"Descend from heaven, Urania, by that name
If rightly thou art called, whose voice divine
Following, above the Olympian hill I soar,
Above the flight of Pegasean wing.
The meaning, not the name, I call : for thou
Nor of the Muses nine, nor on the top
Of old Olympus dwell'st ; but, heavenly-born,
Before the hills appeared, or fountain flowed,
Thou with Eternal Wisdom didst converse,
Wisdom thy sister, and with her didst play
In presence of the Almighty Father, pleased
With thy celestial song."
"Your apprehension from some real thing
Animage draws, and in yourselves displays it,
So that it makes the soul turn unto it."
Some commentators interpret them as the seven Sacraments of the Church ; others, as the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost.
These four and twenty elders are supposed to symbolize here the four and twenty books of the Old Testament. The crown of lilies indicates the purity of faith and doctrine.
"The general application of the Four Creatures to the Four Evangelists is of much earlier date than the separate and individual application of each symbol, which has varied at different times ; that propounded by St. Jerome, in his commentary on Ezekiel, has since his time prevailed universally. Thus, then,--I. To St. Matthew was given the CHERUB, or human semblance, because he begins his Gospel with the human generation of Christ ; or, according to others, because in his Gospel the human nature of the Saviour is more insisted on than the divine. In the most ancient mosaics, the type is human, not angelic, for the head is that of a man with a beard.
2. St Mark has the LION, because he has set forth the royal dignity of Christ; or, according to others, because he begins with the mission of the Baptist, -- 'the voice of one crying in the wilderness,' --which is figured by the lion: or, according to a third interpretation, the lion was allotted to St. Mark because there was, in the Middle Ages, a popular belief that the young of the lion was born dead, and after three days was awakened to vitality by the breath of its sire ; some authors, however, represent the lion as vivifying his young, not by his breath, but by his roar. In either case the application is the same ; the revival of the young lion was considered as symbolical of the resurrection, and Mark was commonly called the 'historian of the resurrection.' Another commentator observes that Mark begins his Gospel with 'roaring,'--' the voice of one crying in the wilderness;' and ends it fearfully with a curse,-- 'He that believeth not shall be damned;' and that, therefore, his appropriate attribute is the most terrible of beasts, the lion. 3. Luke has the OX, because he has dwelt on the priesthood of Christ, the ox being the emblem of sacrifice. 4. John has the EAGLE, which is the symbol of the highest inspiration, because he soared upwards to the contemplation of the divine nature of the Saviour."
"The mystical bird of two colours is understood in the manuscript of Herrade to mean the Church; in Dante, the bi-formed bird is the representative of the Church, the Pope. The Pope, in fact, is both priest and king; he directs the souls and governs the persons of men he reigns over things in heaven. The Pope, then, is but one single person in two natures, and under two forms ; he is both eagle and lion. In his character of Pontiff or as an eagle, he hovers in the heavens, and ascends even to the throne of God to receive his commands; as the lion or king he walks upon the earth in strength and power."
He adds in a note : "Some commentators of Dante have supposed the griffin to be the emblem of Christ, who, in fact, is one single person with two natures ; of Christ, in whom God and man are combined. But in this they are mistaken ; there is, in the first place, a manifest impropriety in describing the car as drawn by God as by a beast of burden. It is very doubtful even whether Dante can be altogether freed from the imputation of a want of reverence in harnessing the Pope to the car of the Church."
"A golden axle did the work uphold,
Jove called to witness every power above,
See also Inf XVII. Note 107.
"At what period the sword was given to St. Paul as his distinctive attribute is with antiquaries a disputed point; certainly much later than the keys were given to Peter. If we could be sure that the mosaic on the tomb of Otho the Second, and another mosaic already described, had not been altered in successive restorations, these would be evidence that the sword was given to St. Paul as his attribute as early as the sixth century; but there are no monuments which can be absolutely trusted as regards the introduction of the sword before the end of the eleventh century; since the end of the fourteenth century it has been so generally adopted, that in the devotional effigies I can remember no instance in which it is omitted. When St. Paul is leaning on the sword, it expresses his martyrdom; when he holds it aloft, it expresses also his warfare in the cause of Christ: when two swords
are given to him, one is the attubute, the other the emblem ; but this double allusion does not occur in any of the older representations. In Italy I never met with St. Paul bearing two swords, and the only instance I can call to mind is the bronze statue by Peter Vischer, on the shrine of St. Sebald, at Nuremberg."
"What flowers are these?
"St. John, habited in priest's garments, descends the steps of an altar into an open grave, in which he lays himself down, not in death, but in sleep, until the coming of Christ; 'being reserved alive with Enoch and Elijah (who also knew not death), to preach against the Antichrist in the last days.' This fanciful legend is founded on the following text: 'Peter, seeing the disciple whom Jesus loved following, saith unto Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Then went this saying abroad among the brethren that that disciple should not die.' (John
xxi. 21, 22.)"
