Animal symbolism in ecclesiastical architecture

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ANIMAL SYMBOLISM
IN ECCLESIASTICAL
ARCHITECTURE

Cenlrat Smion afa Window in ihe Calhedral of B(mr|[eE.

ANIMAL SYMBOLISM
IN ECCLESIASTICAL
ARCHITECTURE

By E. p. EVANS

ffirH A BIBLlOGKAPUr AND SEVEmY-ElGHT v
ILLUSrRATlOSS

LONDON
WILLIAM HEINEMANN

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTrON

ALI^GORICAL A

CHAPTER I

INTERPRETATIONS OF

Impulse given to the study of natural histoTy by Alexander
the Great — Scientific spirit fostered by Aristotle — Lack
of this spirit among the Romans — Alexandria as a centre
of learning under the Ptolemies — The Christian theory of
the relation of the Book of Revelation to the Book of
Nature — The patristic conception of the visible crcatioiL^,
asanimageof the invisible world and a mirror of spiritual
truth— Animals as religious emblems in Oriental, and
/especially in Buddhistic, literature— Mineralogical sym;__^

C bolism — Magical- and- medical prop e rties 'and religious
^"SgniEcance of precious stones — Legends of Solomon's
wisdom, and his method of building the Temple — Cere-
mony of blessing jewels— Speculations of Justinus Kemer
and Schubert concerning the occult affinities of themineral
kingdom to man — The typology of precious stones accord-
ing to the /'^_j'rf£'/(',^wf — Spin tualmeaningof the diamond,
the pearl, and the Indian stone — Teirobuli in Christian
symboHsinand architecture p. 21

CHAPTER II

..MtlSlTAND HISTORT OF THE 'PHYSIOLOGUS

Plastic and pictorial representations of animals
art — Literary souices of these i^umentadpn

Christian^
-Clavt's oi

i Contents

St. Melito— Epistle of Barnabas— The Fkysiologus com-
piJed by an Alexandrian Greek— The Hexahemera of the
Fathers— Adam as the author of a natural history —
Popular character of the Physiologus—Qri%tT\. as an
exegetist— Roger Bacon's views of the place of animals
in Scripture — Expositions and amplifications of the Phy-
siologus by Epiphanius, St. Isidore, Peirus Damiani, and
others — Anastasius Sinaita's Anagoj^cal Contemplations
— Latin poem on beasts and their mystical meaning by
Theobald of Plaisance, and the English paraphrase —
The Fkysiologus translated into Latin, Ethiopic, Arabic,
Armenian, Syriac, Anglo-Saxon, Icelandic, and all the
principal modem languages of Europe — Brief descrip-
tions of these versions^ Prudentius' poems Hamartigenia
and PsyckoiKaekia — The phcEnix a symbol of solar
worship used to illustrate the Christian doctrine of the
Resuneclion — French bestiaries : Philippe de Thaun's
Le Livre des Creatures, Peter of Picardy's prose version
of the Pkyslologus, and Le Bestiaire Divin of William, a
priest of Normandy — EncyclopiEdias of natural history
[phased on the Pkyslologus: Thomas de Cantimpr^'s
Li6£r lie Naturis Rerutn, the Speculum Naturale of
Vincent de Beauvais, Liber de Proprietatibus Rerum of
Bartholomffius Anglicus, Hortus Deliciarum of Herrade
de Landsberg, and other compilations— The church
edifice an emblem of the human soul— Symbolism of the
raven and the dove— Albertus Magnus' criticism of the
Fkysiologus /*■ S*

CHAPTER III

THE ' PHYSIOLOGUS ' IN ART AND LITERATURE

The three characteristics of the lion— Representations of the

1 symbol of the Resurrection in archil

Beasts often have a twofold signification— The lion and

bear as types of Satan— Diabolificati on of the dog—

Strange misconception of the canine character — Lions as
pedestals — Metaphorical use of the lion in poetry — The
lizard in architecture— Artistic delinealions of the unicorn
as a type of Christ's Incarnation — Auricular conception of
Christ as the Logos — Supposed anti-toxical virtue of the
unicorn's horn and that of the African viper — The unicorn
in legend and poetry — Characteristics of the elephant —
Symbol of the fall of man — Julius Cesar's queer account
of the elk — ^Elephants embroidered on chasubles — Four
characteristics of the serpent — Artistic and poetic uses
of its fabled attributes — The eagle as a symbol of
spirituai aspiration and baptismal regeneration — Allu-
sions to it by Dante and other poets — The iish in sacred
iconology — ^Significance of the whale in ecclesiastical
architecture — Symbolism of the remota and serra — Im-
portance of the phcenix and the pelican as emblems of
Christian doctrine — Their prominent place in Church
architecture— Import of the fabulous exploits of the otter
and the ichneumon— Panther and dragon typical of
Christ and Belial— Healing power of the "heavenly
panther " — Lesson of self-renunciation taught by the
beaver — Characteristic of the hyena— Symbolism of the
salamander— The partridge a type of the devil— Ex-
amples of the charadrius in art — Mystical meaning of the
crow, turtle-dove, ousel, merl, fulica, and hoopoe — Curious
statement of Lather concerning swallows- Why God
feeds the yotmg ravens — Peculiarities of the wolf — The
Pkysiologus condemned as heretical— Freely used by
Gregory the Great in his scriptural exposition — Virtues
and vices portrayed as women mounted on various
animals— -Disputatious scholastics satirized — Tetramorph
— Gospel mills— The ark of the covenant as the triumphal
chariot of the Cross— Cock and clergy— Origin of the
basilisk and its significance— Its prominence in religious
symbology and sacred architecture — Cautious scepticism
of Albertus Magnus — The Pkysiologus from a psycho-
logical point of view, as iEustrating the credulity of the

Fathers of the Church— Why " the hart panteth after the
water-brooks "—Story of the antelope— Barnacle geese —
" Credo quia absurdum "—Modem counterparts of early
Christian apologists and exegetists p. Bo

CHAPTER IV

SYMBOLISM SUPEBSEDEt) BY S

-^^Excess of anima! symbolism in sacred edifices of the,
eleventh and twelfth centuries— Earnest but finiitles*'

protest of St. Bernard — Image-worship authorized and
joined by the Council held at Nice in 787 — Images not to
be inventions of artists, but to be fashioned according to
ecclesiastical traditions and ecclesiological prescriptions —
Views of St. Nilus — Paintings and sculptures for the
instruction of the ignorant — Gautier de Coinsi renews the
protest against "wild cats and lions" in the house of
God — Angelus Rumpler makes the same complaint —
Warnings by the Councils of Milan and Bordeaux^In-
troductions of episodes from the beast-epos with satirical
tendencies — -Secular guilds supplant religious orders as
architects — Caricature of sacred rites — Fox preaching
to geese in St. Martin's Church in Leicester — Sculptures
in Strasburg Minster — Reliefs of the wolfs novitiate ia
Freibui^ Minster^Poem by Marie de France — Sam-
son and the lion — Provost's cushion in St. Michael's
at Pforzheira^Burlesque of Calvin in St. Sernin aX.
Toulouse^ Luther satirized in St. Victor's Church at
Xanten — Foolscap paper — Origin and character of the
Papstesel — Monstrosities as portents — Bishop-fish — The
Papal Ass in religious polemics — The Monk-calf of
Freiburg and 'its interpretation — Miniatures illustrating
the " Woes of France " — The fox of Che Physiologiis and
of the beast-epos — Reliefs of the wiles of the fox and the
woes of drunkermess in St. Fiacre — Execution of the cat
in the cathedral at Tarragona — Significance of the crane
extiacti!^ a bone &um the fox's throat in Autun Cathe-

dra! — Burrou'ing foxes types of devils in Worcester
CatbedraJ — Scenes from the Rcynardine and other poems
in the church of the Templars, St. Denis, Amiens Cathe-
dral, Sheibonie Minster, and other sacred edifices, but
most Ailly represented in Bristol Cathedral and Beverly
Minster — Heraldic rebuses and canting devices — Satire
on the election of a pope in Lincoln Cathedral— Mendi-
cant friars caricatured as foxes in Ely, Gloucester,
Winchester, and other cathedrais— Odo of Sheringioii's
opinion of these orders — Similar delineations in the
churches and cloisters of continental Europe : Kempen,
Eininerick, Calcar, and Cleves— The Zjiy of Aristotle
and Vergil's affair of gallantry— The Vision of Piers
Plowman — Animals as musicians — Grotesques, bur-
lesques, and riddles— Funeral banquet at the burial of the
fox at Marienhafen^The frog as a symbol of regenera-
tion — Carvings of individual fancies and conceits and
illustrations of proverbs — Episodes from the Roman de
Renart — Many of these sculptures, especially in Northern
France and the Netherlands, destroyed by iconoclasts
and revolutionists p. 178

CHAPTER V

WHIMSEVS OF ECCLESIOLOGY AND SYMBOLOGV
Fniversality of the symbolism of the cross- — Cruciform
phenomena in nature— The sign of the cross in the Old
Testament, and its prefigurative significance— Wonder-
working power of the aoss in Jewish history— Its
presence in the Garden of Eden and in the Hebrew
alphabet— The cosmos has the formof a cross— Influence
of the doctrine of the Trinity upon art— Trinitarian
suggestions in the materia! creation— Mystic meanings
in sacred architecture — Symbolism of bells and signifi-
cance of orientation — Superstitious regard for the points
of the compass — Transition from christolatry to hagiolatry

— Subtilities of ecclesiology— Meagrencss of Hebrew 1
mythology — Exercise of the mythopceic faculty by the
Rabbis — Early Christian opposition to the theatre —
Theatrical rites and indecent amusements in churches
and cloisters — Feast of Fools, etc, — Analogy between the
anatomy of the ass and the architecture of a cathediaJ J
—Jewish and Christian reverence for the ass — Feast oTa
the Ass — Symbolism swallowed up in buffoonery — Traffic 1
in holy relics — Satiriied in Heywood's play of The Four
P.P. — Anatomical peculiarities of saints — Queer freaks
in sacred osteology — Specimens of relics in Catholic
churches — Miraculous power of self-multiplication —
—Choice collection of Frederic the Wise — Anti-Semitic
sculptures in Christian chiu-ches— Coarse relief ridiculing
the Jews at Wittenberg, and its interpretation by Luther
— Similar carvings in other cities — Decrees of John the
Good and Frederic the Hohenstaufe concerning usury-
^Classical myths in Christian art — Orpheus a prototype
of Christ — Bacchus and the Lord's vineyard — Greek
comic poets adored as Christian saints — Isis as the
Virgin Mary — Crude symbolism of early Christian a
Influence of Pagan antiquity— The peacock as a Christiaa
emblem — Moralization of the myth of Argus and lo —
Sirens and centaurs in architecture — The Sigurd Saga.
— Weighing of souls — Recording angels and devils —
Woman as an emissary of Satan — The devil in Christian
art — Dance of death — Oldest representation of it
democratic character and popularity — Manuscripts with
miniatures — Holbein's drawings — Sensational sermons
of Honor^ de Sainte Marie — Modem delineations of the
theme by Rethel, Seitz, Liihrig, and others ... p. 246

BIBLIOGRAPHY /, 34,3

INDEX p.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

r Central Section of a Window in the Cathedral of
Bourges Frontispiece

Terrobuli. {Besiiaty)

Sculpture on Arch of Doorway of old Norman Church
at Alne, Yorkshire 50.

Lion bowling over Whelps. {Relief in Munich)

Lion howling over Whelps. {Relief in Sirasburg) ...

Capture of the Unicom. {Bestiary)

Hunting the Unicom. {Old German Engraving) ...

Annunciation. {Parish Church of EltenSerg) ... .

Eagle renewing its Youth. {Bestiary) ..

Eaglets gazing at the Sun. {Cathsaral

Whale and Mariners.

Pelican. {Bestiary)

Phcenix. {Bestiary)

Otter (Water-snake) and Crocodile (Sea-monster).
{Psalter of Isabella of France)

Panther and Dragon. {Bestiary)

Beaver. {Bestiary)

Hyena. {Bestiary)

Partridge and her Fosterlings, {Bestiary)

Charadrius. {Bestiary)

Turtle-doves. {Psalter of Isabella of France)

Raven. {Bestiary)

Wolf. {Bestiary)

The Gospel and the Law. {Horius Deliciarum)

Beasts of the Apocalypse. {Saint- Nizier of Troyes) . . .

Gospel-Mill. [Abbey of V^selai in Burgundy)

Cock calling Hens. (Psalter of Isabella of France) ...

Liberality and Avarice. {Manuscript in Mttste de Cluny)
m Figbting the Basilisk. {Abbey of Viselai in Burgundy)
tSphinx subduing the Basilisk. {Abbey of V^zelai in
Burgundy)

List of Illustrations

Hart and Dragon. (Btsliary)

Antelope. {Bestiary)

Antelope on the Euphrates. {Psalter of Isabella of

France)

Barnacle Geese. (BesHaty)

Burial of the Fox. (Strasburg Minster)

Novitiate of the Wolf [Freiburg Minster')

Sea-Bishop. [Gessner's FisckbucK)

Papal Ass. {Cathedral of Como)

Wiles of the Fox. {Bestiary)

Execution of the Cat (Cathedral of Tarragona in

Sfain)

Artifices of the Fox in ensnanng Fowls, {St. Fiacre,

near Le FamiH)

Flaying the Fox. {St. Fiacre., near Le Faouef)

Cock and Hen drawing Fox to Execution. {St.

Ursin, near Bruges)

The "Lay of Aristotle." {Church of Saint-Jean in

Carvings on Stalls in the Parish Church of Kempen

(Rhineland) : Threshing Eggs— Looking through an

Egg — Feeling of a Hen — Hatching Eggs^ Weeping

over a fallen Basket of Eggs — Eel-pot — Crane and

Fox dining^Fox preaching to Fowls— Dogs fighting

for a Bone — Fox swimming after Ducks— Ass with

Rosary — Casting Daisies before Swine — Ass playing

the Lyre— Pig playing the Bagpipe — Reynard as

Confessor eatmg the Kite his Confessant — Bear

eating Honey^Belling the Cat— Shearing Swine 239-242

Jolly Friar and Tinker. {Minorite Cloister in Cleves) 244

Satire on the Jews. {Parish Church of Wittenberg) ... 290

Satire on the Jews. {Tower of Brit^e in Frankfort) 295

Pyramus and Thisbc. {Cathedral of Bdle) ... 304,305

Peacocks. [Psalter of Isabella of France)

Myth of Argus. {Bestiary)

Sirens. [Psalter of Isabella of France)

Siren presenting a Fish to a Man. {Church at Cunault-

sur-Loire) 316

Siegfried (Sigurd) Saga. [Ci thedral of Freising, near

Munich). Four views of the pillar in the crypt 322-325
Sigurd Saga. [Church of Hyllesiad in Norway) 326, 327
Weighing Souls. [Cathedral of Bourns) 32(>

ANIMAL SYMBOLISM IN
ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE

INTRODUCTION

One of the most charming passages in the idyts
of Theocritus is that in which Eros complains to
Aphrodite of the bees that stung his hand as he
was stealing honey from their hive, and expresses
Tiis astonishment that such very small creatures could
-cause so severe pain. Thereupon the Cyprian god-
dess laughingly replies : " Thou too art like the bee,
for although a tiny child, yet how terrible are the
"wounds thou dost inflict." This witty retort and
■pat allusion to the pangs produced by the arrows
Tom Cupid's quiver greatly pleased the fancy of
the elder Lucas Cranach, who depicted the scene
in no less than five different paintings, the most
:elebrated of which is now in the Royal Museum
)f Berlin. The same conceit was embodied, at a
still earlier period, in one of the poems of Anacreon,
ho, however, represents Eros as having been stung
while plucking a rose in which a bee was sleeping.
A Spanish poet of the seventeenth century, Estevan

Animal Symbolism

Manuel dc Villegas, famous in Old Castile as the 1
translator and imitator of Anacreon, gives in Las I
Eroticas a vivid description of a due! between Amor \
and a bee, the two ravishers of hearts and flowers. I
The combat ended with the painful wounding of I
the god and the death of the insect, and thus f
ravaged hearts and pillaged flowers were both I
avenged. In a madrigal of the Roman " Arcadian," '
Felice Zappi, Cupids swarm like bees round the J
head of the loved one, clinging to her hair, nestling I
in her bosom, gathering honey from her lips, and J
waving their torches out of her eyes. In his charm- I
ing lyric Die Biene, Lessing gives a didactic turn 1
to Anacreon's poem already referred to, and makes 1
Amor Icam a lesson of strategy from his raisfor- [
tune; henceforth he was wont to lurk in roses andl
violets, and, when a maiden came to pluck them, I
"flew forth as a bee and stung." A kiss is alsQl
personified as a bee, which extracts honey from the
lips, and, at the same time, pierces the heart with
its sting.

