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Saint Blaise: Protector of Dubrovnik and Patron Saint of Throat Illnesses

19 Monday May 2014

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Saint Blaise Group, Dom Sankt Blasien (Cathedral of Saint Blaise), Sankt Blasien, Germany. This statute group, which depicts Saint Blaise's most famous miracle, dates to circa 1740. It originally stood in an Ursuline monastery in Vienna.

Saint Blaise Group, Dom St. Blasien (Cathedral of Saint Blaise), St. Blasien, Germany. This statute group, which depicts Saint Blaise performing his most famous miracle, dates to circa 1740. It originally stood in an Ursuline monastery in Vienna.

Saint Blaise and the City of Dubrovnik

For over a thousand years, the city of Dubrovnik, Croatia has celebrated the feast day of Saint Blaise by staging one of the grandest and most impressive annual festivals in the world: the Festivity of Saint Blaise (Festa svetoga Vlaha).[1] The festival commemorates Saint Blaise’s salvation of the city on the eve of a surprise attack in 971. According to tradition, Saint Blaise’s miraculous intervention thwarted a planned invasion of the city, and in gratitude, the people of Dubrovnik enthusiastically embraced the saint’s cult, proclaiming him their patron and protector. Over the centuries, the relationship between city and saint flourished, and the identities of both became virtually inextricable. The annual Festivity of Saint Blaise, which has been celebrated in some form since at least 1190, only reinforced this association.[2] Meanwhile, succeeding generations have adapted the festival to their own needs, which has kept it vibrant and relevant in changing times.[3] Today, Saint Blaise’s likeness can be found virtually everywhere in Dubrovnik, and his spirit continues to imbue the city with a touch of mystery and a sense of the sublime.

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Dubrovnik, Croatia.  View of the rooftops with the Church of Saint Blaise in the foreground.

Acknowledging its great historical and cultural significance not only to the people of Dubrovnik, but also to the people of the world, UNESCO formally recognized the Festivity of Saint Blaise as an example of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009.[4] Who, though, was Saint Blaise? And how did he come to save Dubrovnik from disaster?

The Origin of the Festivity of Saint Blaise

The night of February 2, 971, began quietly enough in city of Dubrovnik. It was Candelmas, the feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple. A fleet of Venetian ships lay at anchor beyond the city walls, taking on provisions before continuing east. And the city’s pastor, a man named Stojko, was out for a walk.

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Dubrovnik, Croatia

As Stojko approached the church of Saint Stephen that night, he noticed something odd: the doors to the church had been left wide open. Stojko entered the darkened church and discovered an old, gray-haired man who introduced himself as Saint Blaise, the 4th-century bishop and martyr of Sebaste.[5] Saint Blaise gravely explained the reason for his visit. “I come to warn you of great danger for the city,” he said. The Venetians anchored outside the city walls had arrived under pretext, and they intended to take the unsuspecting city, a flourishing commercial power and potential rival to Venice, by surprise.[6] Alarmed by Saint Blaise’s message, Stojko rushed to the city council and warned them of the impending attack. The gates to the city were quickly secured, and the mighty walls of the town were manned for the city’s defense.[7] Seeing these preparations, the Venetians abandoned their plans and departed, leaving Dubrovnik – then known as Ragusa – in peace.[8] Significantly, the next day, February 3rd, was the feast day of Saint Blaise.

The Festivity of Saint Blaise in Modern Times

Today, the Festivity of Saint Blaise is celebrated over the course of several days, although preparations for the festival begin many weeks in advance.[9] The Festivity officially opens with much fanfare on Candlemas, February 2nd, when the banner of Saint Blaise is raised atop Orlando’s Column in front of the Church of Saint Blaise. (Orlando’s Column, also known as Roland’s Column, commemorates the knight and hero of the famous medieval poem The Song of Roland (La Chanson de Roland), who died in the service of the emperor Charlemagne at the Battle of Roncevaux in 778.) The raising of the banner – a white standard embroidered with an image of Saint Blaise as a gray-haired bishop – is accompanied by the ringing of church bells, the discharging of historic firearms, and the release of white doves.[10] Joyous shouts of “Long live Saint Blaise!” follow from the cheering crowd.[11] In the evening, Vespers to honor Saint Blaise are sung in the cathedral.

