Legends of the Madonna, as represented in the fine artsForming the third series of Sacred and legendary art . 22 Mater Doloroso. swords, in allusion to theseven sorrows. This verymaterial and palpable ver-sion of the allegorical pro- Luke, a. has been found ex-tremely effective as anappeal to the popular feel-ings, so that there are fewRoman Catholic churcheswithout such a painful andliteral interpretation of thetext. It occurs perpetuallyin prints, and there is afine example after Yan-dyck; sometimes the swordsare placed round her head;— but there is no instance from the best period
Legends of the Madonna, as represented in the fine artsForming the third series of Sacred and legendary art . 22 Mater Doloroso. swords, in allusion to theseven sorrows. This verymaterial and palpable ver-sion of the allegorical pro- Luke, a. has been found ex-tremely effective as anappeal to the popular feel-ings, so that there are fewRoman Catholic churcheswithout such a painful andliteral interpretation of thetext. It occurs perpetuallyin prints, and there is afine example after Yan-dyck; sometimes the swordsare placed round her head;— but there is no instance from the best period of religious art, and it must be con-sidered as any thing but artistic: in this case, the more materialised and the morematter of fact, the moreunreal. A second representationof the Madre di Dolore isthat figure of the Virginwhich, from the very earliesttimes, was placed on theright of the crucifix, the Evangelist beinginvariably on the left. Iam speaking here of thecrucifix as a wholly idealand mystical emblem of ourfaith in a crucified Saviour;not of the crucifixion as an. 23 Notre Dame des Sept Douleurs. 40 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. event, in which the Virgin is an actor and spectator, and isusually fainting in the arms of her attendants. In the idealsubject she is merely an ideal figure, at once the motherof Christ, and the personified Church. This, I think, isevident from those very ancient carvings, and examples instained glass, in which the Virgin, as the Church, standson one side of the cross, trampling on a female figure whichpersonifies Judaism or the synagogue. Even when the alle-gory is less palpable, we feel that the treatment is whollyreligious and poetical. The usual attitude of the Mater Dolorosa by the crucifixis that of intense but resigned sorrow; the hands clasped,the head declined and shaded by a veil, the figure closelywrapped in a dark blue or violet mantle. In some instancesa more generally religious and ideal cast is given to thefigure; she stan
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