Curiously enough this simple, sensuous, and^
suggestive imagery, which plays such a prominent 1
part in Greek, and especially in Oriental, erotics, is 1
wholly foreign to those of the Germanic and
Slavonic races; it is not native to the poetry of ]
these nations, and blooms in their literature only
as an exotic. For the delineation of the tender
passion they preferred a symbolism drawn from
the vegetable kingdom, and the real or fictitious
qualities of fruits and flowers ; the apple, the

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 3

peach, the fig, the rose, the !iiy, the narcissus,
the anemone, the violet, and the pink ate used to
illustrate the attractions of, female beauty and the
attributes of connubial love. Into Germany, whose
pagan tribes seem to have been acquainted with
bees, chiefly if not exclusively in their wild state,
the art of rearing these insects was introduced with
Christianity, and carried on for the most part by
the various monastic orders. There was hardly a
cloister without its hive, which not only supplied
honey and wax for culinary and cultic purposes,
but also served as an example to the friars of an
ideal life of communistic industry and cenobitic
chastity. The superiors of the convents were fond
of emphasizing this analogy in their exhortations to
recluses under their charge, and of enforcing it
their religious poetry. Peter of Capua calls the
risen and ascended Saviour "apis setherea"; the
saints famous for good works are compared to bees ;
eloquent Fathers of the Church and expounders of

I the faith — Chrysostom, Ambrose, Isidore of Spain,
and Bernard of Clairvaux— are said to have lips
flowing with honey {meltifluus) ; and the virgin
queen of the hive is, in the hymns of mediaeval
fliariolaters, a favourite type of the Virgin Queen
of Heaven. But notwithstanding the frequency of
these allusions in Christian literature, and the
consecration of honey and wax to ritual purposes,
the bee figures rarely in Christian art. It is found
occasionally carved on tombs in the catacombs as
a symbol of immortality ; in this case, however, it

^of e
Kihe
■int]
" rise:

Animal Symbolism

does not express a specifically Christian conception,
but is a survival of paganism. In ancient times
honey was supposed to. be an effective antiseptic,
and it was customary to smear with it the bodies
of the dead in order to preserve them from putre-
faction. Alexander the Great is said to have been
thus embalmed, and the same usage formed an
integral part of the Mithras-cult, and can be traced
still farther back to the solar worship of the
Assyrians and Babylonians. Under the Roman
empire the mysteries of the Mithras-cult became
widely diffused throughout Western Europe;
Christian churches were erected over altars dedi-
cated to the old Persian sun-god, as in S. Clemente
at Rome, and the gilded bull's head and three
hundred golden bees, discovered at Toumay in
i6S3, in the tomb of the Merovingian king,
Childeric III., had their origin in the same system
of worship. These bees, which decorated the royal
mantle of the living monarch, and embellished his
shroud after death, were invested with a traditional
sacredness in France as emblems of sovereignty, and
therefore adopted by the first Napoleon, in order to I
give a seeming shimmer of ancient lustre to an j
upstart dynasty.

Christ, as we have seen, was called the " ethereal |
bee," and it is an interesting coincidence that
Vishnu, incarnate in the form of Krishna, should
be represented with a blue bee hovering over his
head as a symbol of the sether. It is not probable
that this similarity is to be explained on the theory -

In Ecclesiastical Architecture

of an historical transmission of ideas, or that there

is any genetic connection between these conceptions,

except so far as they might grow naturally and

independently out of the solar character of both

religions. There is no doubt, however, that the

Orient is the chief source of our symbolisms, which

Lin migrating westward have undergone such a

■variety of transformations and adaptations as in

lany cases greatly to obscure their original signifi- /

ance. In the Brihat-KatM-Sarit-Sdgara (" Great/

n of the Rivers of Stories ") of Somadeva, there'

s the tale of a traveller, who fell asleep on a forest

;, and when he awoke saw a tiger lying in wait

him below, and an enormous serpent coiled

kabove his head and ready to spring upon him.

At the same time he discovered on a branch by his

side some drops of honey from a swarm of bees in

the hollow trunk, and in the enjoyment of its

|aweetness forgot all about the f)erils by which he

iiras surrounded. Long before the age of Soma-

neva this allegory of human life was current in

Rndia, whence it passed into the legendary litera-

Hre of Europe, subject to the modifications of an

Occidental environment (for example in Jacobus

Voragine's Legenda Aurea, and the Barlaam

\nd Josapltat of Rudolf von Ems), and is the theme

mtX an elaborate bas-reiief on the south door of the

baptistery of Parma, where we see a man sitting

on the limb of a tree eagerly eating the honey that

_trickles from the leaves ; at the foot of the tree is

I dragon, and gnawing at its roots are two mice,

Animal Symbolism

while and black, symbols of day and night,
chief divisions of all-devouring time, which ull
mately cause every tree of life to fall. M. H
Gaidoz has shown by strongly presumptive, if not
wholly conclusive, evidence, that the Virgin of the
Seven Swords is a Christian appropriation and
adaptation of the Babylonian-Assyrian war-goddess
Istar, who is represented on ancient monuments
with seven darts in her shoulders, so arranged as to
form with their shafts a halo encircling her head.
Pictures of this goddess, brought by mediseval
Italian merchants from the East, were supposed to
refer to the Virgin Mary, and to the fulfilment of
the prophecy of Simeon that a sword should pierce
through her soul ; and it was not until the fifteenth
century that it was slightly modified to suit the
Gospel record, and received a permanent place in
Christian iconography. The existence of a revered
image of the Holy Virgin in remote regions of the
East was easily accounted for by the clergy, like
many other startling resemblances in religious rites
and symbols, as the marvellous and quite miraculous
results of the mythical mission of the apostle
Thomas.

Indeed, nothing was more common in the middle
ages than this Christianization of pagan deities.
Thus the eagle as an emblem of Jupiter caused the
son of Kronos and sovereign of Olympus to be
mistaken for John the Evangelist ; Poseidon and
Pallas were regarded as Adam and Eve ; Hercules
with his club passed for Samson with the jawbone.

me ■

In Ecclesiastical Architecture

ass; and representations of Venus were
nsty coostrued into those of the Viritln
Under the influence of the Renaiaaanoo
'-awakened scsthctic sense [irovcd Htruntf
ovemile the scruples of rcU){ious wmll-
the monuments of dassical antiquity
Kxlels for imitation in the productions of
art Wc have a striklnf; example of thU
in a marble relief of the A»Humption of
Vii^n. which belonged on'jjinally to Saint-
Jacqoes-la-Boucherie, and is now In the abbatlnl
church of Saint-Denis. Her graceful fi[;urc in
^most wholly nude, and resembles Venus rinlntC
from the sea rather than the Virgin Mary ascend-
ing into heaven ; she folds her handw in the
attitude of prayer, and stands with one UxA im h
<Joud and the other on the head of a cherub, while
four pagan genii as angels accompany her, pbiyini;
on musical instruments,

It was in the Orient, too, that mythical and
symbolical zoology, as the natural oul(;fOwlh o(
the doctrine of metempsychwis, attained ItA rno9t
exuberant development. The monstrtmitlc^ 'rf
Indian, Assyrian, Egyptian, and archaic f irct k
art, sphinxes, centaurs, minotaurit, human-hcaclcd
bulls, lion-headed kings, hor-sc-hcadcd goddeitiiCN,
and sparrow-headed gods, are all the plastic em-
bodiments of this metaphysical tenet. The name
notion finds expression in heraldry, where real
and fabulous animals are blazoned in whimsical
devices on coats-of-arms and ensigns a.* emblem*

Animal Symbolism

of qualities supposed to be peculiar to individuals I
or hereditary in families. The man adorned ! "
escutcheon with the bird or the beast which
was proud of resembling or wished to rival, whose
rapidity of flight he coveted, or whose ferocity he
feared. By this naive symbolism the primitive
chieftain thought to strike terror in his foes, or i
to strengthen the courage and confidence of his |
friends and confederates. Out of the same circum- |
stances arose also an uncanny feeling of ;
regards the lower animals, and a superstitious I
dread of provoking their enmity. Grimm, in his
exhaustive discussion of this topic, has called
attention to that early stage of society, when the
ravenous wolf and the shaggy bear, prowling
through the dark glens and sunny glades of the J
interminable forest, were looked upon, not merely |
as rapacious brutes, whose phj'sical strength and
voracity were to be feared, but rather as incar-
nations of mysterious and malignant forces capable
of inflicting injuries by occult and magical influ-
ences, and therefore not to be enraged or irritated
in any manner. For this reason they were not
called by their real names, but were propitiated
by flattering epithets, such as black-foot, blue-
foot, gold-foot, sweet-foot, grey-beard, broad-brow,
flash-eye, forest-brother, and a variety of similar
appellations. The demon-soul revealed itself in
the fierce glare of the eye and the long, weird
howl, which broke like the voice of an imprisoned
fiend on the midnight air, as the beasts were

I

>

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 9

supposed to be holding conference concerning the
affairs and destinies of men, into which the im-
mense age many of them were thought to attain
would in itself give them more than Rosicrucian
insight This sacred and supernatural character
invested ail their movements with extraordinar)-
interest and portentous significance. They directed
the emigrations of tribes, and determined the places
in which colonies were to be planted, watched
over the infancy of heroes and suckled the founders
of nations, indicated the sites of future cities.
showed where temples were to be erected or
saints buried, and were selected with the most
scrupulous care and circumspection for purposes
of sacrifice and vaticination. The presence or
sudden approach of certain quadrupeds was an
omen of good or evil, and auguries were drawn
from the movements or cries of birds. A hare
crossing the line of march of an army has sufficed
to fill the troops with terror, and cause them to
flee in a panic. Among the reliefs in the south
porch of the cathedral of Chartres is that of
a warrior dropping his sword and running aH'ay
from this timid quadniped. Finally, animals were
transferred to the sky and identified with the con-
stellations, in which form they continued to look
down upon the earth with auspicious or malign
aspect, and to forecast the fate of mankind.

A natural consequence of this enigmatical and
mystical relation of the world of men to the world
of beasts was that the latter became at a ver>'

Animal Symbolism

early period objects of worship, and mythopoetic
speculation. Zoo! a try has existed among all
nations, but this cult reached its. highest develop-
ment among the Egyptians, who adored a vast
Pantheon of deified bulls, rams, qats, mice, ibises,
sparrows, hawks, crocodiles, and a multitude of
mongrel creations of the imagination. Even insects,
flies, bees, beetles, were exalted to divinities.
Monstrosities were held in peculiar veneration.
The union of human bodies with the heads of
beasts or birds is especially characteristic of the
Egyptian religion ; similar incongruities are met
with among the most ancient deities of Greece,
and were doubtless of Asiatic origin. Thus the
Arcadian Demeter was represented with a horse's
head, and the Cretan Minotaur with the head of
a bull, not to mention the hosts of gorgons,
harpies, centaurs, tritons, nereids, sirens, and satyrs
formed by uniting a human head with the body
of a beast or bird or fish. The Greek alone, with
his superior aesthetic sense, chaste imagination,
and unsurpassable plastic skill, knew how to give
organic unity to these heterogeneous combinations,
pruning them of excrescences, purging them of
superfluities, and rendering the boldest violations
of the laws of nature beautiful and harmonious as
works of art. These hybrid creatures of the fancy,
like the sphinxes which guarded the portals of the
temples of Thebes, and the colossal winged lions
of Nineveh and Persepolis, originated in the priestly
proclivity to symbolize and to express mystical

I

in Ecclesiastical Architecture 1 1

ideas in material forms; but their primitive crude-
ness, refined and transmuted in the crucible of the
Hellenic intellect, emerged as the pure gold of
artistic perfection. As the result of this process
of transformation or evolution, if we may regard
symbols as species and apply to them the catch-
word of modem science, the Greek embodiments
of these conceptions have survived as the fittest
in the struggle for existence, and secured a per-
manent place in the art and literature of the
civilized world. The fact that they are universally
accepted as " classical " is conclusive proof of their
absolute ascendency.

Alexandria was for several centuries, under ther
Ptolemies and the Roman prefects, the principal I
channel of commercial intercourse between the 1
East and the West, and consequently the point
at which Oriental and Occidental ideas came into
constant contact and often into sharp conflict, but
by mutual concession and compromise gradually
developed a certain eclecticism and syncretism of
philosophical speculations and religious systems.
Thus arose the so-called Alexandrian School, in
which the achievements of Egyptian, Hellenic, and
Hebrew culture were commingled and mutually
supplemented. Christianity, however, was too
aggressive in its spirit and too e.^clusivc in its
claims to accept any compromise, or to enter into
any amicable modus vivendi with other cults. Its
mission was to put all things under its feet, and to
assert its universal supremacy, and for this reason

12 Animal Symbolism

—it

it recognized the validity of olocr fortns of worship
and admitted their raison d'ilre only so far as they
could be shown to have a specifically propjedeutic
relation to itself as the only true religion. Partly
in application of -tl iij p rinciple, \z.nd partly as a
matter of policy in order to facjAate its propaga-
tion, it appropriated so far as plssible the rites
and symbols and ancient traditioK of antecedent
religions, interpreting them as atmcipations, alle-
gories, prophecies, and prefigurations which had
now been fully accomplished and thereby abro-
gated. Christian proselytes of different races were
eager and adept in making all available currents of
their ancestral mythology tributary to the stream,
whose waters were for the healing of the nations.
Egyptian converts, known as Copts (Copt, Gyptios,
Kyptaios, like Gypsy, is a corruption of hlyvisrwi),
found in the sacred records of their progenitors,
as preserved in picture-writing and plastic art, no
lack of ideographic and other symbolical material
which could be easily converted to Christian uses.
Thus the hieroglyphic sign ■^, pronounced onk,
and signifying "life," would be readily accepted
as an ansated cross 4*. and naturally give rise to
the simpler form tj) so often represented on Coptic
monuments ; by a slight change it might be
metamorphosed into the monogrammatic name of
Christ ■$_. In like manner an ancient Coptic relief
of the Virgin and Child, described by M. Gayet
{Les Monumenls Copies du Musie de Boulaq,
Paris, 1889), and by Georg Ebers (^Sinnbildliches,

1
I

i

Leipzig, 1892^, isl^ervite imitation of tlic tnuli-
lal Egyptian representations of Ish suckling
Horns. The necklace of the Madonna is the
le as that worn by goddesses on the monu-
ments, and by ladies of royal rank in the age of
the Pharaohs, The chair, on which she is .seated,
with its back shaped like the hieroglyphic f (s),
an exact copy of that on which Egyptian
deities were wont to be enthroned and Egyptian
sovereigns used to sit in state. The stiff and
angular infant is the very image of Horus; near
by stands Joseph, rather rigidly draped, and hold-
ing in his right hand a tree and an inittrumcnt
resembling a chisel, which may be intended to
indicate the occupation of a carpenter. Above
their heads extends the ideogram *=^ (pt), nigni-
fying the sky or heavens, and suggesting cither
the place of their abode or their divine character.
Over all hovers a female gyrfalcon with outspread
■wings, the Nechebt-llithyia (El\tl0via), which pre-
sides over births and renders parturition easy, a.i
is stated in the Pkysiologus, by means of the Indian
stone eutokios (curdKios).

Another striking example of this tendency is the
transformation of Horus slaying Scth-Typhon into
St. George and the Dragon, An Egyptian bas-
relief of bronze in the Louvre, and a similar one in
clay in the British Museum, represent the sparrow-
headed god equipped as a mounted warrior, and
thrusting his spear into the neck of a crocodile, the
emblem and incarnation of his demonic foe. In

14 Animal Symbolism

Egyptian mythology Horus symbolized the vital
energy and reproductive power of nature ; he derived
his name from the Semitic Hur, signifying light, and
was therefore properly regarded by Herodotus as
identical with Apollo; hence the double name of the
Greco- Egypt! an priest Horapollo, whose Hierogly-
phica (edited by C. Leemans, Amsterdam, 1835) is
an early and important contribution to symbolical
zoology. Horus personified not only the vivifying
and fertilizing forces of the physical world, and the-
triumph of life over death, but also the victory of
good over evil ; his feast was therefore a vernal
festival celebrated on the twenty-third of April.
Typhon, on the other hand, was the demon of the
desert, the producer of drought and sterility and
famine. As the counterpart to this delineation we
have a rude Coptic relief of St, George and the
Dragon, which was discovered at Luxor, and is so.
thoroughly Egyptian in character that it might be
easily mistaken for Horus and Seth-Typhon. Over
the haloed head of the Christian hero is an equilateral
triangle, a symbol of the Trinity of frequent occur-
rence on Egyptian monuments ; indeed, according
to Plutarch, the fact that the ibis was wont to stand
with straddled legs so as to form such a figure
greatly added to its sacredness. In the background
is the bull Apis, with what seems to be a decrescent
moon (Ebers calls it a disc of the sun, Sonnensclieibe)
over its back. The Egyptians worshipped two bulls,
both sacred to Osiris, namely Mneuis at Heliopolis,.
and Apis at Memphis ; the sign of the former was

le sun. and that of the latter the moon. Above
^tbe gateway, through which St. George is riding
:with the dragon squirming beneath his horse, arc
tiro birds having tails resembling the chryaah's of
an insect, and it may be, as F.bers suggests, that
they are the larva out of which the rejuvenated
phcenix was supposed to emerge. It is poHslble,
however, that these queer tails arc merely the result
of an awlovard attempt to draw feathers. The
anniversary of St. George, like that of Horus, is on
liie twenty-third of April, and there is not the
slightest doubt that this canonized knight, who
figures in hagiology as a Cappadocian prince and
blessed martyr, owes his existence to the Christiatl-
ization of an old Egyptian myth, which, after under-
going this metamorphosis, migrated to Syria, where
the saint is reputed to have been bom in the city of
Lydda, and thence gradually spread over all A^ia
Minor. Here the crusaders became familiar with
the legend, adopted St, George as their patron and
pattern in waging the holy war against the Muisul-
oianic dragon, and brought him to Europe cm-
blazoned on their banners.