"Dante's sublime pageant of the Church Militant is one of the most marvellous processions ever marshalled on paper. In the invention, arrangement, grouping, and colouring the poet has shown himself a great master in art, familiar with all the stately requirements of solemn shows, festivals, and triumphs. Whatever he may have gathered from the sacred records, and from classic writers, or seen in early mosaics, or witnessed in the streets of Florence with her joyous population, her May-day dancers, and the military pomp of her magnificent Carroccio, like the ark of the covenant going forth with the host, has here been surpassed in invention and erudition, and a picture produced at once as original as it is impressive, as significant as it is grand. Petrarca was, probably, indebted to it for his 'Trionfi,' so frequently in favour with Italian artists.
"This canto with the four that follow form a poem which, though an essential portion of the Divina Commedia, may be separately considered as the continuation of the poetic vision mentioned in the Vita Nuova, and the fulfilment of the intention there expressed.
"It represents the symbolical passage of the Christian Church, preceded by the Hebrew dispensation, and followed by the disastrous effects of schism, and the corruptions induced by the unholy conduct of political Pontiffs. The soul of this solemn exhibition, the living and glorified principle of the beatitude which Religion pure and holy confers upon those who embrace it, is personified in the 'Donna,' to whom Dante from his earliest youth had been more or less devoted, the Beatrice of the Vita Nuova, 'Loda di Dio vera,' who concentrates in herself the divine wisdom with which the Church is inspired, whom angels delight to honour, and whose advent on earth had been prepared from all eternity by the moral virtues.
"Beatrice is here presented as the principle of divine beatitude, or that which confers it, and beaits a resemblance to the figure of the New Jerusalem seen by St. John descending from heaven 'as a bride adorned for her husband' (Rev. xxi. 2); a representation of which, in the manner of Raphael, occurs in one of the tapestries of the Vatican, and, though not arrayed in the colours of the Clinstian virtues, Faith, Hope, and Charity, white and green and red, as was Beatrice, may yet be regarded as a Roman version of her."
Didron, describing the painting of the Triumph of Christ in the Church of Notre Dame de Brou, Christian Iconography, Millington's Tr., 1. 315, says:--
"In the centre of all rises the Hero of the Triumph, Jesus Christ, who is seated in an open car with four wheels. He alone is adorned with a nimbus formed of rays, departing from each point of the head, and which illumines everything around. With one glance he embraces the past which precedes, and the future which is to succeed him. His face resembles that drawn by Raphael and the masters of the period of Renaissance, agreeing with the description given by Lentulus and Damascenus; it is serious and gentle. In the centre of the chariot is placed a starry globe traversed by the ecliptic, on which the twelve signs of the zodiac are brilliantly figured. This globe is symbolic of the world, and forms a throne for Christ: the Son of God is seated on its summit. The car is placed upon four wheels, and drawn by the four attributes or symbols of the Evangelists. The angel of St. Matthew, and the eagle of St. John, are of celestial whiteness; the lion of St. Mark, and the ox of St. Luke, are of a reddish yellow, symbolizing the earth on which they dwell. The eagle and angel do, in fact, fly; while the lion and the ox walk. Yet upon the painted window all the four have wings. A rein of silver, passing round the neck of each of the four symbols, is attached to the pole of the chariot. The Church, represented by the four most elevated religious potentates, by the Pope, the Cardinal, the Archbishop, and Bishop, or by the four chief Fathers, St. Gregory, St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, and St. Augustine, drives the four-wheeled car, and, in conjunction with the Evangelists, urges it onward. Jesus guides his triumph, not holding reins, but shedding blessings from his right hand wherever he passes.
"The entire assemblage of persons represented on the window are seen marching onwards, singing with joy. Within the spaces formed by the mullions which trellis the upper part of the window, forty-six angels are represented with long golden hair, white transparent robes, and wings of yellow, red, violet, and green; they are all painted on a background of azure, like the sky, and celebrate with blended voices, or with musical instruments, the glory of Christ. Some have in their hands instruments of different forms, others books of music.
The four animals of the Evangelists seem with sonorous voice to swell the acclamations of the hosts of saints; the ox with his bellowing, the lion with his roar, the eagle with his cry, and the angel with his song, accompany the songs of the forty-six angels who fill the upper part of the window. At the head of the procession is an angel who leads the entire company, and, with a little cross which he holds in his hand, points out to all the Paradise they are to enter. Finally, twelve other angels, blue as the heaven into which they melt, join in adoration before the triumph of Christ."
