. Sacred and legendary art . tory, but never thearrow. Reparata has also thepalm; while in pictures ofSt. Ursula the palm is oftenreplaced by the standard orthe arrow. The separate historical sub-jects from her life are con-fined to two — her voyage,and her martyrdom. 1. In a bark, with swellingsails, St. Ursula is seated,wearing her crown; she holdsa large open book, and iseither reading, or chantinghymns; a number of virginsare seated round her, somewith musical instruments, oth-ers reading : at the helm, one of the virgins; sometimes, how-ever, it is a priest or a winged angel. Of this beau
. Sacred and legendary art . tory, but never thearrow. Reparata has also thepalm; while in pictures ofSt. Ursula the palm is oftenreplaced by the standard orthe arrow. The separate historical sub-jects from her life are con-fined to two — her voyage,and her martyrdom. 1. In a bark, with swellingsails, St. Ursula is seated,wearing her crown; she holdsa large open book, and iseither reading, or chantinghymns; a number of virginsare seated round her, somewith musical instruments, oth-ers reading : at the helm, one of the virgins; sometimes, how-ever, it is a priest or a winged angel. Of this beautiful subjectI have seen few examples, and those anonymous, principallydrawings or miniatures. If taken in its allegorical significa-tion, as the religious voyage over the ocean of life, — Faith atthe prow, and Charity at the helm, — the representation be-comes mystical and devotional rather than historical, particularlywhere angels are introduced as steering or propelling the Augsburg. Vide Dibdins St. Ursula (Memling) ST« URSULA 503 2. The Martyrdom of St. Ursula is represented in twoways : either she and her maidens are massacred on board hervessel ; or she has landed, and presents herself to the enemy:in either case she is shot with arrows by a soldier (it is a devi-ation from the legend, as generally accepted, when St. Ursulaperishes by the sword and not the arrow) ; the barbarian gen-eral stands by. Her virgins and companions are lying deadaround her, or the slaughter is going on in the background;and the locality is usually expressed by the well-known tower,or the Cathedral of Cologne in the distance. There is a little picture in the collection of Prince Waller-stein, Kensington Palace, in which St. Ursula has just steppedon the shore, a sort of a quay with buildings ; she is attiredlike a princess, her hands meekly joined, her long goldenhair flowing down on her shoulders, and in her face a mostdivine expression of mild melancholy resignation
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubjec, booksubjectchristianartandsymbolism