It is highly probable, and indeed quite certain,
ithat many ornamentations of Christian architecture,
which are now merely traditional and conventional
forms and perform a purely decorative function,
might be traced to Egyptian and other Oriental
sources, where they had distinct significance is

igns and symbols. But it is not the purpose of the
writer to undertake such a study in comparative

i6

Animal Symbolism

symbology, nor are the materials necessary to its
successful prosecution as yet available, notwith-'
standing the rapidly accumulating and extremely
valuable results of recent researches in archa;olc^y,
ethnography, philology, and the critical comparison
of religions. The aim of the present volume is a
much simpler one, being an attempt to explain the
meaning of the real or fabulous animals, which have
been put to decorative uses in ecclesiastical archi-
tecture, and thus to account for their admittance to
sacred edifices. The book is intended to be suggest-
ive rather than exhaustive, showing the origin and
signification of the most prominent of these types
and symbols, and indicating the direction in which
further investigations are to be pursued. The
founder or at least the most eminent representative
of the Alexandrian School of allegorists was the
Jewish philosopher Philo, who, as a mediator
between Hebrew and Hellenic culture, endeavoured
to discover the teachings of Pythagoras, Plato, and
Aristotle esoterically concealed in the Mosaic
records, by giving to the latter a far-fetched, figura-
tive interpretation. This hermeneutical principle
was adopted by Christian exegetists and apolt^ists,
especially by Clemens Alexandrinus in his Stro-
matetts (patchwork or miscellany of Greek and
Christian literature), and by Origen, who recognized
in the Scriptures a threefold sense : literal or his-
torical, moral or psychical, and mystical or pneu-
matic. Cassian, in the fifth century, wrote a work
entitled CoUationes Patrum Sceiicorujit, in which he

\

In Ecclesiastical Architecture

ates that there are four kinds of knowledge to be
] from Biblical study : historical, tropological,
^llegorical, and anagogical. The first of these,
being for the most part perfectly plain, was of no
importance ; only the last three deserve the name of
spiritual knowledge {iHtelUgentiam spiritualem); or,

Las Hrabanus Maurus expressed it four centuries

■later, the historical sense is milk for babes; the
tropological sense is nutriment suited to those more
dvanced in wisdom ; the allegorical sense is the
strong meat adapted to the robust souls whose
iaith is revealed in good works ; while the saintly

Epersons, who despise all earthly joys and have fixed
Eheir affections wholly on heavenly things, are alone

f fit to receive the " wine of anagogical interpreta-
tion " and to be edified thereby. This last and
highest degree of spiritual discernment is beyond
the reach of " the higher criticism," and, as Cassian
observes, Ls not attainable by severe study and deep
erudition, but comes from divine illumination pro-
duced by fasting, prayer, and holy meditation. It
tsan enlightenment of the understanding proceeding
"rom the purification of the heart, and not from
)oring over commentaries ; a lifting of the veil of

Fthe passions that obscure the mental vision.

Not only was the Hebrew cosmogony allegorized

I and spiritualized, but the same method of exposi-

I tion was applied to the whole system of nature.

I Origen, in describing the process of creation, explains
the creatures that fill the watsrs, the fowls of the air,
and the creeping things as signifying good or evil

Animal Symbolism

thoughts and feelings, and calls special attention to
the great whales as symbolizing violent passions ,
and criminal impulses. In thehermeneutical//lsj.-fl-
hemera of Basil the Great and his brother Gregory
of Nyssa this zoological typology is still more fully
developed, and the various characteristics, popularly
attributed to animals, served to enforce moral teach-
ings or to illustrate theological tenets. More im-
portant in this respect are the so-called Claves
Scriptures Sacra;, which were to be used as keys.i
not only for unlocking the spiritual treasures of I
Holy Writ, but also for disclosing the mystical
meaning of all natural things, the Greek Pkysiologits,
and the numerous mediievat compilations and
poetical productions based upon it, of which an
account is given in the second and third chapters J
of this volume. These works contain an epitomo*
of the mythical and symbolical zoologj', botany,.]
ornithology, and mineralogy gathered from many J
nations, and transmitted from the remotest times. I
Very early in the Christian era this traditional '
material infused itself into patristic literature, and
thus gradually passed from rhetorical decoration in
Christian homilies to artistic decoration in Christian
architecture, where it found expression in fantastic-
and often monstrous forms, which can be under-l
stood only by tracing them to their sources in the
superstitious notions of ancient and especially
Oriental peoples. With the growth of religious
scepticism and schism this symbolism gradually
and almost imperceptibly merged into satire

s

N

r,

1
_a
ers J

me«

ny-1

les. I

na"

nd
in
ian
iticJ
er-i
:hcT

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 19

lat it is often difficult to draw a line of demarca-
lion between them. Mediaeval humour was coarse
•rather than keen, and better skilled in wielding
^ludgeons than in brandishing rapiers. Even the
genius of Rabelais hardly suffices to relieve it of a
certain boorish grossness and brutality, and render
it thoroughly enjoyable to the refined and fastidious
modern reader. The satire of the period of the
Reformation was of the same bitter and abusive
style. Luther's wit was notoriously nasty, and
even the gentle Melanchthon was capable of in-
dulging in a strain of sarcasm which any cultivated
man of to-day would reprobate as extremely
vulgar. It must be remembered, however, that this
coarseness was a characteristic of the age, and is
not to be regarded as a mark of intrinsic vile-
ness or individual depravity- It was something
wholly external, a mode of expression by no
means inconsistent with a robust virtue, as far
removed from prudishness as from pruriency. In
our time the fiercest theological polemic would
hardly venture to lampoon and caricature his
opponents as the reformers of the sixteenth centurj-
the see of Rome, nor would the most rabid

)stle of Anti-Semitism seek to propagate his
, by adorning Christian churches and other

alic edifices with filthy sculptures derisive of
r the Jews.

In the volume now offered to the public the author

s endeavoured to show the rise and evolution of
this symbolism, and its transition to satire as seen in

Christian art, although, as already stated, he is very
far from claiming to have exhausted the subject,
The illustrations are derived partly from the bes-
tiaries printed by Cahier in the second volume of
his Melanges d'Arcfi^ologie, partly from a parch-
ment manuscriptpsalteroflsabeliaof France in the
Royal Library of Munich, and partly from eccle-
siastical edifices. The appended bibliography,
taken in connection with the references given in
the body of the work, will be found to contain
the principal sources of information.

In conclusion, I wish to express my hearty thanks
to Hm. Dr. Laubmann, Director of the K. Hof- und
Staatsbibliothek in Munich, Bavaria, as well as to
the other custodians of that library, for the uniform
kindness and cordiality shown in admitting me to
the privileges and in facilitating the use of that
magnificent collection of printed books and manu-
scripts,

CHAPTER I

JALLEGORICAL AND ANAGOGICAL INTERPRETA-
TIONS OF NATURE

mpulse given to the study of natural history by Alexander
the Great — Scientific spirit fostered by Aristotle — Lack
of this spirit among the Romans — Alexandria as a centre
of learning under the Ptolemies — The Christian theory oi
the relation of the Book of Revelation to the Book of
Nature — The patristic conception of the visible creation
as an ima^e of the invisible world and a mirror of spiritual
truth — Animals as religious emblems in Oriental, and
especially in Buddhistic, iiteralure—Mineralogical sym-
bolism — Magical and medical properties and religious
significance of precious stones — Legends of Solomon's
wisdom, and his method of building the Temple — Cere-
mony of blessing jewels — ^Speculations of Justinus Kemer
and Schubert concerning the occult afEnities of the mineral
kingdom to man — The typology of precious stones accord-
ing to the Physiologus — Spiritual meaning of the diamond,
the pearl, and the Indian stone — Terrobuli in Christian
symbolism and architecture.

Alexander the Great, in addition to his mili-
tary exploits and political achievements, also gave
a new impulse and direction to the development of
natural history in Greece by supplying his tutor,
Aristotle, with specimens and more or less accurate
descriptions of animals native to the lands he had
conquered. By means of the material thus obtained

Animal Symbolism

the peripatetic philosopher was enabled to extend his
researches beyond the confines of his own country,
and to correct many false and fantastic notions
that had hitherto prevailed concerning exotic, and
especially Oriental, fauna, and thus became — at
least in a relative and restricted sense — the founder
of systematic zoology in the modem signification
of the term. His predecessors, as well as his
contemporaries, had been wont to speculate about
animals chiefly from moral, religious, poetic, artistic^
didactic, humoristJc, satirical, sentimental,
superstitious points of view, and to prize the lessons^
of prudence and piety and wisdom which they
were supposed to inculcate ; but the Stagirite was
the first to study them from a strictly scientific
point of view.

Still, the scientific field, which Aristotle culti-l
vated with such assiduous care and with so fruitful ""
results, formed only a small evergreen spot, stand-
ing oasis-like in the midst of a wide waste of wild
conjectures and sterile speculations. Tyrtamus
of Lesbos, sumamed Theophrastus, his favourite
pupil and chosen successor as head of the peripa-
tetic school, followed in the footsteps of the great
master in this field of investigation, and aimed at
the acquisition of positive knowledge by means of
exact methods in the study of nature. Unfortu-
nately, however, the fabulous stories related by
Ktesias and Megasthenes in their voluminous de-
scriptions of India and Persia appealed more
powerfully to the imagination, and gratified in aj

out

tic^

in<9

008^

y

.s
c

d in aj

In Ecclesiasticd Architecture 23

higher degree the popular love of the man-cllous,
than the sober records of accurate obser^-ation, and
therefore acquired far greater currencj-.

The Romans brought beasts from the remotest
provinces of the empire, not because they felt any
rational or scientific interest in them, but solely
in order to increase the pomp and splendour of
military triumphs, or to minister to the barbarous
and bloody sports of the amphitheatre. According
to Petronius, the Marmaric deserts and the Moorish
forests were scoured for the purpose of procuring
ferocious animals to fight in the arena with each
'other, or with trained gladiators in horrible combat.
"The ships from foreign shores," he says, "are
crowded with fierce tigers confined in gilded cages,
and destined to drink human blood to the frantic
plaudits of the populace,"

When Cicero was proconsul in Cilicia, he received
an ui^ent letter from the asdile Ccelius, imploring
him to send as speedily as possible a cargo of
panthers, which were to be used as a "campaign
fund " for electioneering purposes. As a means of
-winning the suffrages of the rabble this sort of ex-
penditure was probably more efficient, and certainly
more open and exciting than the modem system of
distributing "bunched" ballots, or of purchasing
venal voters "in blocks of five." To this entreaty
Cicero replied that he would do his best to comply
with the request of his friend, and thus contribute
to the success of his candidacy, but that owing to
the enei^ and skill of many lovers of the chase,

24 Animal Symbolism

and especially of a certain Patisciis, these beasts
of venery were very scarce, having fled for safety
from his consular province into Caria. If we may
believe their own statements, the Romans accom-
plished wonders in training beasts and birds for
private amusement or for spectacular entertain-
ments. Their passion for pet animals was a matter
of fashion, a mere "fad'"; and Cato bitterly censured
the degeneracy of the times, ivhen ladies frequented
the market-place fondling lap-dogs, and dandies
strutted about with parrots perched on their wrists.
These birds were kept in cages of gold and silver
and tortoise-shell, and taught to shout the name of'
the reigning emperor. The lion learned to play
with hares, catching them in frolic and letting them
go, and rabbits ran and took refuge in its jaws as
in their burrow. Martial, who describes these per-
formances, adds, in obsequious flattcrj- of Domitian,
that this gentleness and docility of savage beasts
are due less to the art of the tamer {domator) than
to awe of the emperor {imperator), "for the lions
know whom they serve." The same poet informs
us that eagles were made to act on the stage,
taking a boy up into the air without doing him
any harm, in realistic representation of the rape of
Ganymede on Mount Ida —

" itithereas agtiila puerum portante per auras,
Illcesum timidis unquibus hssit onus."

Ep. Ub. i. 7.

In view of this almost exclusively amphitheatrical

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 25

and utterly brutaJizir^ relation of the Romaas to
the animal world, it is not suq>rising to find in the
Natural Historj- of Pliny an encj-clopardic compi-
lation of current traditions and popular supersti-
tions, instead of a record of actual obscr^'ations and
scientific conclusions. In short, the Romans do
not appear to have made any contributions what-
ever to natural science, although the vast extent of
their dominions afforded them an excellent oppor-
tunity for such in^-estigations. Not even in the
great didactic poem of the keen-witted Lucretius,
De Rerum Natiira, do we discover any distinct
traces of the Aristotelian method of inquir>-. The
achievements of Roman thought were in politics,
and the cognate department of jurisprudence.

During the reign of the Ptolemies, as well as
under the rule of Roman prefects, Alexandria was
celebrated, not only as the chief commercial centre
of the world, but also as a cosmopolitan seat of
.teaming, and the principal avenue of intellectual
communication between the East and the West.
Indeed, Egyptian monarchs — at least from the ac-
cession of the Nineteenth Dynasty, sixteen cen-
turies before the Christian era — seem to have had a
peculiar passion for establishing museums of curi-
osities, menageries of exotic beasts and birds, and
other collections of rare and abnormal productions
of nature. The ninth Ptolemy, Euei^etes 11., sur-
named Physkon (Gorbelly), wrote a book full of
curious information about such things. His great
aim, howei-cr, was not to discover and record facts.

Animal Symbolism

but to recount wonders, and he is therefore well
characterized by Pitra in his SpicUegium Soles-
mense as a " rerum mirabilium curiosissimus inves-
tigator." It was the mirabiiia, or marvels of nature,
that attracted his attention and stimulated his r
searches. This sovereign was so zealous in pro-
curing works for the Alexandrian libraries (the
Bruchium Museum and the Serapeum) that he not
only sent special emissaries into foreign countries
to purchase them at high prices, but was also ac-
customed to take away from travellers any valuable
manuscripts in their possession and add them tq
the public collections, giving in return a copy of
the book thus arbitrarily appropriated.

Alexandrian learning embraced unquestionably-;
a wide range of topics, among which medicine,
anatomy, mathematics, astronomy, and geography
held a prominent place, but the study of botany,
mineralogy, and zoology were carried on in
extremely superficial and desultory manner, and
chiefly for the purpose of discovering in plants,
stones, and animals the occult and magical proper-
ties and "strange and vigorous faculties" with
which they were supposed to be endowed. Of the
cautious and critical study and scrutiny of nature,
and the essentially scientific spirit which character-
ized the Aristotelian method of research, these
scholars appear to have had little or no conception.

It was also in the Greco- Judaic schools of
Alexandria that Christian theology was developed
as the resultant of the contact and conflict of the .

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 27

Hebrew with the HcUenk intelkct. From the
Christian point of view, the Bible was recognized
as the only tree source of knowledge. The sacied
volume was assomed to contain unerring informa-
tion on all subjects whatsoe\"er, prov'ided one could
ascertain its real meaning, which was often wrapped
up and hidden in allegories and obscure similitudes
and sjonbolisms, like precious treasures kept in
caskets under intricate locks, and concealed in

idark places. Hence the supreme importance of
[hermeneutics as the science of sciences, the master-

Jkey, which opens all the secrets of the uni^-erse,
and reveals all the mj-steries of nature.

It b said of Solomon that " he spake of trees
from the cedar that is in Lebanon, even unto the
hyssop that springeth out of the wall ; he spake also
of beasts and of fowl, and of creeping things and of
fishes." We are not justified, however, in assuming
that he discoursed of natural history in the modem
sense of the term, or that he was familiar with
botany, zoology, omitho!<^y, entomologj', and
ichthyology, as we understand these sciences. His
knowledge of plants and of animals did not differ
in kind from that of his contemporaries and of the
age in which he lived ; he was superior to others
only in possessing a sturdier common-sense and
shrewder skill, in applying this current lore to
human life and conduct, in apothegmatic illustration
of the folly or wisdom of mankind. What we call
the book of nature was to him a vast and many-
volumed treatise on all phases and features of

m

28

Animal Symbolism

human nature, in which the world of lower
creatures was held up to man as a moral mirror,
in order that he might see therein the reflections
of his own vices and virtues.