Church of Saint Blaise, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Church of Saint Blaise, Dubrovnik, Croatia

The festival resumes early the next morning, the official feast day of Saint Blaise, with the ringing of church bells, the clamor of brass bands, and more volleys from thecity’s historic musketeers, the trombunjeri.[12] About mid-morning, a public mass is held outside Dubrovnik Cathedral (Cathedral of the Assumption). At its conclusion, a grand procession of celebrants – including trombunjeri, banner-bearers, priests, nuns, musicians, First Communicants, pilgrims, residents in national costumes, and specially appointed festanjuls (celebrators) – wends its way from the cathedral down the Stradun, the city’s main thoroughfare, and through the heart of the Old City.[13] The procession is one of the most colorful and most striking elements of the festival. In the words of one book on Saint Blaise, “the Stadun becomes a magnificent cathedral under the open skies” during the procession.[14]

Stradun, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Stradun, Dubrovnik, Croatia

One of the highlights of the parade includes the procession and display of Dubrovnik’s most prized relics, including the head, right hand, foot, and throat of Saint Blaise.[15] Housed in glittering reliquaries of gold and silver, the relics have been described as the “greatest cultural and artistic treasure” of Dubrovnik Cathedral[16]. The Reliquary of the Head of Saint Blaise is shaped like a Byzantine crown and likely dates to the 11th century.[17] The Reliquary of the Right Hand of Saint Blaise is slightly more modern. Crafted in the 12th century by Dubrovnik goldsmiths, the reliquary is shaped like a hand and features a large blue stone surrounded by filigree, pearls, and precious stones embedded on the back of the hand. The Reliquary of the Foot of Saint Blaise, like the hand reliquary, is a “speaking reliquary.” Crafted by Byzantine goldsmiths in the 11th century, the reliquary is shaped like a leg and foot and is covered in intricate gold filigree.[18] The Reliquary of the Throat of Saint Blaise contains the saint’s larynx, which is visible through a crystal window. Shaped like a monstrance, the reliquary is made of embossed silver decorated with enamel and dates to the 15th century.[19] Lastly, the Diapers or Swaddling Clothes of Jesus, housed in an ornate silver chest, are given a place of honor in the parade.[20]

Who Was Saint Blaise?

According to tradition, Saint Blaise was a 4th-century bishop of Sebaste in Armenia who was martyred in approximately 316.[21] He was born to a wealthy Greek or Armenian family in about 280, and he studied medicine, which he practiced with great skill and gentleness.[22] After treating his patients, he often added a sign of the cross.[23]

During a persecution of Christians in the region, Saint Blaise withdrew to a cave on Mount Argeus.[24] The cave was frequented by wild beasts, which Saint Blaise healed when they were sick or wounded. Hunters sent to the mountain to obtain wild animals for the amphitheater eventually discovered Saint Blaise, surrounded by the animals, and “though greatly amazed, they seized him and took him to Agricola,” the Roman governor of Cappadocia and Lesser Armenia.[25] En route, Saint Blaise performed a number of miracles in the presence of the hunters.

Fountain Statute of Saint Blaise, Domplatz (Cathedral Square), Dom St. Blasien, St. Blasien, Germany. The statue was carved by Josef Schupp in 1714. The fountain was designed by Walter Schelenz in 1966.

Fountain Statute of Saint Blaise, Domplatz (Cathedral Square), Dom St. Blasien, St. Blasien, Germany. The statue was carved by Josef Schupp in 1714. The fountain was designed by Walter Schelenz in 1966.

First, the group encountered a poor woman whose pig had been seized by a wolf. Saint Blaise commanded the wolf to return the pig, and the wolf immediately complied, returning the unfortunate animal unhurt. For this act, Saint Blaise gained a reputation as a protector of pigs and of animals more generally.[26]

Second, Saint Blaise healed a sick boy who was choking on a fishbone. The boy was at the point of death when his mother brought him to Saint Blaise. Saint Blaise placed his hands on the boy’s throat, prayed to God, and healed him. On account of this miracle, Saint Blaise has since been invoked as a protector against throat illnesses, including sore throats, and other associated maladies, such as tonsillitis (also known in Spain as the curse of Saint Blaise) and respiratory problems.[27]

The Martyrdom of Saint Blaise

When Saint Blaise was finally presented before Agricola, Saint Blaise refused to deny his faith. Consequently, he was imprisoned without food and was scourged. During his imprisonment, the woman whose pig Saint Blaise had saved brought him food and gave him candles to lighten his gloomy cell. Candles would later become a common attribute of Saint Blaise.[28] Crossed in an X either against the throat or over the head of an applicant, two candles are used to deliver the traditional Blessing of the Throat and are said to recall the tapers brought to the saint by the grateful woman.[29] The prayer that accompanies the Blessing of the Throat is Per intercessionem Sancti Blasii liberet te Deus a malo gutturis et a quovis alio malo (“Through the intercession of Saint Blaise, may God deliver you from illness of the throat and every other illness”).[30]

