. Sacred and legendary art . HERMITS OF THE. ?iERT (LoRENZETTi) ST. MARINA 741 In the centre of the picture is a hermit looking down upona skull, which he is touching with his staff; this figure repre-sents St. Macarius of Alexandria, one of the most famous ofthese anchorites, and of whom many stories were current inthe middle ages. The figure with the skull alludes to one ofthe most popular and significant of these religious apologues: One day, as Macarius wandered amongst those ancientEgyptian tombs wherein he had made himself a dwelling-place, he found the skull of a mummy, and, turning it
. Sacred and legendary art . HERMITS OF THE. ?iERT (LoRENZETTi) ST. MARINA 741 In the centre of the picture is a hermit looking down upona skull, which he is touching with his staff; this figure repre-sents St. Macarius of Alexandria, one of the most famous ofthese anchorites, and of whom many stories were current inthe middle ages. The figure with the skull alludes to one ofthe most popular and significant of these religious apologues: One day, as Macarius wandered amongst those ancientEgyptian tombs wherein he had made himself a dwelling-place, he found the skull of a mummy, and, turning it overwith his crutch, he inquired to whom it belonged; and itreplied, ^ To a pagan. And Macarius, looking into the emptyeyes, said, ^ Where, then, is thy soul ? And the head replied,^ In hell. Macarius asked, ^ How deep ? And the head re-plied, The depth is greater than the distance from heaven toearth. Then Macarius asked, ^Are there any deeper thanthou art ? The skull replied, ^ Yes, the Jews are deeperstill. And Macarius asked, ^Are the
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubjec, booksubjectchristianartandsymbolism