In the development and enforcement of this idea
patristic theologians surpassed the prophets and
sages of the Old Testament, and even the subtle
scribes and quibbling rabbis, resolving the external
universe into a mere body of divinity or system of
Christian doctrine, written in cipher, which it was
the function of the exegetist to interpret so a
bring it into harmony with divine revelation, and
make it illustrative and confirmatory of Holy Writ.
According to Origen " the visible world teaches us
concerning the invisible ; the earth contains images
of heavenly things, in order that by means of
these lower objects we may mount up to that
which is above. . . . As God made man in His
own image and after His own likeness, so Recreated
the lower animals after the likeness of heavenly
prototypes,"

This conception of the physical world a
symbol of spiritual truth is only one form in which
the ascetic contempt of the body, as a clog and
cumbrance to the soul and a hindrance of holy as-
pirations, took expression. The cosmos or material
body of the universe, like the carnal body of the
individual, must be sanctified by its spiritualization
and virtual expression. Paul's statement that " the
invisible things of Him (God) from the creation of
the world are clearly seen, being understood by the

In Ecclesiastical Architecture

things that are made," was thought to be a
distinct assertion and ample justification of thb
theory, which rendered even the heathen, to whom
the gospel had not been revealed, " without
excuse."

The Talmud declares that "' he who interprets the
scripture Uterally is a liar and a blasphemer." This
exegetical principle is, however, not exclusively
Talmudic, but underlies and pervades more or less
completely all hermeneutical literature. This atti-
tude of mind arises from the fact that sacred
books, which are accepted and transmitted from
generation to generation as infallible and therefore
unchangeable records and repositories of truth, can
keep pace with the progress of human thought,
and adapt themselves to the growth of knowledge,
so as to maintain their hold upon the morally and
intellectually advancing races of mankind, only by
voluntarily laying aside all claims to strict and
literal accuracy, and taking refuge in allegorical
and symbolical interpretations.

According to the biblical story the fall of man
involved the alteration and corruption of the whole
creation, including p11 forms of animal and vege-
table life, and extending even to the soil itself,
which thenceforth showed a perverse prolificaty
in bringing forth thorns and brambles and every
species of noxious weed. These lower organisms
were also embraced in the Christian scheme of
redemption, and are represented as looking forward
with painful longing to its completion, and their

30 Animal Symbolism

consequent release from the degrading penalties of
human transgression.

Indeed, one of the most conspicuous signs of
the successful issue and perfect consummation of
the Atonement is to be the disappearance of all
antipathies between savage beasts and their natural
prey : the Hon will lay aside his fierce animosities
and carnivorous appetites, lying down with the
lamb, and eating straw like the bullock in token
of his regeneration, and universal peace will be
restored. Satan will be dethroned as the prince
of this world, and the earth resume its pristine
state of Edenic innocence and paradisean purity.

Thus the present condition and ultimate destiny
of mankind were supposed to be reflected frag-
mentariiy in the lower animals as in a shattered
mirror; and it was from this source that the early
Christian evangelists and patristic theologians were
especially fond of drawing illustrations of spiritual
trutiis and elucidations of scriptural texts. The
words of Job : " Ask the beast and it will teach
thee, and the birds of heaven and they will tell
thee," were assumed to furnish sufficient ground
for regarding the entire animal kingdom as a mere
collection of types and symbols of religious dogmas
and Christian virtues. The apocalyptic monsters
of St. John the Divine were also cited as a pre-
cedent warranting the wildest vagaries of zoological

In Oriental literature, and especially in the sacred
books of the East, nothing is more common than

I

to put animals to rhetorical, metaphorical, and
emblematical uses, and to hold them up to the
religious man as models for imitation. Compari-
sons and correspondencies of this kind were natur-
ally suggested by the doctrine of metempsychosis,
in which they have a psychological basis, and from
which they derive a peculiar force and cogency.
wholly foreign to Occidental habits of thought and
feeling.

Thus the Buddhist ascetic is told to pattern in
austerity and humility after the ass, which is con-
tent to sleep by the roadside in the outskirts of
the village, on a dust-heap, a bed of chaff, or a
layer of leaves. He is also enjoined to take heed
to the squirrel, which, when assailed, uses its tail
as a cudgel against its enemies, and to ward off
carnal affections and spiritual foes with the staff
of steady and earnest meditation. When he goes
forth with his begging bowl, he should wrap
himself in the vesture of meekness and moral
restraint, that he may be free from fear and from
worldly contamination, as the white ant covers itself
with a leaf when it goes in quest of food. The
scorpion has a sting in its tail, which it bears erect ;
in like manner the religious man should wield the
sword of knowledge, and thereby render himself
invincible. In the burning heat of summer the
pig betakes itself to a pond ; so the devotee, when
his soul is scorched and inflamed bj' evil passions.
should have recourse to the cool, refreshing, and
ambrosial exercise of universal kindliness. Again,

L

32 Animal Symbolism

the hog, having gone to a marsh or swamp, digs a
trough in the earth and h'es therein ; so the yogi
Ishould bury his body in the trough of his mind
] by means of profound and passionless meditation.
j The owl is the mortal enemy of crows, and is
' wont to repair to their nests at night and kill their
young; in like manner the religious mendicant is
I the foe of ignorance, and plucks it out of his mind
' and destroys it before it has become inveterate.
I Like the owl, too, he loves seclusion and the quiet
( favourable to calm reflection. The leech sucks
itself fast to whatever it touches, and gorges itself
I with blood; so the yogi holds firmly to whatever J
' he fixes his thoughts upon, and drinks in thej
never-cloying fulness of Nirv&na, The spider |
spins its web to catch flies ; the yogi spreads the
net of unbroken contemplation before the six
avenues of the senses, and takes captive and
destroys every lust that seeks to enter into the '
mind. Those who have become the slaves of thej
passions live wholly in them, moving about i
world of illusions, the creation of their own desires,
as the spider runs to and fro on the filaments of
the web, which it has spun out of its own bowels.
The process of regeneration and emancipation from
the allurements of the senses and the trammels of
the flesh is compared to the action of the snake in
casting its skin. He who is content with sensual
pleasures is like a hog wallowing in the mire and I
glutted with wash. The elephant is the type ofl
patient endurance, self-restraint, Buddha himself ]

11

\

e
<

i

In Ecclesiastical Architecture

33

is likened to a well-lamed (sueirinfa) elephant, and
is often spoken of as the great elephant {niahdndga).
^^Another symbol of the pioua recluse, who has re-
Baoimced the world, is the rhinoceros, because it
^K)ves to dwell alone and remote from its kind.
■^ Even inanimate things are moralized and made
to represent spiritual states. Thus the jug {kum-
bho), which emits no sound when it is full, em-
blematizes the man who is full of knowledge, and
walks humbly and soberly in the " path " (dliartna'
patka), avoiding vain boastings and garrulousness

(and noisy ostentation. This idea is expressed in
following lines from the Suttanipata :
... I

" Loudly brawls the shallow run,
But the stream that's deep is dumb.
Noise betrays the empty tun ;
From the full no sound doth come.
Empty pitchers like are fools ;
Wise men are the full, dear pools."

"he same figure of speech occurs in Tlie Lover
f Sir Walter Raleigh :

In these comparisons and injunctions the common
qualities and most conspicuous characteristics of
the animals, which the holy man is admonished to
imitate, are lost sight of, and only certain fanciful
attributes considered. In common parlance it
would not be flattering to speak of a saint meta-
phorically as an ass, a hog, a leech, or a scorpion.

(

34

Animal Symbolism

This comical disregard of the prominent points of
resemblance, which would be most naturally sug-
gested by the simile, is not confined to Buddhistic
writings, but, as we shall see hereafter, constantly
occurs in Christian hermeneutical and homiletical
literature, and often renders it very funny reading.

It was also in the Orient that a sort of mineral-
ogical symbolism, based upon certain magical and
magnetic qualities supposed to be peculiar to
precious stones, was first and most fully developed.
Jewels were worn originally, and are still worn in
Eastern countries, as prophylactics and talismans
rather than as mere ornaments. Their purpose
was not so much to adorn as to protect the person,
preventing disease and warding off malign in-
fluences, and they were therefore prized more for <
their occult virtue than for their brilliancy and j
beauty. In Europe, too, they constituted an im-
portant part of mediaeval pharmacopceias, and were
to be found side by side with mummy dust, "eye
of newt and toe of frog," and many nasty and
nauseous compounds in every well-regulated apothe- ■
cary's shop. Popular superstition has not yet j
ceased to endow bufonite or toadstone witli^
wonderful medical and necromantic properties.

The urim and thummim (light and perfection^ j
in the breastplate of the Jewish high-priest were
precious stones remarkable for their luminousness
and purity, and, like the sacred scarabzeus worn by
the Egyptian hierophant, had a mystical meaning
and were consulted as oracles. In what ]

the divine will was communicated through them fe
not known ; it is probable that the priest by stead-
fastly gclzing on them was thrown into an ecstatic
or hypnotic state, in which he saw visions, and
uttered words that were interpreted as divine
inspirations and supernatural illuminations.

It is curious to note to what extent the once

universal belief in the amuletic efficacy of gems

still survives in modem life and literature. Thus

the amethyst, as its name implies, neutralized the

intoxicating properties of alcohol, and was therefore

wrought into cups, from which one could quaff the

strongest liquors in the largest draughts without

getting drunk. It was also supposed, perhaps in

^ consequence of this ant i-i neb riant quality, to render

^Vs man energetic and diligent in business and to

^Knsure peace of mind. The agate disenvenomed

W the sting of serpents and scorpions, and when worn

on the left hand made its possessor winsome and

wise; if placed under the pillow it produced

pleasant dreams.

Boccaccio says in the Decameron, that "the
heliotrope is a stone of such strange virtue that it
causes the bearer of it to be completely concealed
from the sight of all present" This power was
also ascribed to the plant of the same name.
Dante describes the spirits of the damned in the
seventh circle of hell as running to and fro naked
and affrighted without hope of hole or heliotrope :

" Senia sperar pertugio o elitropia."

36

Animal Symbolism

In other words, they found no cleft in which to
hide, and had no heliotrope to render them in-
visible. The reference here is not to the plant, but
. to the mineraL The ruby absorbed morbid humours,
and was an antidote for catarrh and unrequited
love; no wonder then that it also made a man
socially attractive and companionable. The car-
buncle protected the wearer against the fatal look
of the basilisk and the fascinations of the evil eye,
counteracted the virulence of poisons, purified the
air from pestilential vapours, and, when worn as a
necklace, was preventive of epilepsy. Chalcedony
imparted moral strength and courage to resist all
evi! enticements; the variety of it known as car-
nelian was believed to be effective in cheering the
heart by its soothing action on the bile and the
^. blood. The topaz kept the soul pure and chaste,
and is etymologically related to the Sanskrit tapas,
a general term for the purifying process by which
the Indian ascetic purges his spirit and frees him-
self from sensual desires and worldly affections.
It was thought to exert a calming influence upon
lunatics, and, if thrown into a boiling pot, to stop
ebuilition. With a topaz in his armpit, a person
■was deemed capable of passing unsinged through
the hottest flames, and undergoing with safety the
severest ordeal of fire ; for this reason witches were
carefully examined before being burned, lest they
migiit have recourse to this means of impunity.
This stone was often given as a mark of friendship,
and especially as a pledge of troth, since it was

supposed to promote fidelity. The lapis lazuli was

used as a necklace for children, because it made

them fearless and truthful ; corals were cmployetl

in the same manner, because they warded off

sorcerous arts and withstood the powers of witch-

. craft. Jasper produced clearness and keenness of

tnsion, stanched blood, healed dropsy and dyspepsia,

■and was an effective febrifuge. Chrysoprase cured

■beart-affections both physical and mental. Beryl

1 as a cholagogue, and as a natural result of

5 cathartic and tonic qualities developed a chcer-

and courageous spirit. Rock-crystal or " ice-

" as it was popularly called, quenched thirst,

revented vertigo, and enabled women to suckle

' their children. The necklace of clear rock-crystal,

still commonly worn by wet-nurses, is a survival of

the belief in the lactific virtue of this variety of

limpid quartz.

The association of precious stones with the
months of the year as amulets and promoters of
good fortune seems to have originated at an early
date in Arabia. In accordance with this notion
the hyacinth or red zircon was worn in January,
the amethyst in February, the heliotrope or blood-
stone in March, the sapphire and diamond in April,
the emerald in May, the agate in June, the cornelian
in July, the onyx in August, the chrysolite in Sep-
tember, the aqua marine and opal in October, the
topaz in November, and the chrysoprase and
turquoise in December. Thus the magic power of
the stones serve to protect their wearers, and to

38

Animal Symbolism

communicate to them the hidden properties witi
which these gems were supposed to be endowedrfB
In modem literature this theme has been treate
most fully and suggestively, perhaps, by Theodoflfl
Komer in his poem Die Monatssteine, written i
I810.

Far more important for our present purpose than
tilie magical and medical properties of precious
stones is their significance as symbols of theological
doctrines and Christian graces. In a mediaeval
German poem "Concerning the Heavenly Jeru-
salem" (Diemer: Deutsclte Gedickte, pp. 361-372),
based on the treatise /Je Lapidibus of Marbodius,.^
and on the twenty-first chapter of Revelation, won
have a theological mineralogy corresponding to the \
theological zoology of the Pkysiobgus. The two
verses (Rev. xxi. ig, 20) that make mention of the
twelve stones with which the foundations of the
wall of the mystical city were garnished, are
expanded into more than two hundred lines of the
poem, consisting chiefly of extremely far-fetched
allegory. Thus jasper is the foundation of the
Church, and acts as a preservative against hurtful
phantasms and devilish wiles ; it is of a green
colour, and signifies those who foster the faith,
never letting it wither away and grow dry and
dead, but always keeping it alive. Sapphire has
a heavenly hue, and symbolizes those who, although
on the earth, have their thoughts fixed on heavenly
things. Chalcedony shows its lustre only in the
open air, and typifies those who fast and pray in

' wo
Ksat

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 39

:ret, but whose righteousness shines forth among
Emerald is native to a cold and arid region,
liinliabited only by griffins and one-eyed men
{monoctili). who are constantly fighting for the
possession of this stone. It surpasses all gems and
herbs in greenness, and symbolizes the freshness
and vigour of Christian piety as opposed to the
coldness and barrenness of infidelity. The griffins
are the demons that, in the form of winged lions.

;w aloft on the pinions of pride and fell from
;lieaven into the abyss of hell for their misdeeds.
Their monoculous antagonists are those who do
|tiot walk in two ways, are not double-dealing, do
not serve two masters, are not given to duplicity,
but who have an eye single to the glory of God,
are single-minded, seeking with oneness of purpose
to hold fast the jewel of faith, which the demons
would wrest from them. Sardonyx has three •

ilours, black below, white in the middle, and red

love; it is a type of those who suffer for Christ's
sake, and, although pure and spotless, are vile and
sinful in their own eyes. Sardius is deep red, and
signifies the blood of the martyrs. Chrysolite
glistens like gold and emits scintillations, and is an
emblem of those who let their light shine in word
and deed. Beryl glitters like the sea in the sun-
light, and illustrates the illuminating power of the
spirit. After interpreting in this manner

le symbolism of the other stones, topaz, chryso-
ius, jacinth, and amethyst, on which the New
Jerusalem is built, the poet turns homilist, and

Animal Symbolism

warns his readers that they can enter the heavenly
city only by practising the virtues which the stonea
shadow forth :

No doubt this symbolism is utterly fantastic and
absurd, and would be hardly worthy of notice were
it not for the fact that it holds a prominent place
in sacred art, and determines, to a considerable
degree, the kinds of stones used in ecclesiastical
architecture, as well as in ornamenting sacerdotal
vestments, crucifixes, rosaries, chalices, and other,
sacramental utensils.

Speculations of this sort began to pervade Chi
tian hermeneutic theology at a very early period,
and are traceable in the oldest apocryphal litera-,
ture of the New Testament. In the latter half
the fourth century Epiphanius, Bishop of Cyprus,
wrote a book " On the Twelve Stones in Aaron's
Robes," and another " On the Twelve Stones set
in the Priest's Breastplate." The same allegorical
spirit of interpretation is shown by Anselm, Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, and by Ambrosius, in their
commentaries on the Apocalypse.

