CHAP. IV. a relic. We therefore inquired concerning it, of the Arab to whom this place principally belonged he told us the picture had been found in moving a heap of rubbish belonging to the church; and that there were others of the same kind, which were discovered in clearing some stones and mortar out of an old vaulted lumber-room belonging to the building, where the villagers had since been accustomed to keep their plaister bee-hives' and their labouring tools. To this place he conducted us. It was near to the altar. The Arab opened it for us; and there, in the midst of bee-hives, implements of husbandry, and other lumber, we found two pictures upon wood, of the same kind, almost entire, but in the condition which might be expected from the manner of their discovery. Of these curious relics, highly interesting, from the circumstances of their origin, and their great antiquity as specimens of the art of painting, a more particular description will now be given. (1) Hasselquist was at this place upon the fifth of May, 1751. The monks who were with him alighted to honour the ruins of the church. "The inhabitants," says he, "breed a great number of bees. They make their hives of clay, four feet long, and half a foot in diameter, as in EGYPT." This sort of bee-hive is also used in CRPRUS. See p. 57 of this Volume. The first, namely, that which was found in two pieces upon the altar, represents the interior of an apartment, with two aged persons seated at table. A young person is represented as coming into the house, and approaching the table. A circular symbol of sanctity surrounds the heads of all of them; and the picture, according to the most antient style of painting, is executed upon a golden back-ground. The (2) Having presented this picture to the Rev. T. Kerrich, Principal Librarian of the University of Cambridge, exactly as it was found upon the altar of the Church of Sephoury, that gentleman, well known for the attention he has paid to the history of antient painting, has, at the author's request, kindly communicated the following result of his observations upon the subject. "This antient picture is on cloth, pasted upon wood, and appears to be painted in water-colours upon a priming of chalk, and then varnished, in the manner taught by Theophilus*, an author who is supposed to have lived as early as the tenth century. "It is a fragment, and nearly one-fourth part of it seems to be lost. Three persons, who, by the Nimbus or Glory about the head of each, must be all Saints, are at a table, on which are radishes or some other roots, bread, &c. Two of the figures are sitting; and one of them holds a gold vessel, of a particular form, with an ear; the other a gold cup, with red liquor in it: the third appears to be speaking, and points up to heaven. "The Glories, and some other parts of the picture, are gilt, as the whole of the back-ground certainly was originally. "It is undoubtedly a great curiosity, and very antient, although it may be extremely difficult to fix its date with any degree of accuracy. From the style I cannot conclude any thing, as I never saw any other picture like it; but there is nothing in the architecture represented in it to induce us to suppose it can be later than the end of the eleventh century; and it may be a great deal older." See Raspe's Essay on Oil-Painting, pp. 68 and 87, 4to. Lond. 1781. + Page 46 of the same book. CHAP. IV. IV. CHAP. subject is said to be Christ made known to the two Disciples at Emmaus, in breaking of bread. Upon the table appears a flagon, some radishes, and other articles of food. One of the Disciples is represented holding a cup half filled with red wine, and the right hand of our Saviour rests upon a loaf of bread1. A chandelier, with burning candles, hangs from the ceiling; and, what is more remarkable, the Fleur de Lis, as an ornament, appears among the decorations of the apartment. The form of the chalice in the hand of one of the Disciples, added to the circumstance of the chandelier, give to this picture an air of less antiquity than seems to characterize the second, which we found in the vaulted chamber, near to the altar; although these afford no document by which its age may be determined. Candelabra, nearly of the same form, were in use at a very early period, as we learn from the remains of such antiquities in bronze; and the Lily, as a symbolical (1) In a former Edition, the author had stated a different opinion respecting the subject of this picture; but he has been induced to alter it, in consequence of there being a similar picture in one of the painted glass windows of Lichfield Cathedral, which is known to represent the meeting between our Saviour and the two Disciples at Emmaus, as here specified. (2) The vulgar appellation of Fleur de Luce is given in England to a species of Iris: but the flower originally designated by the French term Fleur de Lis, was, as its name implies, a Lily. It is represented in all antient paintings of the Virgin; and sometimes in the hand of the allusion to the name of Nazareth, has been seen upon religious pictures as long as any specimens ...... the Archangel, in pictures of the Annunciation: thereby denoting the advent of the Messiah. Its original consecration was of very high antiquity. In the Song of Solomon (ch. ii. 1,2.) it is mentioned with the Rose, as an emblem of the Church: "I am the Rose of Sharon, and the Lily of the Valley." This alone is sufficient to explain its appearance upon religious paintings. Its introduction as a type in Heraldry may be referred to the Crusades. It appears in the crown worn by Edward the Confessor, according to a coin engraved both in Speed and in Camden. But there is another circumstance which renders its situation upon pictures of the Virgin peculiarly appropriate: the word NAZABETH, in Hebrew, signifies a flower: and St. Jerom, who mentions this circumstance (tom. 1. epist. xvii. ad Marcellam. See also Fuller's Palestine, Book II. c. 6. p. 143. Lond. 1650) considers it to be the cause of the allusion made to a flower in the prophecies concerning Christ. Marinus Sanutus hints at this prophetical allusion in the writings of Isaiah. These are his words: "Hæc est illa amabilis civitas Nazareth, quæ florida interpretatur: in quâ flos campi oritur, dum in Virgine Verbum caro efficitur. ... Ornatus tamen illo nobili flore, super quem constat Spiritum Domini quievisse. 'Ascendet,' inquit Isayas, 'flos de radice Jesse, et requiescet super eum Spiritus Domini.'" (Marin. Sanut. Secret, Fidel. Cruc. lib. iii. pars. 7. c. 2.) Hence the cause wherefore, in antient paintings used for illuminating Missals, the Rose and the Lily, separately or combined, accompany pictures of the Virgin. In old engravings, particularly those by Albert Durer, the irgin is rarely represented unaccompanied by the Lily. Hence, again, the origin of those singular paintings wherein subjects connected with the history of Christ are represented within a wreath of flowers, added, not for ornamental purposes only, but as having a religious interpretation; and hence, in all probability, the curious antient legend of the miraculous flowering of Joseph's staff in the Temple, whereby the will of God, concerning his marriage with the Virgin, was said to be miraculously manifested. See the Book of The Golden Legende,' as printed by Caxton. In the account given by Quaresmius concerning Nazareth, (lib. vii. c. 5. Elucid. Terr. Sanct.) Christ is denominated "Flos campi, et Lilium convallium, cujus odor est sicut odor agri pleni.” Vide tom. II. p. 817. Antverp. 1639. CHAP. CHAP. of the art of painting have been known, which IV. bear reference to the history of the Church. The wood of the sycamore was used for the backs of all these pictures; and to this their preservation may be attributed; as the sycamore is never attacked by worms, and is known to endure for ages. Indeed, the Arabs maintain that it is not, any degree, liable to decay. in The second exhibits a more antient style of painting: it is a picture of the Virgin, bearing, in swaddling-clothes, the infant JESUS. The style of it exactly resembles those curious specimens of the art which are found in the churches of Russia; excepting, that it has an Arabic, instead of a Greek inscription. This picture, as well as the former, is painted acording to the mode prescribed by Theophilus, in his chapter De Tabulis Altarium;' which alone affords satisfactory proof of its great antiquity. The colours were applied to a priming of chalk upon cloth previously stretched over a wooden tablet, and covered with a superficies of gluten or size. The Arabic inscription, placed in the (1) See the Frst Volume of these Travels, Chap. II. (2) See the antient Manuscript published by Raspe, and referred to by Mr. Kerrick, in his Note upon the former picture. |