Relic of Saint Blaise, Dom Sankt Blasien, Sankt Blasien, Germany

Relic of Saint Blaise, Dom St. Blasien, St. Blasien, Germany

Eventually, Agricola had Blaise tortured and scourged with iron carding combs, which scraped and tore his flesh. Because carding combs are also used to card wool, Saint Blaise’s association with these instruments of torture oddly led to his adoption as the patron saint of wool combers. Additionally, because the iron combs viciously shredded his skin, Saint Blaise also became a protector against skin ailments, such as blisters, pimples, and leprosy, which was much feared during the Middle Ages.[31]

St Blaise on Gate

Saint Blaise depicted above a city gate, Dubrovnik, Croatia.

After these tortures, Saint Blaise was beheaded and was buried near the walls of Sebaste.[32] He is commonly portrayed as a bishop with a gray or white beard, and he is often shown holding a crosier, an iron comb, or candles. In Dubrovnik, he frequently holds a miniature version of the city in his hands.

Fourteen Holy Helpers

Saint Blaise is also a member of the Fourteen Holy Helpers or Vierzehn Nothelfer (“fourteen helpers in need”), which has been described as “a potent group of saints invoked collectively in times of near death or dire calamity.”[33] Veneration of the Fourteen Holy Helpers originated in Germany in approximately the 13th century, though the cult did not gain a wide following until the 15th century, when a shepherd declared seeing the Christ Child accompanied by fourteen older children near the Benedictine Abbey at Banz.[34] According to the shepherd, the Christ Child described his companions as the Nothelfer and stated that they wished to work miracles from the site.[35] A small chapel was built on the spot, though it was later replaced by a much grander pilgrimage church, the Wallfahrkirche Vierzehnheilgen, designed by Balthasar Neuman.

Cathedral of Saint Blaise in the Black Forest (Sankt Blasien), Germany

Dom St. Blasien (Cathedral of Saint Blaise), St. Blasien, Germany

Meanwhile, Saint Blaise (Sankt Blasien) continues to be revered throughout Germany, both individually and as an auxiliary saint of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. Many of the traditions associated with the saint’s feast day, however, have begun to fade or have disappeared entirely in Germany. For example, notched breadsticks (Blasiusbrot) and trachea-shaped loaves of bread (Bubenschenkel) used to be common offerings during the saint’s feast day but have become increasingly difficult to find.[36] Meanwhile, in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Blasiustag used to involve the blessing of horses.[37] Blessed horses were given bronze combs of Saint Blaise, which were attached to their ears.[38] In more modern times, a few farmers even had their tractors blessed before the custom died out completely.[39]  Germany still has a number of churches dedicated to Saint Blaise, including the imposing Dom St. Blasien, or Cathedral of Saint Blaise, located in the Black Forest town of St. Blasien.  (Dom St. Blasien is pictured above.)

Živio sveti Vlaho! Long live Saint Blaise!

In his last poem, The Bells of San Blas, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow writes of a past when religion and faith still held power and when church bells served as the “voice of the church.”[40] The Bells of San Blas, Mexico, “[h]ave a strange, wild melody, / and are something more than a name,” he writes.[41] They have “tones that touch and search / The hearts of young and old,” yet they are “a voice of the Past, / Of an age that is fading fast.”[42] The chapel that “once looked down / On the little seaport town” has “crumbled into the dust” and the oaken beams that support the bells have become “green with mould and rust.”[43] “Is, then, the old faith dead?” he asks.[44] And the saints: “Ah, have they grown / Forgetful of their own? Are they asleep, or dead . . . ?”[45]

In Dubrovnik, at least, tradition and faith endure. The Festivity of Saint Blaise is proof that Saint Blaise has not been forgotten and remains integral to the life and culture of the city.  Živio sveti Vlaho!

Interior Dome of the Cathedral of St. Blasien in the Black Forest, St. Blasien, Germany. The ceiling frescoes are by Walter Georgi.

Interior Dome of the Dom St. Blasien, St. Blasien, Germany. The ceiling frescoes are by Walter Georgi.

