Saints are specific people who are recognized by the
Catholic Church for their extreme holiness and virtue. Because of their significance to
Christianity, the early saints to the modern saints are often the subject of
many pieces of art.
The physical remains or relics of past saints has
significant importance to Christians.
Because they were all real people whose bodies still remain on Earth,
the location of their remains is usually celebrated as a holy place,
particularly on the day of their death.
People believe that their physical remains have healing properties and
simply by being near them, their bones can cure illness and undo
disabilities. Shrines are often created
at the location where a saint was venerated and brilliantly decorated tombs are
created for their remains. People still
take pilgrimages to the remains of certain saints to pray for their help or for
their healing properties. Alters used to
be placed upon these tombs and churches built around them in honor of the
saints. Overt time, too many churches
were created to continue this tradition but saints are still revered at
churches all over the world. The alters
are decorated with painted panels depicting the saints and full length alter
pieces represent them associated with their miracles. Saints are also given an attribute, a
physical object with which they are usually portrayed concerning some aspect of
their lives which is used to help identify them. For example, St. Stephen is shown with stones
at his head because he was the first martyr and was stone to death.
The Alterpiece of
St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, created in the 1479 by Hans
Memling is an example of the portrayal of saints. At the time, it was common to show groups of
saints and a scene showing the Virgin with Child surrounded by two male saints
and two female saints is a specific arrangement of this known as ‘sacra conversazione’
or ‘holy community.’ In this particular
alterpiece, there is St. Barbara, St. Catherine, St. John the Baptist, and St.
John the Evangelist. St. Barbara is
shown with a small tower because she was locked in a tower by her father who
did not approve of her conversion to Christianity. St. Catherine is shown with Baby Jesus
putting a ring on her finger because she refused to marry the Roman Emperor,
claiming she was already the bride of Jesus.
St. John the Baptist is shown with his usual identifier, a lamb. St. John the Evangelist is shown holding a
chalice with a snake in it, referencing when he drank a cup of poison given to
him to prove his faith to Jesus. The
alterpiece is so intricately decorated that even the inside wings have scenes
to be visible when the alterpiece is open.
On one flap is the beheading of John the Baptist, and the other shows a
very detailed scene showing The
Apocalypse, as predicted by John the Evangelist. The exterior of the wings shows the donors of
the alterpiece, two monks and two nuns of the hospital, each shown with their
patron saint- St. James, St. Anthony, St. Clare, and St. Agnes. This was done so the members of the hospital
could see who was responsible for the construction of the beautiful alterpiece.
During
the 16th century, people began to destroy the masterpieces created
in honor of the saints and instead used the raw materials to create new works
dedicated to worshipping Christ. Even
though the Catholic Church continued to preach for the worship of saints, this
still continued. Caravaggio, however,
was a brilliant artist who came out during this time and painted many works
showing Christian scenes, including scenes representing the saints. One such work of art is called Martyrdom of Saint Matthew. This work shows the death of the martyr
during his mission to Ethiopia.
Caravaggio uses his artistic talent to convey the emotional tension
involved in the murder of Saint Matthew.
This was a technique that further developed during the Late Middle Ages
and its purpose was to evoke emotions for each viewer rather than simply depict
the saint.
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