A similar tendency manifests itself in the synwi
bolical and analogical use of numbers, which sought
to trace a recondite relation between the seven seals
of the Apocalypse, the seven petitions of the Pater
Noster, the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven
beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount, the seven

3tal
herM

r»f

iod,a

:ra--^

I

sacraments, the seven prototypes in the Old Testa-
ment, the seven heavens, the seven days of creation,
the seven ages of man, the seven liberal arts, the
seven signs marking the birth of Christ, and many
other sevenfold things. This subject is fully treated
in an old poem entitled Deus Septifonnh, or the
Septiforra God,

A curious specimen of biblical exegesis in a
poem of the eleventh century, called Praise of
Solomon (Diemer, pp. 107-114}, explains how it
was possible to construct the Temple so that " there
was neither hammer nor axe, nor any tool of iron
heard in the house while it was building." A
dragon, which had caused a severe drought by
drinking all the water in the springs and wells of
Jerusalem, evaded every effort to capture it until
Solomon ordered the empty wells and cisterns to
be filled with a mixture of wine and mead. As
the result of this stratagem the beast became so
intoxicated that it was easily taken and fettered.
On recovering from its drunkenness it promised
the king that if he would set it free, it would tell
how he could complete the Temple without
the unpleasant din and clatter of masons and car-
penters. The wise sovereign accepted this pro-
posal, and learned that there was an animal on
Mount Lebanon, with the entrails of which one
could cut the hardest stones. Hunters were sent
out, who succeeded in killing this wonderful crea-
ture, and by means of its intestines the workmen
were able to construct the edifice as by enchant-

42

Animal Symbolism

meot. The poet then describes the splendours of
Solomon's court, to which an allegorical interpret-
ation is given : Solomon is God, who created the
world noiselessly, and in a breath, the Queen ot
Sheba is the Church, and the courtiers and nobles*
are priests and bishops. The author gives as hia
authority for this exegesis a gentleman called Hier-
onymus (eitt Iterro his /teronimus), evidently referring
to the famous ascetic and saint of the fourth century.
Indeed, the term " herro " is admirably suited to
the character of this remarkable man, who com-
bined the austerity of the monk with the elegance
of the man of the world, and thereby rendered
himself so attractive to the fine ladies of Roman
society that many of them exchanged their rich
apparel and luxurious homes for a hair-shirt and,
an anchoretic life in the desert.

Pineda, in his Salomon Prmvius, published In
eight books at Mayence in 1813, describes a worm
called samir, whose blood had the property of soften-
ing stones and glass, so that they could be cut and
carved like wax. This discovery, we are told, was-
made accidentally by Solomon, who kept a young
ostrich in a glass cage ; but the parent bird brought"
the samir from the desert, and by means of its blood
cut the glass and set the captive free. This circum-
stance was reported to Solomon, who made further
experiments with this substance, and invented a new
process of working in marble and engraving gems.
According to another account, Solomon had a
plant which had been brought to him by a foreign

In Ecclesiastical Architecture

43

embassy, the juice of which possessed the same
lithotomic qualities. These legends arose evidently
as inferences from the passages already quoted
concerning the wise Icing's vast knowledge of
natural history and his method of building the
Temple. The Hebrew monarch got the credit of
all the marvellous stories of this kind which were
current in the middle ages, for the same reason
that mediaeval chronicles made Charlemagne the
hero of all feats of valour and deeds of chivalry ;
and American newspapers ascribe all good jokes
afloat to Abraham Lincoln.

The ceremony of blessing Jewels used to be per-
formed by the kings of England in Westminster
Abbey on Good Friday, and was supposed to im-
part to these precious stones a still greater healing
power peculiarly efficacious in curing cramps and
epilepsy. But long before this custom came to
be observed, jewels, as we have already seen, played
1 important part in ancient and medieval materia
medica as antidotes and amulets, and especially
as antitoxicons. In a didactic poem entitled De
Gemmis, and written by Marbodius, Bishop of
Renncs, in the latter half of the eleventh century,
more than sixty precious stones are mentioned, and
their properties described ; the work is, however,
chiefly a compilation and Christ i an ization of the
opinions of Aristotle, Pliny, Galen, Isidore, Diosco-
rides, Avicenna, and other authorities on this sub-
ject, since his sole aim is religious instruction and
edification.

44

Animal Symbolism

A German poet of the thirteenth century, Der
Strieker, ridicules the popular belief in the magical
and medicinal virtues of precious stones as a foolish
superstition, and thus shows himself to have been
far in advance not only of the ignorant masses,
but also of the cultured classes and scholars of
his day.

Among modem writers Justinus Kemer has
devoted himself most earnestly to this province
of investigation and speculation. He maintains
that in primitive times, when man lived under
simpler conditions and nearer to nature than at
present, he was far more susceptible to her subtle
influences, so that " even the spirit of the stone, now
grown dull and sluggish, was capable of affecting
him." Modem culture, he adds, has materialized
man, and "swathed his soul in a threefold girdle
of grossness, so that only mechanical and chemical
forces can act upon it ; for this reason he is now-
driven to the use of poisons, the strongest elements
in the three realms of nature, as medicaments and
healing remedies, they alone being able to pene-
trate the insulating earthy mass which prevents
spirit from operating directly upon spirit." If
stones, he continues, do not manifest the same
virtues now as formerly, the fault is in ourselves.
In our present vitiated state they exert their real
and inherent powers only when we are under the
influence of magnetism, which corresponds, in a
certain degree, to the original and normal condition
of mankind, since it renders the soul more free from

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 4.5

the bondage of the body. Stones nowadays pro-
duce upon magnetized persons the same effects that
were ascribed to them in anciuit times, for ex-
ample in the Orphic Litkiaka, where it is said
that nature has endued them with greater virtues
than roots or herbs. The same view is expressed
by Schubert in his Natural History, where the
mineral kingdom is represented as a realm full of
occult affinities and spiritual suggestions, and mys-
tical relations to the microcosm, man. Schubert
also declares that the secret and subtle properties
of stones affect the human organism most power-
fully when it is in a magnetic or somnambulic
state.

In the Pkysiologus (the character and contents
of which will be fully considered in a subsequent
chapter), as well as in mediaeval bestiaries, we find
the queerest exegetical applications of these super-
stitious notions intermingled with utterly irrelevant
citations of Holy Writ, such as one would now
hear only from the lips of a Hard-Shell Baptist
preacher or an old plantation negro exhorter.
Thus the diamond, or adamant as it is called, is
taken as the type of Christ, because it shines in
the dark, as it is written in Isaiah: "The people
that walked in darkness have seen a great light;
they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death,
upon them hath the light shined." Again, we are
told that the diamond is so hard that neither iron
nor stone can penetrate it, but it penetrates all sub-
stances, "for all things were made by Him, and

Animal Symbolism

without Him was not anything made that was
made." Likewise the apostles have said of it ; '
saw a man upon a wall of adamant, and in his
hand a stone of adamant." (Here the apostles
are confounded with the prophets, as the quota-
tion is from the Septuagint version of Amos vii. 7.)
We are furthermore informed that "the diamond
can be cut and polished only after it has been
soaked in the warm blood of a he-goat." In this
case the he-goat is typical of the crucified Christ,
and the diamond represents the hardness of a world
stubborn in sin, which nothing but the warm blood
of the Saviour can render tractable and reformable.
As early as the third century St. Cyprian, Bishop
of Carthage, in his Liber de Duplici Martyrio,
accepts this notion on the authority of the natural-
ists of his day, and uses it to illustrate the efficacy
of the Atonement. " Those who are versed in the
knowledge of natural things tell us that adamant
does not yield to the hardness of steel, and can be
malleated only after being macerated in the blood
of a he-goat. But no adamant is harder than the
stony heart of the sinner ; nevertheless the blood of
Christ softens this stony heart, this iron heart, this
heart harder than adamant." In this way the
marvels of the material creation were made to
elucidate the mysteries of the spiritual world, and
to confirm the truths of divine revelation. The
Physiologus also asserts that no demon can enter
a house or habitation of man in which there is
a diamond, and adds : " So it is with the heart

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 47

■wherein Christ dwells, whose presence protects
it against all approaches and assaults of the
devil."

It is said of the pearl-fishers, that they attach an
agate to a cord and let it down into the sea, where
it is drawn towards the pearls by a mysterious
attraction, so that by following the cord the fishers
discover them and remove them from their shells.
Here the agate typifies John the Baptist, who
pointed the way to the pearl of great price, saying :
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the
sin of the world." The author then tells how the
pear] is produced. The sea-creature, which con-
tains this precious substance, is described as having
two appendages like wings, and has therefore been
mistaken for a bird ; it is evident, however, that

bivalve is meant. Just before the dawn this
oyster comes out of the deep water to the shore,
and, opening its shell, receives a drop of dew
from heaven, which the rays of the rising sun
change into a pearl. The reader would naturally
expect this story to be a symbolism of the Incarna-
tion or the Immaculate Conception; but the writer
indulges in an elaborate theological, or rather eccle-
siastical, interpretation, in which the sea is the
world, the fishers are the saints and doctors of the
Church, and the bivalve stands for the Old and
New Testaments joined together into one Bible or
Book of Revelation, and containing the pure pearls
of divine truth. As we shall have occasion to
observe, the similitudes of the P/tysiologus are not

Animal Symbolism

only hopelessly and often ludicrously mixed, but
readily shift at every turn of thought like the
figures of a kaleidoscope,

Dante in one of his sonnets (xxxv.) uses a
metaphor based on this theory of the genesis of
the pearl in a modified form, and implying that
it is an emanation of the stars : come de Stella
margkerita. A mediaeval Spanish poet also speaks
of the pearl as having its origin in a dew-drop,
and refers to St Isidore of Seville as his authority,
who, he says, was well informed in such matters;

" Csi 2ssi lo diz Saot Esidro que sopo la materia."

Another type of Christ is the Indian stone
(\i8os ii^iitSr), which was supposed to cure dropsy
by absorbing morbid humours and serous fluids
in the body; "so, too, Christ heals us who are
spiritually dropsical, having the waters of the devil
collected in our hearts." There is also an Indian
stone called eutokios or birth-easing, which is
round like a nut and rings like a bell. When the
female vulture is with young, she sits on this stone,
as soon as she begins to feel the pangs of parturi-
tion, and its virtue is such as to enable her to
bring forth without the pains of travail. In like
manner Christ was born of the Virgin unbegotten
and without suffering. And as the eutokios is
hollow and has within it another stone, which gives
out a pleasant sound, so the Godhead of our
Lord was hidden in His body and yet made itself

I

In Ecclesiastical Architecture

inanifesL In this connection the expositor quotes
icveral passages of the Scriptures, such as Mat-
thew xxi. 43, and Isaiah xxvi. 18, which do not
bear the slightest relevancy to the doctrine he
wishes to enforce.

What the Physiohgus relates of the vulture is
leported by Pliny of the eagle, and the stone is
ailed aetites or eagle-stone, and is said to have
been found frequently in the aerie of the king of
birds. We may add that in the mediaeval Walden-
sian bestiary a more edifying interpretation of the
fable is given, which is explained as symbolizing
toe help of the Holy Spirit in bringing forth good
works.

It is a noteworthy mark of ignorance that both
Pliny and the Physiohgus speak of these accipi-
trine birds as though they were viviparous instead
of oviparous animals, and were to be classed with
mammals rather than with fowls.

Among fabulous stones the so-called terrobuli,
'more properly pyroboH (jmpo;So'Xoi XfSot) or fire-
stones, play a very prominent part in Christian
symbolism and art. They are said to be found
on a certain mountain of the Orient, and to be
male and female. So long as they are far apart
tiiere is no perceptible heat in them, but if they
are brought near to each other, fierce flames burst
forth and the whole mountain is set on fire. Then
comes the moralization designed to inculcate the
virtue of monasticism. "Therefore, ye men of God,
who would lead a pure life, separate yourselves

far from women, in order that the fires of lust may
not be kindled in your hearts ; for these carnal
passions are emissaries of Satan, sent to assail not
only holy men, but also chaste women." Adan^ J
Joseph, Samson, Solomon, Eve, and Susanna i
then adduced as examples of the wiles and witcheryj
of women.

The terrobuli are usually represented in ar

naked or scantily-drap<
figures of a man and
woman, often in the rud«J
■ form of a hermes, standr
TtntjbuU. iSviiiary.) jr,g near each other and
enveloped in flames. They occur in miniature
illustrations of medieval bestiaries, as for example
in a manuscript of the tenth century in the
Arsenal Library, and one of the thirteenth century ]
in the National Library of Paris, and a third of i
the fourteenth century in the Royal Library of J

Brussels. Representations of them in ecclesiastical
architecture are comparatively rare ; there is, how-
ever, a fine specimen^f the terrobuli sculptured on

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 5 1
I one of the voussoirs or arch-stones over the south

Sculpture on arch of doorway of o[d Noi

Btrance to an oJd Norman church at AJne in
yorkshire.

CHAPTER II

ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE 'PHYSIOLOGUS '

Plastic and picCoria.1 representations of animals in Christian
art — Literary sources of these representations — Clavis of
St. MeUto — Epistle of Barnabas — The Pkysiologus com-

filed by an Alexandrian Greek— The Hexaheinera of the
athers — Adam as the author of a natural history —
Popular character of the Pkysiologus — Origen as an
'. esegetist^Roger Bacon's views of the place of ajiinaals
in Scripture — Enpositions and amplifications of the Pky-
siologus by Epiphanius, St. Isidore, Petrus Damiani, and
others — Anastasius Sinaita's Analogical Coniemplations
— Latin poem on beasts and their mystical meaning by
Theobald of Plaisance, and the English paraphrase —
The Pkysiologus translated into Latin, Ethiopjc, Arabic,
Armenian, Syriac, Anglo-Saxon, Icelandic, and all the
principal modern languages of Europe — Brief descrip-
tions of these versions — Prudentius' poems Hamartigenia
and Psyckomachia — The phcenix, a symbol of solar
worship used to illustrate the Christian doctrine of the
Resurrection — French bestiaries ; Philippe de Thaun's
Le t-ivre des Criatures, Peter of Picardy's prose version
of the Pkysiologus, and Le Bestiaire Divin of William, a
priest of Normandy — Encyclopaedias of natural history
based on the Pkysiologus: Thomas de Cantimprfs
Liber de Naturis Remm, the Speculum Naturaie irf
Vincent de Beauvais, Liber de Proprietatibus Rerum of
Bartholomaius Anglicus, Hortus Deliciarum of Herrsde
de Landsberg, and other compilations — The church
edifice an emblem of the human soul — Symbolism of the
raven and the dove — Albertus Magnus' criticism of the
Pkysiologus.

52

d

Animal Symbolism

S3

Still more important than the emblematic sig-
IniBcance of precious stones is the place assigned to
animals in physico- theology. Christian art, from
the fourth century, furnishes numerous examples
of this sort of symbolism, as may be seen in the
oldest churches of Rome and Ravenna, and in the
remains of early sacred monuments now preserved
in the Museum of the Lateran and in similar
L archaeological collections,

The literary sources, however, from which the

inceptions embodied in these plastic and pictorial

presentations were derived, are of much earlier

A celebrated work of this kind was the

'iClavis of St. Melito, Bishop of Sardis in Asia

Minor, who lived in the latter half of the second

rntury, under the reign of Marcus Aurelius. It

; written in Greek, but now exists only in a

' l-atin translation, or rather a Latin revision and

re-digest of the original, since the text published

by Pitra in his Spicikgiiim Solesmense is unques-

ionably a mere re-hash of the bishop's book, dating

"obably from the eleventh century.

Still earlier is the epistle ascribed to Barnabas,

itohich, although not composed by him, belongs

^obably to the latter half of the first century,

"he ninth chapter of this curious allegorization

*of the Jewish ceremonial contains a list of the

unclean beasts enumerated in the Levitical law

(Deut. xiv.), with an explanation of their spiritual

significance. The chief purpose of the apocryphal

epistle was to counteract the judaizing tendency

54

Animal Symbolism

andfl
s

iS

in primitive Christianity, and to this end *the
author endeavoured to resolve the legal and ritual
prescriptions of the Old Testament into mere pre-
figurations and prophecies of Christian doctrines
and institutions, and thus virtually abolished them
by spiritualizing them, Judaism is thereby reduced
to a foreshadowing symbolism of the new religion^
by which it is destined to be superseded
ultimately set aside.

