(no subject)

[tree_and_leaf]

Yesterday I went to an extremely good talk about depictions of the apostles in Freiburg Minster (which is exceptionally interesting architecturally), and learned a myriad of interesting facts, such as that apostles are very rarely depicted without shoes - except St Bartholomew, because he was patron saint of the tanners†, and James, because of the pilgrims to Santiago all requiring shoes. The reason for this seems to be the sending out of the apostles without bags or shoes or a second shirt, thought the lecturer noted that in Luke's Gospel Jesus also specifies that they should wear sandals. The lecturer attributed this to Luke being a doctor and therefore concerned about the medical aspect; I think he was joking. At any rate, he knew a stunning amount about mediaeval art in general and the Minster in particular, which is impressive given that he's a retired Germanist rather than an art historian.

I can't find any decent pictures of the Freiburger apostles online, so for sheer comedy value, have a link to an image from the Minster of an ox trying to eat the swaddling bands. (Clearly, a very stupid ox, given that there was hay lying about. If it had been a goat, I could have understood it - and it would have explained Our Lord's otherwise somewhat inexplicable prejudice against goats, which I've never understood, given that they were his idea in the first place!)



† For the unedifying reason that according to the Legenda Aurea, he was flayed alive. For some reason this seems even more tactless than making Sebastian the patron saint of fletchers.

Comments

[angevin2.livejournal.com]

For some reason this seems even more tactless than making Sebastian the patron saint of fletchers.

I love that kind of patronage. Isn't it St. Apollonia who is patron saint of dentists because the process of her martyrdom involved having her teeth knocked out? (Also, I just looked this up to confirm it and found that St. Rene Goupil's position as patron of anesthesiologists is the result of his death by a tomahawk to the head. !!!)

[tree_and_leaf]

Oh, I love the S Rene one! Much more interesting than the reason why Isidore of Seville is patron of the internet (compiler of reference books) - though mind you, given the wildness of his etymologies and some of the things you find on the net, it is very apt.

[sacred-sarcasm.livejournal.com]

I suppose the shoes would look odd considering S Bartholomew's often depicted with his flayed skin hanging in one piece off his arm (which it utterly utterly gross)

I was once present at a conversation (between two high-anglican types of the campest variety) in the most questionable taste about St. Sebastian (rahter a lot of 'he could stick his arrow in me' type comments ;) )

[tree_and_leaf]

Fortunately, S Bartholomew had his skin still entirely on. (On the even more disturbing front, I was recently reading an article about an admittedly very confusing vision of Angela of Foligno, who had a vision of Bartholomew with his skin off, and then seques into a remark about struggling with feelings of guilt. The academic remarks that as this was B and given the references to flaying, Angela must have repressed disturbing sexual fantasies about him, hence the guilt. Which left me feeling that I didn't want to know about the academic's perversions, thanks†)

The S Sebastian conversation is all too plausible, and is the kind of thing that sometimes makes me wonder why I self-identify as Anglo-Catholic.... ("sodomites with unpleasant accents"....?)

† "Your kink is not my kink, and that's OK" is in many ways an admirable motto, but I draw the line at people who have had their skin violently removed!

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Good taste is a recent invention.

[tree_and_leaf]

Well, our idea of it certainly is; I think you can find something comparable in courtly literature (though not, I quite agree, in hagiography).

I still think it's tactless, though!