[1] See, e.g., Nomination for Inscription on the Representative List 2009: The Festivity of Saint Blaise, the Patron of Dubrovnik, Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, 2 Oct. 2009; Thousand Year Old Celebration of the Dubrovnik Patron, St Blaise, Dubrovnik Tourist Board Website, Feb. 3, 2012, http://visitdubrovnik.hr/en-GB/Events/Event/Town/Dubrovnik/Thousand-Year-Old-Celebration-of-the-Dubrovnik-Patron-St-Blaise?ZXZcNjUz; Saint Blasius Church–Dubrovnik, DubrovnikCity.com, http://www.dubrovnikcity.com/dubrovnik/attractions/st_blaise_church.htm.

[2] See The Festivity of Saint Blaise, the Patron of Dubrovnik, UNESCO.org, http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?RL=00232. Other sources claim the festival is much older.

[3] See id.

[4] Id.

[5] Saint Blaise: Veneration Without Boundaries 105 (Adriana Kremenjaš-Daničić ed., Biserka Simatović trans., 2012).

[6] Id.

[7] Saint Blasius Church–Dubrovnik, supra note 1. Fans of the television show “Game of Thrones” may recognize the stout defensive walls of Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik has doubled as King’s Landing and Qarth in various episodes of the popular show. See Natasha Geiling, On the Ultimate “Game of Thones” Tour, Apr. 10, 2014, Smithsonian.com, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/iceland-croatia-go-ultimate-game-thrones-tour-180950450/?no-ist.

[8] The Venetians would eventually conquer Dubrovnik, also known as Ragusa, centuries later.

[9] A lectures series called “In Expectation of Saint Blaise” held in January marks the beginning of the preparations for the festival. Europski Dom Dubrovnik, Saint Blaise:  Veneration Without Boundaries 107 (2012).

[10] Musketeers known as trombunjeri are responsible for firing the volleys that accompany the raising of Saint Blaise’s banner. See, e.g., id.; Nomination for Inscription on the Representative List 2009, supra note 1.

[11] Saint Blaise: Veneration Without Boundaries, supra note 9, at 107.

[12] See, e.g., Saint Blaise: Veneration Without Boundaries, supra note 9, at 107; Nomination for Inscription on the Representative List 2009, supra note 1.

[13] See Saint Blaise: Veneration Without Boundaries, supra note 9, at 108.

[14] Id.

[15] See, e.g., Nomination for Inscription on the Representative List 2009, supra note 1 (“Priests in the procession carry many saintly powers in reliquaries, an exceptional cultural and historical treasure, which mostly contains the relics of Blaise and the holy martyrs from the first centuries of Christianity.”).

[16] The Dubrovnik Cathedral (Don Stanko Lasić ed., n.d.) (pamphlet describing Dubrovnik Cathedral).

[17] Id.

[18] Id. Additional decoration was added to the reliquary in subsequent centuries. For example, an enamel medallion featuring the coat of arms of the Republic of Ragusa was apparently added to the reliquary in the 17th century. An inscription around the medallion reads “SANCTUS 1684 BLASIUS.”

[19] Id.

[20] See, e.g., Tom Kelly, A Party for the Patron Saint of Sore Throats, Telegraph (UK), Jan. 27, 2007, available at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/croatia/739995/A-party-for-the-patron-saint-of-sore-throats.html. The author mistakenly identifies the relic as “a fragment of Jesus’s loincloth.” In fact, the silver reliquary is said to contain the diapers or swaddling cloths of the baby Jesus.

[21] See, e.g., 1 Butler’s Lives of the Saints 239 (Herbert J. Thurston, S.J. & Donald Attwater eds., 2d ed. 1956); Saint Blaise: Veneration Without Boundaries, supra note 9, at 10–16.

[22] Saint Blaise: Veneration Without Boundaries, supra note 9, at 13.

[23] Id.

[24] Id.

[25] Butler’s Lives of the Saints, supra note 21, at 239.

[26] Saint Blaise: Veneration Without Boundaries, supra note 9, at 13; see also Butler’s Lives of the Saints, supra note 21, at 239.

[27] Saint Blaise: Veneration Without Boundaries, supra note 9, at 14, 17.

[28] Butler’s Lives of the Saints, supra note 21, at 239.

[29] Id.

[30] Id.

[31] Saint Blaise: Veneration Without Boundaries, supra note 9, at 17.

[32] Id. at 15.

[33] Id. at 19.

[34] Id.

[35] Id.

[36] Id. at 54.

[37] Id.

[38] Id.

[39] Id.

[40] Henry Wadworth Longfellow, Complete Poetical Works (1893).

[41] Id.

[42] Id.

[43] Id.

[44] Id.

[45] Id.