The most complete and systematic, as well as
the most popular and probably the oldest, of this
class of exegetica! expositions is the Physiologus
or " Naturalist," as we would call it, which was com-^J
piled by an Alexandrian Greek from a great variety J
of sources, and doubtless embodied much of the "
priestly wisdom and esoteric science of ancient
Egypt. The early Christian apologists and herme-
neutists seem to have been extraordinarily fond of
tbis kind of literature, whicli served their purpose
as an application of the supposed facts of natural
history to the illustration and enforcement of moral
precepts and theological dogmas. In their frequent
references to this work they evidently assume a
general knowledge of it on the part of their readers,
and it is probable that the Pkysiologus in its present
form is made up of fragments of several books of a
similar character, which were not only used as text-
boolis in schools, but were intended for the edifica-J
tion of old and young, and were therefore moretl
simple and attractive in style than the heavyj
Hexakemera or expositions of the six days' wori

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 55

[ of creation, in which Papias, Justin the Martyr, Sl
I Theophilus, St. Basil of Ccsarea, Eustathius, and
I other patristic theologians delighted to display
T their ponderous and perverse erudition. In these
[ elaborate commentaries the fable often serves as
[ the text for a sermon, or suggests the theme of a
I dissertation. Thus in the Hexaktitieron of Ambro-
[ sius the story of the copulation of the viper with
I the lamprey furnishes the subject of a treatise on
i conjugal love. In like manner the crow is chosen
as the type and pattern of hospitality, the stork is
I an example of filial piety, the swallow of maternal
j care and domestic content even in poverty, while
I the fish, which devour each other, are emblems of
I greediness.^

The Jews claim to have had a natural history by

I

* According to Luther the wisdom of the Magi was of this
kind. In his semion on Matthew ii. 1-13, he says : " Deiui
diehohen Schulen riihmen sich auch wie sie die natijrliche
Kimst lehren, die sie nennen Philosophia, und lehren doch
■idit Atiftnspiel, sondern vergiftig Irrthum und eiteJ Traum.
Denn naliirliche Kunst, die vorzeiten Magia hiess, und jetit
Physiologia, ist die, so man lernet der Natur Krafte und'
Werk erkennen ; als dass ein Hirsch die Schlangen mit
seineju Athem durch die Nasen aus der SteinriUen reissc
ond todet und frisset, und darnach vor grosser Hitie der
Gift nach einem frischen Born diirstet, wiesolches der 42 Ps.
V. 3 anicigt. Item, wie ein Wiesel die Schlange heraus-locket,
tvenn es vor der Schlangen Loch wiebelt mit seinem.
Scbwanzlein, und dann die Schlange erziimot heraus kreuchc
so lauret das Wieslein oben iiber dem Loche, und die
Schlange iiber sich siehet nach ihrem Fcind, so schlagt das
Wieslein seine Zahne der Schlangen in den Hals neben die
Vergifl und erwiirget also seinen Feind in seinem eigenen
Loche. In solchen Kiinsten haben die Magier studiret.'

56 Animal Symbolism

Adam, who as the man first created and especially
commissioned by God to give to the animals names
corresponding to their qualities, was supposed to
have been intimately acquainted with them, and
might therefore be regarded as an original and
infallible authority on the subject.

The fact that the Physiologus is usually cited in
the singular number (o 4>ii(rioADyos) has been thought
to imply that the work was the production of
single author; but this inference is wholly ui
warranted, since the word may be used generically
to denote naturalists as a class. Indeed, some of
the Fathers use the plural form, as, for example,
Epiphanius in his commentary on the injunction :
" Be ye, therefore, wise as serpents," cited in his
Panarion or " Bread Basket," a description and
refutation of the heresies of his time, in which he
quotes what the Physiologists say (toy ifiatTiv ol
^vaiokiyoL) concerning the habits of this sagacious
reptile,

1 The Physiologus may therefore be regarded as a
convenient compendium of current opinions and
ancient traditions touching the characteristics of
animals and plants, which served as a manual of
instruction in zoology and botany with moral
reflections, so as to include also the province of
fthics. In the hands of Christian teachers it was
inade wholly subordinate to hermeneutical and
homiletical purposes, and became a mere treatise
on theology, interspersed with pious exhortation.
Whether the statements it contained were authentic

or not was something which the expositor did not
bother himself about. It was not for him to ques-
tion the assertion of the naturalist, but to accept it
as one accepts an apologue for the sake of the lesson
it teaches, without any thought of the actuality or
probability of the occurrence. Indeed, St, Basil
expressly declares it to be a matter of less moment
to ascertain whether such creatures as griffins and
unicorns really exist, than to discover what religious
tenets they inculcate and confirm ; and St. Augus-
tine affirms that it is not for us to find out whether
these marvellous stories are true or false, but rather
to give heed to their spiritual significance. Thus
he says, as regards the statement that the eagle
breaks off its beak against a stone when it gets too
long; "Sive ilia vera sunt qu^ dicuntur de aquila,
Sive sit fama potius hominum quam verit, Veritas
est tamen in scripturis, et non sine causa hoc
dixerunt scripturte. Nos quidquid illud significat
faciamus et quam sJt verum non laboremus." — In
Psal. CI I.

Origen was inclined to treat in a similar manner
all the events recorded in the Old Testament,
regarding them, not as historical facts, but as
religious types and symbols. Thus he characterizes
the idyl of Rebecca as " not a relation of actual

I occurrences, but a concoction of mysteries." This
"adamantine" expositor and "Father of biblical
exegesis," as he has been called, appears in his
youthful ardour and enthusiasm to have interpreted
the words of Holy Writ with strict and uncom-

5 8 Animal Symbolism

promising literalness, and to have practised
teachings in this spirit with a bHnd fanaticism that
is said to have led to self-mutilation for the sake
of the kingdom of heaven (Matt, xix, 12). The
cooling of his ascetic zeal and the consequent
repentance of his rash act naturally produced in his
mind a powerful reaction against the bondage of
the letter of the Scriptures in favour of a spiritual
and symbolical system of exegesis, of which he
became the most ingenious and daring exponent

The same views were expressed by the most
eminent and sober-minded physicist of the middEe
ages, the Franciscan friar Roger Bacon, who, in his
Opus Majlis (ed. Jebb, p. 39), remarks : " All
ancient saints and sages gather in their expositions
the literal sense from the nature and properties of
things, in order that they may educe therefrom the
spiritual sense by suitable adaptations and simili-
tudes. Thus Augustine in quoting the admonition
'Be wise as serpents,' says that our Lord meant
by these words that as the serpent exposes iti
whole body for the protection of its head, so the
apostles were to suffer persecution for the sake of
Christ, who is their head. Every creature, indi-
vidually and generically, from the heights of heaven
to the end of the same, has its place in Scripture
(' ponitur in scriptura '). The former are facts in.
nature designed to illustrate the truths contained in
the latter ; and the words of revelation bring out.
these truths more clearly and correctly than any,
philosophic toil can do."

According to this theory, which still represents
the official attitude of the Catholic Church and of
many orthodox divines among Protestants, there is
a. sort of pre-established harmony between science
and theology, which can be disturbed only by the
aberrations of "science falsely so called." True
science, on the contrary, does not aspire to any
higher position than that of a handmaid to theology,
and should never forget her essentially servile and
ancillary functions, or think of questioning the
supreme and infallible authority of her mistress,
however arrogantly it may be exercised.

Towards the end of the fourth century, the
bigoted polemic and bitter persecutor of Origen's
disciples, Epiphanius, Bishop of Constantia in
Cyprus, is said to have written an exposition of the
Physiologus in twenty-six chapters, and a work of
this kind attributed to him was printed about the
middle of the sixteenth century by the learned
Augustine friar and famous poet Ponce de Leon.
The same subject was treated early in the seventh
century by St. Isidore, Bishop of Seville, in his great
work on etymology {Originum seii. elymologiarum,
lib. XX.), which became the popular encyclopsedia
of the middle ages, and the chief source from which
the authors of the numerous mediaeval bestiaries
derived their information, The twelfth book treats
of beasts, quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, and insects;
the sixteenth of precious stones, and the seventh of
plants. In this survey of the animal, vegetable,
and mineral kingdoms the author generally confines

6o Animal Symbolism

himself to statements of what was regarded in his
day as the facts of natural history; the mystical
and moral application of these things was made by
his younger contemporary, St. Hildefonse, Bishop
of Toledo, who discusses at considerable length
their spiritual significance.

Petrus Damiani, Abbot of Fonte Avellana and
Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia, wrote in the eleventh
century a treatise on the excellence of the monastic
state as exemplified by divers living creatures {De
bono religiosi status et variarum animantium),
mentioning about forty marine and terrestrial ani-
mals, from the oyster to the elephant, and adducing
their real or fabulous qualities in illustration of the
desirableness of a cenobitic life. About the year
121 s an Englishman, Alexander Neckam, composed
a volume " On the Nature of Things " {De Naturis
Reruni), in which he discoursed of animals from
ethical and doctrinal points of view. In 1498 there
was published at Cologne a duodecimo entitled
"Dialogue of Creatures excellently moralized and
applicable to every Moral Matter in a pleasing and
edifying manner, to the Praise of God and the
Edification of Men " {Dyalogus creaturarunt optime
moralisatus otnni materie morale iocundo et edifica-
tivo modo applicabilis, ad laudem Dei et hominum
edificationem). It contains a hundred and twenty-
two dialogues, some in the style of jEsop's fables,
and others modelled after the Physiologus, with
coarse woodcuts in elucidation of the text, and is
altogether a pretentious but rather inferior produc-

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 6r

tion. Anastasius Sinaita, a monk of the famous
cloister on Mount Sinai, wrote during the latter half
of the seventh century his elaborate "Anagogical
Contemplations on the Six Days' Divine Work " in
eleven books {AHagogicarum contemplalionum in
divini opificH HexaStneron), in which this sort of
hermeneutic theology is pushed to the absurdest
conclusions. The author's endeavour, as he states
it, is "to thresh the ears of Scripture in order to
get out the pure kernel, which is Christ." In other
words, his work is a contribution to that " science of
mystic Christology" which the early Church so
assiduously cultivated, and of which Bishop Alex-
ander in his Bampton Lectures deplores the decline.
As regards the story of Eden, Anastasius remarks :
" Woe be to us if we take it literally, for then we
rush constantly from Scylla to Charybdis." This
is quite true, and with the advancement of science
and the comparative study of religions it is becom-
ing increasingly difficult to sail with safety on this
line between the whirlpool and the rock.

In Beaugend re 'sedition ofthe works of Hildebert
of Lavardin, Archbishop of Tours, who lived during
the latter half of the eleventh century, is included a
Latin poem on beasts and their mystical meaning,
composed, as the title states, by Theobald of
Plaisance, whoever he may have been. It has
been suggested with some degree of probability
that he was the Theobald who held the office of
abbot of Monte Cassino from 1022 to 1035 ; there
is, however, no confirmation of this conjecture in

62 Animal Symbolism

the manuscripts, where the author is called Theo-
baldus Senensis Theobaldus Placentinus episcopus,
or simply Theobaldus Italicus.

This version of the Physiologiis was exceedingly-
popular in the middle ages, as is evident from the
many manuscripts in which it has been transmitted
to us, and from the number of annotated editions of
it which were printed during the fifteenth century.
It was published in 1872 by Dr. Richard Morris
from a Harleian manuscript (Early English Text
Society, vol. xlix., Appendix I., pp. 201-209). The
English bestiary printed in the same volume {pp.
1-25) from a manuscript of the thirteenth century,
belonging to the library of the British Museum,
is a free translation of Theobald's work. It was
first edited by Wright (Haupt and Hoffmann's
Altdejitsch£ Blatter, ii., and Wright and Halliwell's
Reliqua Antique, i.), and is also found in Matz-
ner's Altenglisclte Spracltproben, i. Thierfelder men-
tions in Naumann's Serapeum (1862, Nos. 15 and
16) two metrical versions of the Physiolagus in
Latin as extant in manuscript ; one dated 1493
and written in elegiac verse by a certain Klorinus,
and preserved in the University Library of Leipsic,
and the other in Leonine verse by an unknown
author, and now in the University Library of
Breslau.

Perhaps no book, except the Bible, has ever been
so widely diffused among so many peoples and for
so many centuries as the Physiologus. It has been
translated into X^tin, Ethiopic, Arabic, Armenian,

Syriac. Anglo-Saxon, Icelandic, Spanish, Italian,
Praven^al, and all the [mncipal dialects of the
Germanic and Romanic languages.

One of the oldest and most interesting of these
versions is the Elhiopic, which belongs to the first
half of the fifth century, and forms, with the trans-
lation of the Septuagint, the basis of Ethiopic or
Gc'ez literature It adheres very closelj' to the
original, but contains numerous errors, owing to
the translator's imperfect knowledge of Greek, It
has been carefully edited from London, Paris, and
Vienna manuscripts, with ample annotations, a
German translation, and an admirable introduction
by Dr. Fritz Hommel, Professor of Arabic in the
University of Munich (Lcipsic, 1877). As the work
is written in classical Ge'cz, it can be recommended
as an excellent text-book for beginners in Ethiopic

Of a somewhat later date is the Armenian trans-
lation, which follows the Greek original in the
descriptions of the animals and their habits, but
deviates from it considerably in the moralizations

I and religious applications of their characteristics.
It has been published by Pitra in his Spicikgium
Soltsmense, iii., and translated into French by Cahier
l/^tmveaux Mdlanges d Arcltcologie^ 1874).
The oldest Syriac version, published by Tychsen
{Pkyswlogus Syrus, Rostock, 1795), is, in the opinion
of Dr. Lauchert, " at least as old as the Ethiopic and
more important than the Armenian."' It gives

I

64 Animal Symbolism

the natural history of thirty- two animals, each
section being introduced by passages of Scripture
in which the animal under discussion is mentioned,
but without any moral or religious reflections, or
any attempt at exegetical exposition. It thus
constitutes a sort of biblical beast-book free from
hermeneutical tendencies. There are also several
later Syriac translations, some of which have been
printed, with Latin metaphrases, by Land in his
Anecdota Syriaca, iv. The Arabic version, edited
by Land in his Otia Syriaca, iv., observes pretty
much the same order as the Greek original, the
authorship of which is ascribed by the Arabic
translator to Gregory surnamed the Theologian,
better known as Gregory of Nazianz. This state-
ment, however, seems to be a personal conjecture
or vague tradition of no real value.

The Latin version of the Physiologus is first men-
tioned in the so-called Decretum Gelasianum or
Index Prohibitorum attributed to Pope Gelasius I,,
and supposed to have been issued by him A.D. 496.
In this catalogue of forbidden books it is charac-
terized as Liber Physiologus, qui ab heereticis
conscriptus est, et beati Ambrosii nomine signatus,
apocryphus. As Ambrosius died A.D, 397, and it is
hardly probable that a work which he did not
write would be ascribed to him until at least a
few years after his death, we are justified in assum-

critical history of the Physiologus hitherto published, and i;
especially rich in bibliographical informaCioD.

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 65

iiig that the Latin Physiologiis was not composed
before the beginning of the fifth century. Professor
Friedrlch of Munich has shown, in a paper read
before the Royal Bavarian Academy of Sciences.
Jan. 7, 188S, that the above-mentioned Gelasian
Decree was not issued by Pope Gelasius I,, but was
a private document with no official character what-
ever, and that it did not exist before A.D. 533. An
additional circumstance, which enables us to fix
the probable date of the work within still narrower
limits, is the fact that in connection with the expo-
sition of the third quality of the ant a list of
heretics is given whose teachings are to be avoided,
but among them Ncstorius, whose doctrine was
condemned by the third CEcumenical Council at
Ephesus, A.D. 431, is not mentioned. As so promi-
nent a heretic would not have been passed over, we
may fitly infer that this Latin version was made
before his condemnation, namely during the first
three decades of the fifth century. The existing
manuscripts of the Latin Pkysiologus belong to the
eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries ; they do not
present a uniform text with variants, and arc there-
fore not copies of the same translation, but rather
independent versions, to which each translator has
added interpretations of his own ; at least they
contain expositions not found in any Greek
manuscripts now extant. The Latin Pkysiologus
has been published by Cahier in his Melanges
£ Ardiiologie, ii.-iv. Another shorter Latin version,
known as Dicta Johannis Chtysostomi de Nattiris

Bestiarum, has been printed by Heider in Archiv
fiir die Kunde oesterreichiscker Geschicktsquellen, n.
(1850), from a manuscript of the eleventh century
belonging to the cloister of Gottweih. It is simply an
abbreviation and re -arrangement of the text edited
by Cahier.

Cassiodorus in his commentary on Psalm cii. 6
says, that the holy man loves solitude like the
pelican, and withdraws from human society like
the nycticorax or night-raven, and tells the old
storyof the renewal of the eagle's youth in illustration
of Psalm ciii. 5. Gregory I., surnamed the Grea^
was especially fond of symbolisms of this sort, and
made very free use of them in his expositions of
Job. So, too, in the beginning of the eighth century,
Aldhelm, Abbot of Malmesbury, draws illustrations
of his parables from the same source, as does also
the Venerable Beda, a generation later, in his in-
terpretation of Job xxix. iS, which he renders : " I
shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days
like the phoenix ; " the Hebrew word chul meaning
phoenix as well as sand. It also signifies palm-tree ;
St. Jerome took it in this sense : "sicut palma mul-
tiplicabo dies," and the same interpretation is given
in the Septuagint : SiTirtp erdkc/os <(iotyiico icokup
Xpoi'ov ^CiixTio : "like the stem of the palm-tree I shall 1
live a long time."

