. Sacred and legendary art . at they repre-sent the two powerswhich in the middleages divided the Chris-tian world betweenthem. St. Catherineappears as the patronessof schoolmen, of theo-logical learning, study,and seclusion ; St. Bar-bara as patroness of theknight and the man-at-arms — of fortitude andactive courage. Or, in other words, they represent the activeand the contemplative life, so often contrasted in the mediaevalworks of Art. ( Vide Legends of the Madonna.) There is a beautiful and well-known drawing by J. vanEyck, in which St. Barbara is seated in front, with outspreadample drape
. Sacred and legendary art . at they repre-sent the two powerswhich in the middleages divided the Chris-tian world betweenthem. St. Catherineappears as the patronessof schoolmen, of theo-logical learning, study,and seclusion ; St. Bar-bara as patroness of theknight and the man-at-arms — of fortitude andactive courage. Or, in other words, they represent the activeand the contemplative life, so often contrasted in the mediaevalworks of Art. ( Vide Legends of the Madonna.) There is a beautiful and well-known drawing by J. vanEyck, in which St. Barbara is seated in front, with outspreadample drapery and long fair hair flowing over her her is a magnificent Gothic tower, of most elaboratearchitecture, on which a number of masons and builders areemployed. [Antwerp, Mus^e.] St. Barbara is frequently introduced into pictures of thethroned Madonna. The most celebrated example is the ^^ Ma-donna di San Sisto of Baphael [Dresden], in which she iskneeling to the left of the Virgin \ on the other side is St. Barbara (Van Eyck) ST. BARBARA 489 Sixtus. The expression in the two saints is admirably dis-criminated. St. Sixtus implores the Virgin in favor of thebrotherhood for whom the picture was painted; St. Barbararequires for the Virgin the devotions of the faithful. I havealready observed that, where saints are grouped together, theusual pendant of St. Barbara is St. Catherine, unless there arespecial reasons for introducing some other personage, — as inthis instance: the picture having been painted for the monas-tery of San Sisto at Piacenza. Historical pictures of St. Barbara are confined to few sub-jects. 1. In a small ancient picture, evidently part of a predella,St. Barbara with two female attendants is seen standing beforea tower, which has a drawbridge let down over a moat; sheseems about to enter; several masons are at work building thetower. In the other half of the picture she is lying in a shrinehung with votive offerings, and the crippled and
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubjec, booksubjectchristianartandsymbolism