Saint Theodore: Warrior Saint and Dragon-Slayer

23 Saturday Mar 2013

Posted by in Sculpture

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Statue of Saint TheodoreSaint Theodore Arrives in Venice

He arrived in Venice from the East in pieces: a torso and cuirass, a disembodied head, a crocodile.  The Sack of Constantinople in 1204 had devastated the city, but the Venetians, who had transported the army of the Fourth Crusade to Constantinople, managed to salvage an enormous horde of objects from the captured city. The Venetians systematically shipped these objects – statues, jeweled reliquaries, architectural columns, and marble pediments – back to Venice. Among the crates were several fragments of statuary that, when recombined, would become a statue of Saint Theodore, the great warrior-saint, dragon-slayer, and a patron saint of Venice.

Saint Theodore of Amasea

Saint Theodore of Amasea was a Roman recruit martyred in the early 4th century for professing his faith in Christianity.  As a new recruit, he is also known as Saint Theodore Tiro, tiro meaning “recruit” in Latin.[1]  Saint Theodore of Amasea is often confused with another Theodore – Saint Theodore of Stratelates, a Roman general – although most scholars believe the two Theodores were probably the same person.[2]  Butler’s Lives of the Saints notes that the stories relating to Saint Theodore of Amasea “cannot be relied on,” although they probably refer to “a real martyr who may or may not have been a soldier.”[3]  Butler’s Lives of the Saints continues, “So complicated and contradictory did his story become that, in order to make it less inconsistent, a second soldier St Theodore had to be posited and so we have the St Theodore Stratelates of February 7.”[4]  Saint Theodore of Amasea’s feast day is November 9.

Saint TheodoreThe first known mention of Saint Theodore of Amasea derives from a panegyric delivered by Saint Gregory of Nyssa near Saint Theodore’s tomb in Euchaita, modern-day Turkey.[5]  According to various legends, when Saint Theodore refused to offer sacrifices to the Roman gods along with his legion he was brought before the governor of the province to explain himself.  He declared himself to be a Christian, and when asked why he would profess faith in an outlawed religion, the worship of which was a capital offense, he responded, “I know not your gods.  Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, is my God.”[6]  He was dismissed and, according to some sources, went into the city of Amasea near the Iris River and burned down the temple of Cybele.[7]  Not surprisingly, he was captured and was again brought before the Roman authorities who questioned and cajoled him, and then tortured him.[8]  When he was returned to his prison cell, he was comforted by visions of angels.[9]  Eventually, he was condemned to death and was burned alive in a furnace.[10]

Here Be Dragons

Notably absent from these stories is any mention of dragons or dragon slaying.  Why, then, is Saint Theodore frequently depicted slaying a dragon?  Saint Theodore’s identification as an heroic dragon-slayer may be related to the belief that by his intercession “devils were expelled and distempers cured.”[11]  In The Dragon in Medieval East Christian and Islamic Art, Sara Kuehn suggests that the belief in Saint Theodore’s power to vanquish evil probably inspired the dragon-slaying motif.[12]  Kuehn writes, “Dragon-slaying riders were progressively identified as warrior saints and can conclusively be interpreted as exercising an apotropaic or protective function.”[13]

St. Michael and Dragon, Minster of the Holy Cross, Rottweil, Germany

In early Christian art, Saint Theodore is often depicted with fellow dragon-slayer Saint George, although portrayals of Saint Theodore slaying a dragon predate those of his more famous companion.  Kuehn states, “Among the military saints Theodore and George were predominantly associated with the miracle of dragon-slaying and often appear together.  In the hagiographical tradition, Saint Theodore clearly preceded Saint George in the role of dragon-slayer.”[14]  Early references to Saint Theodore slaying a dragon can be traced to the late 9th century[15] while the earliest known depiction of Saint George smiting a dragon is from the early 11th century.[16]  Before then, Saint George was sometimes shown killing a man rather than a dragon.[17]  Other saints frequently depicted with dragons include Saint Margaret, Saint Martha, Saint Sylvester, the Apostle Philip, and the Archangel Michael (pictured in the carved sculpture, above, located at the Minster of the Holy Cross, Rottweil, Germany).[18]

Saint George and the Dragon

Incidentally, the celebrated story of how Saint George vanquished a dragon and rescued a princess was likely a later embellishment to the legend of Saint George the martyr – and one that clearly captured the imagination of subsequent generations.  Most famously told in the Legenda Aurea (Golden Legend), Saint George was a Christian knight born in Cappadocia who, while out riding in the province of Lybia, arrived at the city of Sylene.  The city’s inhabitants were being terrorized by a terrible dragon, which they attempted to appease by providing two sheep every day.  When the inhabitants ran out of sheep, they substituted a human victim, who was selected by lot.  On the day of Saint George’s arrival, the king’s daughter had been selected to serve as the sacrifice.  Saint George ultimately rescued the princess, but before he would slay the dragon, the saint elicited the people’s promise to convert to Christianity.  This they promised, and once the dragon was killed, four oxcarts were needed to dispose of its carcass.[19]

Heroic Landscape with St George, Joseph Anton Koch (1807). Alte Pinakothek, Munich, German.

