richly painted in many colors and gilded with gold. Those books were adorned by ornate letters, and often had  lush illustrations.  The creation of illuminated manuscripts was a time consuming process, done by monks who were able and willing to spend their lives copping or illustrating books by hand . Take a look at this initial from an  illuminated manuscript. 

This Madonna with Child. is  a very typical example of Medieval painting.Golden background was such norm in religious art during the  Middle Ages, as it represented divine light and wisdom. Often the halos of the saints were painted blue, which represented spiritual virtues, contemplation and divinity, and  contrasted nicely with gold. Halos were painted in gold too, and the name "aureole" comes form the name of gold in Latin. Golden aureoles in religious art survived for long time.

Gold and precious stones, or color enamels was used on book covers and  reliquaries. Enamels were also used in jewelery. It was all about color. I have chosen to show you the beautiful chasse from the collection of Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the golden reliquary of the magi shrine from Cologne cathedral. The form of  the chasses was common. Such clear are the colors of the Chasse with Crucifixion and Christ in Majesty . The  Magi Shrine  Reliquary looks very architectural, often reliquaries had this form, imitated architecture: they are like little golden buildings in miniature.

And this beautiful Bust of the Virgin still has lush traces of its original bright paint!

Take a look at this example: it is the portal of the cathedral in Freiburg, Germany. I apologize for the poor quality of this picture: when I took it,  there was a plastic net spanned during renovation work, and this created strange light reflexes. (Talking about light, ha!) But you can surely  guess the richness of colorful paint and gold when the portal was freshly made, and was carefully kept this way. The interiors of the Medieval cathedrals were colorful too. Not garish, but simply intense, jewel-like. If the budgets of the cities allowed for such splurge, the ceilings of the cathedrals were painted in blue and adorned with golden stars. Today this doesn't seem like a real splurge now,  but then blue pigments were expensive.
                                                                                                                                                                    

Portal of the cathedral in Freiburg, Germany.

I hope you like the links, as the pictures are of  high quality, (not like my take of the portal), and have perfect descriptions. If you have chance, you can see those examples in person at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. This museum has great collections. Freiburg is great to visit also, but the Cologne cathedral is very unusual in this regard that is the closest to the ideal of a Gothic cathedral as such. Not only the very slender proportions, but it is a truly a  finished cathedral. Some ideals were designed in theory, but never totally finished in real life. You see sometimes towers which were never finished, have flat tops without spires, like some of the  famous cathedrals in France.

Coming soon: the post about colors disliked by the medieval people, and after that a post about symbolic meaning of colors. Please, stay tuned.

History of Color in Westen Art #1: Introduction

Physics can measure color: its energy and the length of waves are measurable. Color influences us on psychological level, and certain reactions to color can be measured. Physiological responses, like for example increase of blood pressure in reaction to red, or increased appetite in reaction to orange, and other reactions to other colors are measurable also. This belongs to the domain of psychologists and other researchers in the medical field.

There is of course the realm of emotional responses to color, which are individual, but quite often also culturally influenced. But what about art history? Do we can better understand art if we know more about color? Or  is color only a part of a given artist's aesthetic preferences, matter of subjective, personal taste?

Yes, we can understand more about art if we know more about color. Any color palette of a given epoch was also reflection not only of tastes, but also the philosophy and theology of the times, as  or example in Medieval art. But color choices also depended on very mundane matters, such as the accessibility or shortage of certain pigments.

Color as simply a matter of artistic tastes of creative individuals and nothing more? Yes, very often. But it was not always so. Freedom in using color as we see today was possible first in modern times, when chemists started to produce artists paints. Before  the industrial advances in paint making the artists had a much more limited palette, which fact to some extend dictated the expressive qualities of art they created.

Take simple  examples like Old Masters, or the colors of stained glass windows in Chartres (and other cathedrals). Old Masters had quite limited choice of pigments in comparison to modern times. Also very famous Chartres blue as a  phenomenon  is a mixture of technical skills and knowledge about chemistry which the makers of the stained glass windows possessed, but also accessibility of materials played strong part in it. We  need to add in this mix also the symbolism of color during the Middle Ages, optical qualities of glass, philosophy relating to architecture which the windows were supposed to enhance, etc. Stained glass windows served as heavenly vision, were supposed to create awe, to be like precious stones, no less. And the medieval minds didn't create too much difference between the real precious stones and stained glass. So, freedom of expression was tempered by the requirements of functionality.

Blue was of course the color of the sky, spirituality, contemplation and symbolized divine wisdom. The luminosity of the stained glass itself  represented  spiritual illumination. Please click on the link to see the Notre Dame