Today
is the feast of the Holy Innocents' and I am again using a selection of
images posted by John Dillon on the Medieval Religion discussion group
site to mark the day.
The
story was frequently depicted in medieval churches, and the form often
predictable, but the works are also of considerable interest for
contemporary details, especially of military dress.
Mosaic of the fifth-century on the triumphal arch, Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome
Image: Wikipedia
Fresco of circa 1180, Panteón de los Reyes, Colegiata de San Isidoro, Léon
Image: World Gallery of Art
The earlier thirteenth-century apse mosaic of circa 1220 of Rome's Basilica
of San Paolo fuori le Mura has a depiction unusual for the medievalperiod showing the
Innocents as nimbed martyrs rather than as children being
slaughtered:
![[3+-+Detail+2.jpg]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDI8Z39fVRp8dFYO-QnYLG-G7jSxs_tSWZSsAJvJDuoW3JuUI_Gt6cYd5_rzmQLNwduxHZIiN5gvm3cGvI4E0wz2IufuDDu6pHR3XXn-G_sV_aF3TljpXCnzYWbz2K0HQTTXiwSy2XPB6k/s280/3+-+Detail+2.jpg)
Image: 4.bp.blogspot.com
In
addition to being unusual this particular part of the mosaic is also seldom seen. Since
the basilica's rebuilding in the nineteenth century this section of the
mosaic has been hidden from ordinary view by a neo-classical entablature as can be seen in the photographs here and here.
St Paul's is the stational church for today as it held relics of the Holy Innocents, and hence their depiction in the mosaic.
Glass panel circa 1385 by Jakob Acker the Elder, Ulm Minster
Detail from a wall painting of 1407,
Image: fixcas.com
Panel painting of 1482 by Matteo di Giovanni, Chiesa di Sant'Agostino, Siena, where he had produced similar images for the mosaics of the cathedral floor. This is considered to be his masterpiece
Image: World Gallery of Art
Panel painting of 1488 by Matteo di Giovanni, Museo nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples
Image: Wikipedia
St Paul's is the stational church for today as it held relics of the Holy Innocents, and hence their depiction in the mosaic.
Relief circa 1220 - 1236, south portal, west facade, Amiens cathedral
Image:medievalart.org.uk
Tympanum relief between 1280 and circa 1285, north portal, west facade, Strasbourg cathedral
Image:bluffton.edu.
Glass panel circa 1385 by Jakob Acker the Elder, Ulm Minster
Image:gerfaut.d on Flickr
Detail from a wall painting of 1407,
chiesa parrocchiale di Santa Maria Assunta /
Pfarrkirche St. Mariä Himmelfahrt at Terlano / Terlan (BZ) in the South
Tyrol
Image:burgenseite.com
Image:burgenseite.com
|
Image: fixcas.com
Finally here are two rather lurid versions of the story by Matteo di Giovanni, showing how he re-worked the painting for another comission:
Panel painting of 1482 by Matteo di Giovanni, Chiesa di Sant'Agostino, Siena, where he had produced similar images for the mosaics of the cathedral floor. This is considered to be his masterpiece
Image: World Gallery of Art
Panel painting of 1488 by Matteo di Giovanni, Museo nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples
Image: Wikipedia
I find particularly heuristic the absence of halo's in the mosaic iconography from St Mary Major in Rome. We should recall that despite their martyrdom, traditional thought held that the Holy Innocents did not go directly to heaven following their deaths, but rather waited for Christ's redemption of mankind on the Cross. Salvation was not yet possible. An ancient indication of this is that, until 1960, the color for this feast was the penitential violet, not the red of martyrs (a Gallican vulgarity).
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