One of the early Christian poets, Aurelius
Clemens Prudentius {a,d. 348 — 410), in his Hamar-
iigenia or Genesis of Sin (v, 518 sqq.'), gives a
detailed description of the birth of the viper in

I

\)

f

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 67

illustration of his theme, I'rudentius is also the
author of Psycliontachia, or the " Battle of the Soul,"
which is one of the first examples of a purely
allegorical poem in Occidental literature, and the
model of all similar productions in the middle ages.
In the proem we have a characteristic specimen
of typological hermeneutics, in which Abraham
'represents Faith, his three hundred and eighteen
servants signify Christ (the Greek numerical letters
T (300) I (10) H (8) were for this reason a mono-
grammatic expression for ChristJ, the heathen kings
of Sodom and Gomorrah are types of carnal vices.
and Lot, a sojourner in Sodom, is the soul of the
pious man beset by the seductions of the flesh.
This interpretation was not original with the Spanish
Latin poet, but borrowed from the supposititious
Epistle of Barnabas, where in the ninth chapter the
following passage occurs ; " The scripture saith,
'Abraham circumcised three hundred and eighteen
men of his Household.' ' Hear the meaning first
of the eighteen, then of the three hundred. The
ten and eight are represented, the ten by I, and
the eight by H. There thou hast the beginning
of the name IH20T2. But because the Cross, in
the form of the letter T, was to carry the grace
of salvation, therefore he adds three hundred, which
is represented by T in Greek, So he shows
forth Jesus in the first two letters, and the Cross in
the third." Evidently the Jewish patriarch did not

68 Animal Symbolism

dream of the profound significance which Christian I
expositors would attach to the simple act of c
cumcising the members of his tribal family.

A still more elaborate allegorical production of
this class is the hexameter poem De Phmiice,
ascribed to Lactantius, but probably of a somewhat
later date. It bears the stamp of paganism rather
than of Christianity, the phoenix being glorified as
a satellite of the sun and a symbol of solar worship.
It begins with a florid description of the home of J
the phcenix in the remotest region of the East, in a I
grove consecrated to the sun and situated far above i
the reach of Phaeton's fire or Deucalion's deluge,
where there is neither disease nor death, and where
old age, crime, passion, care, and poverty never
come, and storm, rain, and frost are all unknown.
In this retreat, which is rendered perpetually fresh
and green by a living spring, the phcenix dwells
and greets the dawn with a sacred song.' The
peroration is a rapturous apostrophe to the phoenix :
" Oh, bird of happy fortune and fate, to whom the
god himself has granted the gift of self- regenera-
tion. Whether male or female, or neither, or both,
happy is she who enters into no compact with
Venus. Death is Venus to her ; her only pleasure- J
is in death : she desires to die that she may be- \
born again. She is her own offspring, her own' I
father and heir, her own mother and nurse, a foster- I
child of herself. She is herself indeed, but not the I

I- 95-

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 6g

same, since she is herself and not herself, having
gained eternal life by the boon and blessing of
death." ^

It is easy to see what a prolific source of doc-
trinal interpretation and illustration the supposed
characteristics of this mystic bird would supply to
Christian exegetists and homilists. It is well
known, too, that the chief features of sun-worship
colour the ideas and crop out in the ecclesiastical
institutions of Christendom, Christmas, Epiphany,
Easter, Whitsuntide, the midsummer feast of St.
John, and all the principal holy-days and festivals
■of the Church are survivals of a solar or stellar cult,
and were determined, not by historical facts or
traditions, but by astronomical considerations cor-
responding to the waxing or waning power of the
sun, or coinciding with the position of the constel-
lations in the heavens and the influence they were
supposed to exert upon the course of the seasons
and other sublunary affairs. Constantine remained
a sun- worshipper till the day of his death, and the
coins of early Christian emperors were often stamped
with the image of the phcenix as an emblem of this
ancient and once universal cult.

An Anglo-Saxon paraphrase of this poem, sup-
posed to have been made by Cynewulf, has been
published by Thorpe {Codex Exotiicnsis, pp. 197-242),
together with the Latin text, and also by Grein
{Bibliotkek der angelsaclisisclien Poesie, i. 215-233).
The first part is a description of the phcenix, and
' Cf. LactantiuB, Opera, ii. 214-319.

yo Animal Symbolism

the second part an application of its fabulous quail-*
ties to the Christian doctrine of the Resurrection.

It was from the Latin Physiologns that all the
translations of the work existing in the vulgar
tongues of Europe were made. Thus it became
the common property of the people ; its similitudes
were no longer confined to hermeneutic theology,
but passed into general literature, and into ecclesi-
astical architecture. The oldest of these versions
is the Anglo-Saxon, which dates from the end of
the eighth century. It has been edited by Thorpe
with an English tran. slat ion {Codex Exontensis, pp.
355-367), and by Grein (^Bid/. der angels. Poesie, L
233-238) ; and although only a fragment of it has
been preserved, enough remains to show that it
must have been superior to all other versions in
poetic beauty and compact vigour of expression.

There are two German versions of the Physio-
logus, belonging respectively to the eleventh and
twelfth centuries. The older one is a fragment,
and has been printed several times from a Vienna
manuscript, best perhaps by Miillenhoffand Scherer
{DenkinaUr, No. 81) ; the other is complete, and has
been printed last by Lauchert in the Appendix to
his Gesckickte des Physiologus, pp. 2S0-299. Both
versions correspond to the Dicta of Chrysostom
with only slight variations.

The Icelandic version, which has been trans-
mitted to us in a very fragmentary condition, dates
from the beginning of the thirteenth century, and
follows the Latin text with occasional additions

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 7 1

ard deviations. It was edited in 1877 by Mcebius
{Analecia Norrama, '^^. 246-251), who also gave a
German translation of it in Hommels Etiiiopic
/^AysioUigns, pp. gg- J04; but the most complete text
of these fragments has been printed, together with
the crude and quaint drawings illustrating the
original manuscripts, by Verner Dahlerup, in his
exhaustive critical bibliography of the Physhlogus,
which appeared in Aarboger for Nordisk Oldkyn-
dighed og Historie iidgivene af Det kogelige Nor-
diske Oldskrift-Sehkab in 1889 (ii. 4, 3, 199-290).

The French bestiaries are also based upon the
PhysJologiis, but have been greatly amplified, not
so much by the introduction of other animals, as
by fuller descriptions and more extended exposi-
tions. The oldest of these productions is the
Anglo-Norman Le Livre des Cn'atures, by Philippe
de Thaun, written about the year 1131 and dedi-
cated to Queen Adelheid of Louvraine, and doubt-
less intended to celebrate her nuptials with Henry
I. of England, which took place at this time.
It has been published from a manuscript in the
British Museum, with an English translation bj-
Wright in his Popular Treatises on Science during
tfie Middle Ages. Another French translation in
prose was made by a priest, Peter of Picardy, who
states that he undertook the task at the request of
Philippe de Dreux, Bishop of Beauvais (1175 —
1217), an item of information which enables us to
assign the work approximately- to the end of the
twelfth century. The translator adds that the

72 Animal Symbolism

Bishop, having little confidence in the fidelity of
poetic versions, wished him to avoid metre in order
to adhere as closely as possible to "the Latin
which Physiologus, one of the good clerks of Athens,
has used." It has been published by Cahier in his
Melanges d'Areheologie, ii.-iv. About the same
time, or perhaps a little later, William, a priest of
Normandy, wrote Le Bestiaire Divm in rhyme.
Inasmuch as the author refers twice to the interdict
which Pope Innocent III. laid upon England, "at
the time when Philippe reigned in France," as still
in force, the poem must have been written between
1208 and 1212, It has been published by Cahier
(ibid.'), by Hippeau {Le Bestiaire Divin de GuUlaume,
ckrc de Normandie, Caen, 1852), and lastly and most
satisfactorily by Reisch (Leipsic, 1890 J.

There is also a Greek metrical version of the
Physiologus in two manuscripts of the fourteenth
and fifteenth centuries, both of which arc in Paris.
It is probably a production of the twelfth century,
and has been printed by Legrange {Le Physiologus
en grec vulgaire et en vers politiques, Paris, 1873).
The fragment of a Spanish Physiologus of the four-
teenth century has been published under the title
Libro de los Gatos, from a manuscript of the
National Library of Madrid by Pascual de Gayan-
gos, in his collection of prose writers anterior to the
fifteenth century {Bibltoteca de Autores Espanoles,
Hi., Madrid, 1859). We have also the somewhat
scanty remains of a Rumanian version, supposed
to belong to the sixteenth century, although the

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 73

only manuscript of it extant bears the date 1717.
it has been printed with an Italian translation by
GasX.er {Arc/iivio Glottoiogico Italiano,x..). Lauchert
mentions a Waldensian Physiologus existing in a
single Dublin manuscript, and entitled De las
Propriotas de las Animan^as. The author calls
himself Jaco, and states in the introduction that
the book is designed for use as a manual of in-
struction, and in accordance with this purpose, the
exposition is ethical rather than theological, and
aims to inculcate, not so much soundness of doctrine
as correct moral conduct in the common relations
of life.

Barth has edited from a Paris manuscript in his
Chrestomathie Provenqak some excerpts of a Pro-
vencal Physiologus under the title Aiso son las
Naturas d'alms Ausels e d'almnas Bestias, treating
of the nature of birds and beasts, but with no
attempt at exposition of any kind. There is also
a bestiary in the Tusco- Venetian dialect, recently
published and annotated by Max Goldstaub and
Richard Wendriner (Haile, 1S92) from a manu-
script in the Biblioteca Communale of Padua. It
discusses some forty beasts, several of which (as
the horse) are not mentioned in the Physiologiis,
and explains their qualities in a moral rather than
in a dogmatic sense. Thus the unicorn is a symbol
of violent and cruel persons, who can be subdued
and rendered gentle only by the grace of God.
Saul is adduced as an example of this sort of
person. The Biblioteca Ricciardiana and the

76 Animal Symbolism

hogs, ferrets, ichneumons, lizards, serpents, tortoises,
whales, elephants, ibises, crocodiles, unicorns, sala-
manders, and other real and mythical animals, or.
to conjecture what conceivable relation they could
bear to Christian theology or Christian worship.

The sacred edifice as a whole was regarded as
an emblem of the human soul, of which the crea-
tures carved on the pillars and portals were the
desirable or undesirable attributes and affections.
Thus an ox typified patience and gentleness, a lion
sternness and majesty, a turtle-dove constancy and
chastity, a ram spiritual leadership, a lily purity,
and a rose martyrdom. We have a modern sur-
vival of this symbolism in Gabriel Max's celebrated
painting, Tlie Last Greeting, in which a rose falls
to the feet of a young woman as she stands
exposed to wild beasts in the amphitheatre.

So, too, the raven and the dove are not mere
reminiscences of the Deluge, but emblems — the
former of the carnal-minded Jews, who live on
the carrion of the Law, the latter of the new prin-
ciple of Christianity, that finds no abiding-place
outside of the ark of safety, but returns to it
bringing the olive branch of peace and reconcilia-
tion. There is also a distinction between the dove
of Noah, the dove of David, and the dove of Christ ;
the first signifies rest, the second peace, and the
third salvation. As the dove separates with its
beak the choicest kernels of wheat from the chaff,
so it is the office of the preacher to separate the
pure grain of Christian doctrine from the husks of

In Ecclesiastical Architecture jj

Judaism. Its two wings are love of man and love
of God, compassion and contemplation, the active
and the meditative life; the ring round its neck
is the encircling sweetness of the Divine Word
the gold and silver of its plumage are the precious
treasures of purity and innocence; its whiteness
intermingled with changeable tints is the spirit of
chastity in conflict with fickle and rebellious pas-
sions; its red feet are the feet of the Church stained
with the blood of the martyrs ; its two eyes survey
the past and discern the future, looking in upon
the soul and up to God ; their yellowish lustre
indicates maturity of thought and reflection, fon
yellow is the colour of ripe fruit. /

In the middle ages these symbolisms, which
seem to us so far-fetched and obscure, were con-
stantly referred to in sermons and in sacred and
profane literature, as well as in common discourse,
and appear, therefore, to have been generally under-
stood, so that a passing allusion to them in a book
or address was assumed to be intelligible without
further comment. Thus we find in a Latin poem
published by Du Meril in his Poesies populairei
latines antirieures ati XII' siede, p, 191, a line in
which Christ is said to have been put to death by
owls —

" Christus a noctuis datur supplicio."

This is, however, a figurative expression for the
Jews, who, in the Physiologus, are compared to the
nycticorax, night-raven or owl. which cannot en-
dure the presence of the sun, as the Jews could

78 Animal Symbolism

not endure the coming of "the dayspring from on
high," and the brightness of the sun of righteous-
ness, loving darkness rather than light because their
deeds were evil. Thus we read in the Bestiaire
Divin of Guillaume —

" En cest oisel sunt figure
Li fols Gieu mal&r^.
Qui ne voidrent Deu entendre
Quant il vint ^a per nus raendre,
De Deu, qui est verrai soleil,
Ne voleient creire le conseil."

About the middle of the thirteenth century
Albertus Magnus wrote a book on animals {De
Animalibus), in which he attempted some criticism
of the Physiologus, but the narrations he accepts as
true are for the most part quite as incredible and
absurd as those he rejects, so that it is difficult to
determine by what criterion he tests their authen-
ticity. Thus, for example, he is sceptical as regards
the self-mutiiation of the beaver when pursued by
hunters, but puts implicit faith in the fable of the
unicorn and the virgin.

With the translation of the Physiologus into the
vulgar tongues of Europe it ceased to be the exclu-
sive possession of theologians and exegetists, and
was no longer confined to the purposes of homi-
letical and hermeneutical illustration, but became
the common property of the people, and passed
into the general literature of Christendom as an in-
exhaustible source of quaint and often forced meta-
phor, and sometimes apt, though more frequently
lame and lopsided, simile.

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 79

Allusions to it occur henceforth not only in
sermons and sacred songs, in devotional works and
doctrinal treatises, and in the encyclopaedic compi-
lations of natural science, which professed to give
information "concerning all things and some things
besides " {de omnibus rebus et quibusdam aliis), but
also in the secular, and especially the erotic poetry
of the period. Indeed, without a knowledge of the
PhysiologTts, these allusions would be wholly unin-
telligible. The citations contained in Lauchert's
exhaustive chapter on this subject (pp. 1S5-207)
suffice to show how widely extended and well-
nigh universal was the popularity which the work
enjoyed.

The three characteristics of the lion — Representations of the
lion as a symbol of the Resurrection in architecture —
s often have a twofold signification — The lion and
bear as types of Satan— Diabolification of the dog —
Strange misconception of the canine character — Lions aa
pedestals — Metaphorical use of the lion in poetry — The
lizard in architecture — Artistic delineations of the unicorn
as a type of Christ's Incarnation — Auricular conception of
Christ as the Logos — Supposed anti-toxical virtue of the
unicorn's horn and that of the African viper — The unicorn
in legend and poetry— Characteristics of the elephant —
Symbol of the fall of man — Julius Csesar's queer account
of the elk — Elephants embroidered on chasubles^ — ^Four
characteristics of the serpent — Artistic and poetic uses
of its fabled attributes — The eagle as a symbol of
spiritual aspiration and baptismal regeneration — Allu-
sions to it by Dante and other poets — The fish in sacred
icon ology— Significance of the whale in ecclesiastical
architecture — Symbolism of the remora and serra — Im-
ptortance of the phfenix and the pelican as emblems of
Christian doctrine — Their prominent place in Church
architecture — Import of the fabulous exploits of the otter
and the ichneumon — Panther and dragon typical of
Christ and Belial — Healing power of the "heavenly
panther" — Lesson of self-renunciation taught by the
beaver — Characteristic of the hyena — Symbolism of the
salamander — The partridge a type of the devil — Ex-
amples of the charadrius in art — Mystical meaning of the
crow, turtle-dove, ousel, merl, ftilica, and hoopoe — Curious
statement of Luther concerning swallows— Why God

Animal Symbolism 8i

feeds the young ravens— Peculiarities of the wolf— The
Physiologus condemned as heretical — Freely used by
Gregory the Great in his scriptural exposition — Virtues
and vices portraj'ed as women mounted on various
animals— Disputatious scholastics satirised — Tetramorph
— Gospel mills — The ark of the covenant as the triumphal
chariot of the Cross— Cock and cler^^Origin of the
basilisk and its significance — Its prommence in religious
symbology and sacred architecture — Cautious scepticism
of Albertus Magnus^The Physiologus from a psycho-
logical point of view, as Illustrating the credulity of the
Fathers of the Church— Why "the hart panteth after
the water-brooks "^Story of the antelope — Barnacle geese
— "Credoquiaabsurdum" — Modern counterparts of early
Christian apologists and exegetists.

The Physiologxis begins with the lion, and adduces
three characteristics of the king of beasts. " First,
when he perceives that the hunters are pursuing
him, he erases his foot-prints with his tail, so that
he cannot be traced to his lair. In like manner
our Saviour, the lion of the tribe of Judah, con-
cealed all traces of His Godhead, when He descended
to the earth and entered into the womb of the
Virgin Mary. Secondly, the lion always sleeps
with his eyes open; so our Lord slept with His
body on the Cross, but awoke at the right hand
of the Father. Thirdly, the lioness brings forth
her whelps dead and watches over them until,
after three days, the lion comes and howls over
them and vivifies them by his breath; so the
Almighty Father recalled to life His only-begotten
Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who on the third
day was thus raised from the dead, and will
likewise raise us all up to eternal life."