"Dante has given a description of a similar triumph, but marked by some interesting differences. The Florentine poet formed his cortege of figures taken from the Apocalypse and Christian symbolism. At Brou, with the exception of the attributes of the Evangelists, everything is historical. In the sixteenth century, in fact, history began to predominate over symbolism, which in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries had reigned supreme. Dante, who was a politic poet, drew the triumph, not of Christ, but of the Church; the triumph of Catholicism rather than of Christianity. The chariot by which he represents the Church is widowed of Christ, whose figure is so important on the window of Brou; the chariot is empty, and Dante neither discovered this deficiency, nor was concerned to rectify it; for he was less anxious to celebrate Christ and his doctrine, for their own sake, than as connected with the organization and administration of the Church. He described the car as drawn by the griffin, thereby representing the Pope, for the griffin unites in itself the characteristics of both eagle and lion. Now the Pope is also twofold in character; as priest he is the eagle floating in the air; as king, he is a lion, walking upon the earth. The Ultramontane poet regarded the Church, that is the Papacy, in the light of an absolute monarchy; not a limited monarchy as with us, and still less a republic, as amongst the schisma-tics of Greece and of the East. Consequently, while, at Brou, the Cardinal, the Archbishop, and Bishop assist the Pope in guiding the car of the Church, in the 'Divina Commedia,' the Pope is alone, and aecepts of no assistance from the other great ecclesiastical dignitaries. At Brou the car is guided by the Evangelists, or by their attributes; ecclesiastical power is content merely to lend its aid. According to the Italian poet, the Evangelists, although present at the Triumph, do not conduct it; the Pope is himself the sole guide of the Church, and permits neither the Evangelists to direct nor ecclesiastics to assist him. The Pope seems to require no assistance; his eye and arm alone are sufficient for him."
Longfellow (1897), Purg. 29.107
The triumphal chariot is the Church. The two wheels are generally interpreted as meaning the Old and New Testaments ; but Dante, Par. XII. 106, speaks of them as St. Dominic and St. Francis.
Longfellow (1897), Purg. 29.108
108. The Griffin, half lion and half eagle, is pexplained by all the commpen-tators as a symbol of Christ, in his di-vine and human naturpe. Didron, in his Christian Iconography, interprets it differently. He says, Millington's Tr.,1.458:--
Longfellow (1897), Purg. 29.110
The wings of the Griffin extend upward between the middle list or trail of splendour of the seven candles and the three outer ones on each side.
Longfellow (1897), Purg. 29.117
The chariot of the sun, which Phaeton had leave to drive for a day, is thus described by Ovid, Met. II., Addison's Tr. :--
Gold was the beam, the wheels were orbed
with gold.
The spokes in rows of silver pleased the sight,
The seat with party-coloured gems was bright;
Apollo shined amid the glare of light."
Longfellow (1897), Purg. 29.120
In smiting Phaeton with a thunderbolt. Ovid, Met. II.:--
And even the god whose soil the chariot drove,
That what he acts he is compelled to do,
Or universal ruin must ensue.
Straight he ascends the high ethereal throne,
From whence he used to dart his thunder down,
From whence his showers and storms he used to pour,
But now could meet with neither 'torin nor shower:
Then, aiming at the youth, with lifted hand,
Full at his head he hurled the forky brand,
In dreadful thund'rings. Thus th' almighty sire
Suppressed the raging of the fires with fire." Longfellow (1897), Purg. 29.121
The three Theological or Evangelical Virtues, Charity, Hope, and
Faith. For the symbolism of colours in Art, see Mrs. Jameson, Sacred and LegendaryArt, quoted Canto VIII. Note
28.
Longfellow (1897), Purg. 29.130
The four Cardinal Virtues, Justice, Prudence, Fortitude, and Temperance. They are clothed in purple to mark their nobility. Prudence is represented with three eyes, as looking at the past, the present, and the future.
Longfellow (1897), Purg. 29.133
St. Luke and St. Paul.
Longfellow (1897), Purg. 29.136
St. Luke is supposed to have been a physician; a belief founded on Colossians iv. 14, "Luke, the beloved physician." The animal that nature holds most dear is man.
Longfellow (1897), Purg. 29.140
The sword with which St. Paul is armed is a symbol of warfare and martyrdom; "I bring not peace, but a sword." St. Luke's office was to heal; St. Paul's to destroy. Mrs. Jameson, Sacred and Legendary Art, I. 188, says :--Longfellow (1897), Purg. 29.142
The four Apostles James, Peter, John, and Jude, writers of the Canonical Epistles. The red flowers, with which their foreheads seem all aflame, are symbols of martyrdom. Massinger, Virgin Martyr, V. I:--
In Dioclesian's gardens, the most beauteous
Compared with these are weeds."
Longfellow (1897), Purg. 29.143
St. John, writer of the Apocalypse ; here represented as asleep ; as if he were "in the spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind him a great voice as of a trumpet." Or perhaps the alluslon may be to the belief of the early Christians that John did not die, but was sleeping till the second coming of Christ. This subject has been represented in mediaeva1 Art as follows. Mrs. Jameson, Sacred and Legendary Art, I. 139:--Longfellow (1897), Purg. 29.154
Of this canto and those that follow, Dr. Barlow, Study ofthe Div. Com., p.270, says:--