Joseph Anton Koch, Heroic Landscape with St. George (detail) (1807). Alte Pinakothek, Munich, German.

Butler’s Lives of the Saints observes that “the story of the dragon, though given so much prominence, was a later accretion of which we have no sure traces before the twelfth century.”[20]  The authors further comment, “There is every reason to believe that St George was a real martyr who suffered at Diospolis (i.e. Lydda) in Palestine, probably before the time of Constantine.  Beyond this there seems to be nothing which can be affirmed with any confidence.”[21]  Although Saint George is not mentioned in the Syriac Breviarium, he is mentioned in the Heironymianum, and various pilgrims of the 6th to 8th century identified Lydda or Diospolis as the site of his relics.[22]

Arm Reliquaries

Arm Reliquaries, Basilica of Saint Mark

Coincidentally, the arm of Saint George was apparently one of four important relics taken from Constantinople to Venice following the sack of the city in 1204.[23]  Located today in the Treasury of Saint Mark’s Basilica, the Reliquary of the Arm of Saint George (pictured above, in the right foreground) features an unusual cone-shaped exterior, oval in cross-section, of silver gilt and enamel and a glass lid topped with a figure of Saint George on horseback spearing a dragon.[24]

Arm Reliquary of S George

Reliquary of the Arm of St. George (detail of lid)

A plaque on the lowest part of the reliquary case, above the stems and leaves that form the base, reads in reserve against niello, “ISTVT · EST · BRAC/HIVM · GLORIOXIS/IMI · MARTIRIS S/ANCTI · GEORGEII” (“This is the arm of the most glorious martyr, Saint George”).[25]  This exterior, of Venetian design, dates to before 1325.[26]  The outer reliquary holds an earlier Byzantine reliquary made of silver that dates to before 1204.[27]  While the dragon is likely original, the equestrian figure of Saint George is probably more modern, dating to the 16th century.[28]  According to some sources, Saint George became Venice’s third patron saint – after Saints Mark and Theodore – sometime following the translation of his arm to the city.[29]

Plaque of S George Reliquary

Reliquary of the Arm of St. George (plaque in reserve against niello)

He Came in Pieces

As noted above, the statue of Saint Theodore arrived in Venice in various pieces, although the pieces were not, in fact, part of a single, unified work.  Edward Hollis, who writes about the evolution and transformation of buildings over time in The Secret Life of Buildings, explains how the Venetians recombined disparate sculptural fragments pilfered from Constantinople to create a single, monumental statute of their patron saint.[30]

Saint Theodore in Saint Mark's SquareAfter the Venetians left Constantinople, some of the treasures they had appropriated were lost at sea and some were sold along the journey, but most of the objects arrived safely in Venice, where they were unloaded and unpacked at the Arsenale.[31]  After they were evaluated by various officials, they were eventually repurposed to enhance the beauty, status, and prestige of La Serenissima.  For example, building material and other decorative ornaments stripped from the churches of Constantinople were used to clothe the basilica of Saint Mark “in the borrowed raiment of vanished sanctuaries” so that “what had been an austere brick structure soon shone, and sparkled, and flashed in the sun.”[32]

Hollis explains that a centurion’s cuirass, a crocodile, and a disembodied head “became the body of Saint Theodore.”[33]  Similarly, a pair of brazen angel’s wings and a lion were “welded together to make the emblem of Saint Mark.”[34]  Both of these new creations were hoisted atop a pair of Numidian granite columns, also taken from Constantinople, and set in Saint Mark’s Square.[35]  The two statutes, symbolizing two patron saints of Venice, remain in the square to this day.[36]

Antonio Canaletto, Piazzetta in Venice, Alte Pinakothek, Munich, German

Antonio Canaletto, Piazzetta in Venice.  Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany.

[1] 4 Butler’s Lives of the Saints 302, 301-303 (Herbert J. Thurston, S.J. & Donald Attwater eds., 2d ed. 1956).  Alternatively, Butler’s Lives of the Saints suggests that the surname Tiro more probably derives from his membership in the Cohors tironum.  Id.

[2] See, e.g., id.; Rosa Giorgi, Saints in Art 345 (Stefano Zuffi ed. & Thomas Michael Hartmann trans., 2002) (“Beginning in the tenth century, Theodore split into two figures in popular devotion, a general and a soldier that were really the same person.”).

[3] Butler’s Lives of the Saints, supra note 1, at 302.

[4] Id.

[5] See, e.g., id. at 301.

[6] Id. at 302.

[7] See, e.g., Giorgi, supra note 1, at 345; Butler’s Lives of the Saints, supra note 1, at 302.

[8] Butler’s Lives of the Saints, supra note 1, at 302.

[9] See, e.g., Giorgi, supra note 1, at 345; Butler’s Lives of the Saints, supra note 1, at 302.

[10] Butler’s Lives of the Saints, supra note 1, at 302

[11] Id. (citing the panegyric attributed to Saint Gregory of Nyssa).

[12] See Sara Kuehn, The Dragon in Medieval East Christian and Islamic Art 109 (2011).

[13] Id.

[14] Id. at 108.

[15] Id. at 108 n.215 (“His exploit of vanquishing a dragon with a spear only appeared in the second state of his Passio Prima (dated 890) . . . .”).  Kuehn also notes that the 7th century Passion of Marina of Antioch contains “antecedents” of Saint Theodore’s dragon-slaying.  Id.

[16] Id. at 108 n.216.  Kuehn identifies the church of Saint Barbara at Soganli as possessing the earliest identifiable portrayal of Saint George vanquishing a dragon.  Id.

[17] Id. at 108.

[18] See, e.g., George Ferguson, Signs and Symbols in Christian Art 16 (1954).

[19] See 2 Butler’s Lives of the Saints 148-50 (Herbert J. Thurston, S.J. & Donald Attwater eds., 2d ed. 1956).

[20] Id. at 149.

[21] Id.

[22] Id. at 150.

[23] See, e.g. Treasures of Heaven:  Saints, Relics, and Devotion in Medieval Europe 92 (Martina Bagnoli et al., eds., 2010).  The other three important relics were a relic of the Holy Blood, a piece of the True Cross, and the head of Saint John the Baptist.  Id.

[24] Id.  The lid was originally made of rock crystal.  Id.

[25] William D. Wixsom, Western Metalwork, in The Treasury of San Marco Venice 282 (David Buxton ed., 1984).

[26] Treasures of Heaven, supra note 23, at 92.

[27] Id.

[28] Wixsom, supra note 25, at 282.  Wixsom writes, “The horse and rider are probably directly based on Leonardo’s designs for the Sforza and Trivulzio monuments, dating respectively 1485-93 and 1506-13, even though the theme of a rearing horse goes back to the early Florentine Renaissance sculptor, Bertoldo (1420-91), to Paduan bronzes dating around 1510, and to ancient bronzes.” Id. (citations omitted).

[29] See, e.g., id.; Treasures of Heaven, supra note 23, at 92.

[30] See Edward Hollis, The Secret Lives of Buildings (2009).

[31] Id. at 55.

[32] Id.

[33] Id.

[34] Id.

[35] Id.

[36] The statute of Saint Theodore in Saint Mark’s Square, however, is a replica.  The original is now located in the Doge’s Palace.  A sign next to statue states that the marble statue “is a fourteenth-century sculpture with an ancient armoured bust and a young man’s head of different origins. . . . According to tradition, the saint’s face is a portrait of Mithradates of Pontus.”

Bones of Contention: Searching for Cosmas and Damian in Venice

22 Tuesday Jan 2013

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San Giorgio Maggiore 3In an earlier post, I discussed a 15th century Rhenish School-style reliquary located at the Church of Saint Michael (St. Michaelskirche) in Munich.  The reliquary purportedly contains the skulls of Saints Cosmas and Damian, although as I noted in the post, other churches are also said to possess the saints’ skulls. The Church of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice is one, and on a recent trip to Venice, I decided to find out whether the church really did posses relics of Saints Cosmas and Damian.

We arrived at San Giorgio Maggiore[1] by vaporetto at dusk. The church was dark and looked deserted, so we were afraid it might be closed. Nevertheless, we gave the door a Adoration of the Shepherds (detail)hopeful nudge, and it yielded freely. The church was open. Inside, a few tourists shuffled through the aisles, straining to catch a glimpse of the church’s treasures – paintings by Tintoretto,[2] Sebastiano Ricci, and Jacopo Bassano[3] – in the fading light, but it was no use. All sense of depth, line, and color seemed to dissolve in the gloaming, and the tourists quickly lost interest. Soon enough, they left, and in the sepulchral stillness of the empty church, we began our search for the skulls of Saints Cosmas and Damian in earnest.

We looked for traces of the saints in the gathering darkness. Were the skulls housed in an elaborate metal reliquary? Were they displayed in sturdy glass cases? Were they Tintoretto - Last Suppereven in the church proper rather than in a separate treasury or crypt? We hurried past fading altars, their angels and saints winking at us in the dim light of votive candles. We peered at statutes, examined chiseled writing, and contemplated the high altar. No sign of the saints.

Eventually, we stumbled upon a man striding confidently through the church. It was a priest, and we asked whether he knew about the relics of Saints Cosmas and Damian. He thought for a moment and then invited us to follow him. He led us to the rectory, where we repeated our question to one of his colleagues. “This may sound strange, but we’ve heard that the skulls of Saints Cosmas and Damian may be located here, at Chiesa di San Giorgio Maggiore. Is this true? Do you know whether the skulls of Saints Cosmas and Damian are here in the church?”

Venetian Polychrome CrucifixThe second priest looked uncertain, and he shook his head as he began to answer. “I don’t know about their skulls,” he said. “But, there is an altar of Cosmas and Damian.  Their bones are kept there.” I was elated, and I asked him excitedly where we might find the altar. “It is on the right side,” he explained. “Next to the large crucifix.”

I knew exactly where he meant. Earlier, I had paused before an imposing wooden crucifix, riveted by its wrenching depiction of Christ on the cross.[4] Next to it, we found the altar of Saints Cosmas and Damian. A large painting, the Martyrdom of Saints Cosmas and Damian, attributed to the workshop of Tintoretto, hung above it. We had missed it in the darkness!  (A black and white image is available here.)

One of the saints is shown in the lower lefthand corner of the painting, his left hand outstretched but tied to a cross that is resting on the ground. One of his persecutors binds his legs to the cross while another monitors his progress. In the upper righthand corner of the painting, his brother is securely bound to another cross, which has already been raised off the ground. In the background, archers loose arrows at him while other figures appear to hurl rocks. According to tradition, the saints were unharmed by attempts to kill them with arrows, by stoning, and by crucifixion. They were eventually beheaded, along with several other brothers, who also appear in the painting, crowned with halos. An angel, tumbling into the scene from heaven, bears palm fronds in his right hand, symbols of martyrdom.

With the aid of a small flashlight – it was truly dark by now – we found a plaque secured above the altar.  It read: “OSSA SS · MAR · COSME ET DAMINI IACENT HIC” (Here Lie the Bones of Saints, Martyrs, Cosmas and Damian). We had found their bones.

Altar of Saints Cosmas and Damian

[1] The Church of San Giorgio Maggiore is located on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, east of the Giudecca, and across the Canale di San Marco from Saint Mark’s Square.

[2] Tintoretto’s celebrated The Last Supper hangs to the right of the high altar, in the presbytery. Painted in the Mannerist style, Tintoretto’s The Last Supper differs from other depictions of the Last Supper in striking ways. For example, the table at which Jesus and the Apostles share their meal is shown at an angle rather than head-on, as in many depictions of the Last Supper (for example, Leonardo da Vinci’s famous rendition at the Convent of Santa Maria della Grazie in Milan.) Additionally, Jesus and the Apostles are not the only figures present in the scene. Although the eye naturally settles on Jesus, who is surrounded by a brilliant aureole of light, and the Apostles, who are distinguished by halos (except for Judas), some of the largest figures in the painting are ordinary men and women who have prepared and are serving the meal.

[3] Jacopo Bassano’s Adoration of the Shepherds hangs above the first altar on the right side of the nave.

[4] The crucifix is most likely one that was donated to the church in 1468.  The crucifix’s deteriorating, polychrome paint was restored in 1984 by the Venice in Peril Fund. Venice in Peril, “Church of San Giorgio Maggiore,” available at http://www.veniceinperil.org/projects/church-of-san-giorgio-maggiore. A sign below the crucifix read “HIC IACET CORPUS S · EUSTACHII PAT · CONST·” (Here Lies the Body of Saint Eustace, Father of [Saint] Constantius) indicating it hangs above the tomb of Saint Eustace.  (I briefly discussed Saint Constantius in an earlier post about the Waldauf Chapel in Austria.)  For a modest €0.50, were able to illuminate the crucifix for two minutes enabling us to capture a photograph of it.