This comparison of the risen Christ to a lion's
whelp is also used by Abelard in the following.

lines —

" Ut leonis catulus
Resurrexit Dominus,
Quem nigitus patrius

Die tertia
Suscitat vivificus
Teste physica."

The appeal of the illustrious schoolman to physics
in proof of his statement is clearly a reference to
the Physiologus.

This last supposed characteristic of the lion
appears to have been a favourite symbol of the
resurrection of Christ, as well as of the general
resurrection, and holds a prominent place

mediceval architecture. Representations of it are I
frequently found in various parts of ecclesiastical T
edifices, as, for example, on the principal portal J
of St. Laurence in Nuremberg, in the choir of J
Augsburg Cathedral, at the foot of

I

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 8 3

crucifix in SL Nicholas of Stralsund, in the Wijrt-
emberg cloisters Maulbronn and Bebcnhausen,
and in a large relief, which dates from the latter
half of the thirteenth century, and doubtless be-
longed originally to some church or cloister, pro-
bably to the old chapel and hospital of the Holy
Ghost (built 1351-66 and burned 1327), but which
row adorns the facade of a house Im Thai near
the Marienplatz in Munich, and the origin and
signification of which have excited no little dis-
cussion among Bavarian antiquarians and ecclesi-
ologists. So, too, a stained window of the minster
of Freiburg in the Breisgau contains a painting
of the Crucifixion, at the top of which is a pelican
feeding its young with its own blood; above the
pelican stands a lion breathing upon three whelps,
■which are just beginning to show signs of life.
Underneath the lion is the inscription : ^/[r] Leo
Fomta S{aIvatoris\, showing it to be a type of
the quickening power of the voice of Christ. A
stained window of the thirteenth century in the
cathedral of St. Etienne at Bourges represents the
pelican below on the left and the lion and whelps on
the right of the Crucified ; above, on the correspond-
ing sides, are Jonah delivered from the whale and
Elijah restoring to life the son of the widow of
Zerephath (see Frontispiece). In the central lancet
window of the chapels dedicated to the Virgin in
the cathedrals of Le Mans and Tours are similar
symbols of the death and resurrection of Christ,
in which the phosnix rising from its ashes takes

84

Animal Symbolism

the place of the pelican. Also the central lancet
window in the apsis of the cathedral of Lyons has
a border of medallion paintings referring to the
same subject, among which are a lion and his
whelp running at full speed, the latter having
evidently been just resuscitated. It was often
carved on sacramental vessels, as, for example, on
a ciborium belonging to the monastery Kloster-
neuburg, near Vienna, a fine specimen of gold-
smith's work dating from the beginning of the
fourteenth century.

A lion howling over three whelps is one of the
scries of reliefs representing
biblical and mythical sub-
jects that ornament a frieze
on the exterior of Stras-
_ burg Minster. Besides
Lion hmviinfT ovtr his whelps, scencs from the Jewish
{st,-a,iurgM:mur.) Scripturcs, such as Abra-
ham preparing to sacrifice Isaac, but arrested by
an angel, who points to a ram entangled in a bush,
Jonah cast up by the whale near one of the towers of
Nineveh, the brazen serpent, etc, wc may mention
in this connection several reliefs which are based
upon the legends of the Physiologus, and the meaning
of which will be explained hereafter : a phoenix
in the flames, a pelican piercing her breast and
feeding her young with her blood, an eagle taking
eaglets from the nest to make them look at the
sun, and a unicorn with its head in the lap of a
virgin, while a man is thrusting a spear into its

\

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 85

side. This last sculpture resembles very closely
the illustration from the bestiary which we have
given in discussing the symbolism of the unicorn.

In connection with scenes from the life of Christ
>n the bron7,e doors of the cathedral of Pisa are
reliefs of a lion howling over two whelps, an
eagle mounting up towards the sun, a unicorn, a
hart by a stream of water, a serpent, and an old
rhinoceros with two young ones playing in the
background, evidently intended to represent the
leviathan of the Bible.

At a somewhat later period the lion, as a sym-
bol of the Resurrection, was sculptured on public
buildings of a secular character and on private
dwellings ; it was also engraved on pieces of armour
and especially on helmets, often with the legend,
Dotnine vivifica me secundum verbum tiium, or some
other appropriate device, expressive of the hope
of the warrior that, if slain in battle, he might be
raised up on the last day,

Durand, in his Rationale Divinorum Officionivt,
lib. vii., has a chapter on the rubric of the Evan-
gelists i^Rubrica de Evangelistis), in which he
says that Mark's type is a roaring lion, "because
his aim is chiefly to give a description of the
resurrection of Christ, and that for this reason his
gaspel is read at Easter. For it is stated that
the lion by its tremendous roar calls to life its
whelps on the third day, and thus God the Father
by His immense power called to life His Son on
the third day." Origcn has a similar explanation

86 Animal Symbolism

of this symbolism in his discourse on Genesis.
Indeed, the allusions to this zoological myth in
homiletical and hermeneutical literature are
numerous and unequivocal, and the symbolical
interpretation of it so obvious and uniform, that-
one marvels that Bavarian archsologists should
have expended so much rare and recondite erudi-
tion and ingenuity of conjecture, and have gone
so far afield historically in search of the origin and
meaning of the Munich bas-relief already mentioned.

A sleeping lion is often brought into typological
relation to the infant Jesus, as, for example, on the
western portal of Notre- Dame de Paris, and in a
fresco in the church of the convent Philotheos on
Mount Athos, where the connection is made cleai"
by the words of Jacob concerning Judah : "He
stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old
lion; who shall rouse him up?" — Gen. xlix. ^
(Didron, Histoire de Diezi, p. 348).

The belief that the lion never closes its eyes
sleep caused this animal to be placed at the doors
of churches as a guardian of the sanctuary. This
custom, which was observed for the same reason
by the ancient Egyptians, is thus referred to by a
mediiEval poet —

"Est leo, sed custos, oculis quia dormit apertis
Tempiorum idcirco, ponitus ante foras."

' " Nam Physiologiis de catulo Leonis scribit, quod qiium
fuerit natus, tribas diebus et tribus noctibus dormiat, quod
valde convenientur aptatur in Christo, qui tribus diebus et
tribus noctibus in corde terras sepullus, somnium
implevit." — In Genesim, Horn. xvii.

I
I

I

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 87

This type of spiritual vigilance is found most
frequently in Romanic and early Gothic archi-
tecture, from the beginning of the ninth to the end
of the thirteenth century. Usually the lions repose
on either side of the principal entrance, or stand
on pillars in the portico of the edifice, or serve,
especially in Italian churches, as pedestals to sup-
port the columns of the doorway. Examples of
this kind may be seen in the cathedral of Mayence,
the oldest churches of Cologne, the so-called Schot-
tenkirche (former church of Scotch Benedictines)
in Ratisbon, St. Stephen's in Vienna, and in various
structures of an ecclesiastical character at Ancona,
Monza, Padua, Parma, Ravenna, Rome, Siponto.
and other Italian cities.

In some instances the same beast may sym-/
bolize utterly opposing principles, since it embodies^
antagonistic qualities.^ The lion, for example, is]
not only typical of Christ triumphing over death
and hell and loosing the seven seals from the book
of life (Rev. v. 5), but also signifies the great
adversary, the devil, which, "as a roaring lion,
walketh about, seeking whom he may devour
(l Peter v. S). This is the lion from whose moutl
the Psalmist prays to be saved (Ps. xxii. 21), and
to which St. Augustine refers when he exclaims in
his Senno de Tempore (clxxiv.), "who would not

1 "Secundum regnum ergo Christo adsimilata sunt. Et
I alia multa sunt in creaturis habencla duplicem Intellectum ;
\ alia gusedam laudabilia, atia vero vituperabilia ; et differen*
I tiam nabert inter se atque discretionem, sive moribus sive
l^natuiis."

Animal Symbolism

rush into the jaws of this lion, if the lion of the
tribe of Judah should not prevail ! It is lion
against lion, and lamb against wolf." The lion of
the tribe of Judah is opposed to the devouring lion,
and the Iamb as the type of the meek and lowly
Saviour is opposed to the fierce and insatiable
wolf as the type of Satan. Christ, he adds, "is
a lion in fortitude, a Iamb in innocence; a Hon be-
cause He is invincible, a lamb because He is meek
and gentle." In another discourse (Horn, xxxiv,)
St Augustine says the devil is impetuous as the
lion and insidious as the dragon, raging openly
like the former and lying in wait secretly like the
latter. In former times the Church fought against
the lion as it now fights against the dragon. In
Sermo clxxix. the lion and the bear typify the
devil, " who is figured in these two beasts, because
the bear's strength is in its paw and the lion's in
its mouth." In Sermo cxcvii. he says that as
David throttled the lion and the bear, which took
a lamb out of the flock, so Jesus Christ, whom
David prefigured, throttled the lion and the bear,
when He descended into hell and delivered the
captive spirits out of their jaws. Thus both these
animals are different embodiments of the Protean
prince of darkness. On the bronze doors of the
cathedral in Hildesheim are reliefs which date
from lOiS, and represent the history of sin and
redemption ; in one of them a bear stands behind
Pilate, whispering into his ear and filling his mind
with diabolical suggestions. The bear as the type

I

i

1
I

1

type J

of Satan is found less frequently in architecture
than in illuminated manuscripts and missals, and
in carvings on caskets, crosiers, shrines, and other
minor objects of art.

Christ trampling on a lion, an adder, or a dragon
(Ps. xci. 13) is often used to indicate His triumph
over the powers of hell. The same idea was
intended to be expressed by sculpturing figures of
deceased persons reclining on tombs with their feet
resting on a lion, a dragon, or a dog, which was
likewise regarded as an incarnation of the evil
principle, in conformity with the apostle's asser-
tion, " For without are dogs." At a later period
the lion at the feet of a man symbolized manly
strength and courage, and the dog at the feet of
a woman signified undying love and fidelity. It
was the substitution of the Aryan for the Semitic
point of view that reversed the meaning of the
symbolism.

The diabolification of the dog was due to the
Hebrew misconception of its character; and it is
a curious fact that the Jews, who endowed a
rapacious and offensive creature like the vulture
with fictitious virtues, should have had no proper
appreciation of one of the noblest and most useful
of their domestic animals. The affection and
fidelity of the dog seem to have made hardly any
impression upon them. This oldest and most trusty
companion of man b rarely referred to by them
except in terms of contempt, and it is from this
source that many derogatory expressions concerning

90 Animal Symbolism

dogs have passed into the common speech of to-
day. When Elisha foretells the cruel conduct of
Hazael, the latter exclaims : " Is thy servant a
dog that he should do this great thing?" Job
expresses the same scornful feeling when he says :
" Now they that are younger than I have me in
derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to
have set with the dogs of my flock." Only in the
apocryphal Tobit (v. i6; x. 14) is the dog treated
in some degree as the friend and associate of man.
Thus when Tobias and his companion set out on
their journey to Media to collect a debt, it is said :
" So they went forth both, and the young man's
dog with them" — a simple touch that adds im-
mensely to the beauty and realism of the picture.
In the New Testament dogs are pariah beasts
completely out of tlie pale of human interest and
sympathy. There is an old legend that Jesus once
saw a crowd of persons gathered round the carcass
of a dog, and giving utterance to their disgust at
the sight of such a loathsome beast. But as Jesus
looked upon it He said: "How white its teeth
are ! " The story is intended to illustrate, not His
higher and truer estimation of the worth of the
animal, but His own nobility of character, and the
generous optimism which avoided evil -speaking,
and could discover admirable qualities even in so
hideous a creature as a dead dog. Indeed there is
nothing in Hebrew or early Christian literature to
be compared with Homer's sympathetic description
of Ulysses' dog Argus, or Arrian's characterization

(

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 91

of the greyhound Horm^(5/)f*i}. "impetuous"), "the
swiftest, safest, and divinest" of beasts. With
what fine appreciation he dwells upon her cunning
and cleverness, and other excellent traits ! ^lian
relates {Dc Nat. Atiii/ia/., v'li. 3S) that a Magnesian
war-hound, which distinguished itself at Marathon,
was honoured with an effigy on the same tablet
that recorded the valour of its master. The Avesta
and other sacred books of the Parsis enjoin the
greatest kindness and reverence towards the dog,
whose sagacity, vigilance, and fidelity are regarded
as the pillars of pastoral society ; and in the Indian
epic, the Mak&bMrata, the hero Yudhishthira re-
fuses to enter Indra's heaven unless "his faithful
dog shall bear him company."

In the porch of Freiburg Minster are delinea-
tions of the deeds of Samson in carrying off the
gates of Gaza, tearing open the lion's jaws, and
performing other exploits supposed to foreshadow
the redeeming power of Christ. In this work the
artist embodies the ideas of patristic exegctists,
who show a vast amount of misapplied ingenuity
in tracing analogies between the career of the
Hebrew solar hero and that of the Sun of
righteousness. (Cf. St. Augustine's De Samsone,
Sermo I.)

The column-sustaining lions, so often placed at
the entrance of the churches, or used to support
pulpits, as in Pisa, Sienna, Lucca, Chiusi, and
elsewhere in Italy, and especially in Tuscany,
represent Satan subdued and subjected to the

92 Animal Symbolism

service of Christianity. The same is true of the
lion's head on the doors of the baptistery at
Florencej and the cathedrals of Mayence and
Hildesheim. In the vestibule of the cathedral of
Piacenza, dating from the first half of the twelfth
century, as well as in many ecclesiastical edifices
in Ferrara, Modena, and Rome, the columns rest
upon the shoulders of men with lions underneath
them, which have seized other men as their prey.
They symbolize heretics, whom the devil has got
possession of, but who are overcome by the power
of truth, and made to uphold the orthodox faith.
Among other sculptures on the doors of a church
in Novgorod, is the head of a lion with open jaws,
in which are seen the faces of the damned writhing
with agony, and above it the inscription : " Hell
consuming sinners." St. Augustine, in his Semto
de Tempore (Ixv,), compares Daniel in the lions'
den with the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness ;
but it is more commonly interpreted as typical of
Christ's descent into hell, as, for example, at the
entrance of the church of St. Porchaire in France,

The characteristics attributed to the lion in the
Pkysiologiis were familiar to medieval poets, and
furnished them with an ample fund of metaphorical
material. Thus Wolfram von Eschenbach, in his
most celebrated poem, compares the hero Parzival
and his half-brother Feirefiz to two lion's whelps
roused to life and energy by the roar of battle.
Again, in his epic Willekalm, he declares that in
the fierce combat between Christians and paynims

at Alischanz the noise produced by the blare of
trumpets, the roll of drums, and the shouts of
contending hosts was loud enough to call to life a
lion's whelps.

Thomasin von Zirclare, in the Welscher Gasl,
which describes court-life in Italy, and lays Aown
general rules of conduct for princes, says that when
sovereigns have done wrong, they should blot out
all traces of it by humble repentance and increased
beneficence, as the lion escapes pursuit by obliter-
ating its foot-prints with its tail. Elsewhere he
advises monarchs never to act on the impulse of
the moment, but to give heed to three things before
putting any project into practice : listen to coun-
sellors, compare their views, and adopt the best
advice, as the lion's whelps lie three days dormant
after they are born. The simile, in this case, is
ridiculously inapt, but the Physiologtis gives the
key to it, and renders it at least intelligible. The
same zoological myth was evidently in the mind
of the old Spanish poet, Juan de Mena, when he
described the mother of Lorenzo d'Avalos as
lamenting like a lioness (" como al que pare haze la
leona ") over her dead son. Amorozzo da Firenze
expresses the intensity of his susceptibility to the
tender passion by asserting that the voice of his
lady-love would suffice to revive him from death,
as the voice of the lion reanimates its young. A
Provencal erotic poet, Richard de Berbc^ilh, uses
the same imagery to illustrate the same sentiment.
Another old French poet, Guirant de Calanson,

94 Animal Symbolism

says : " As the lion sleeps with open eyes {huelks
ttbertz), so my spirit, even in slumber, behoTds
thee, O lady,"

Meister Stolle, in the Wartbitrgkrieg, would
endow princes with the voice of the lion and the
eyes of the ostrich, which hatches its eggs by
gazing at them, so that they might rouse and
animate their followers by word and look, inciting
them to noble and knightly achievements. Rein-
mar von Zweter praises the " ostrich eyes " of the
Emperor Fricdrich II,, as inspiriting and life-
giving; and Pierre Espagnol informs us that the
eyes of his lady-love are incubatory like those of
the ostrich, causing sighs to germinate and spring
up in his heart whenever she turns upon him an
ardent glance.

The next animal mentioned in the Physiolegas
is the lizard, which, when it gets blind in its old
age, creeps into the crevice of a wall looking
towards the east, and stretches out its head to
the rising sun, whose rays restore its sight. " In
like manner, O man, thou who hast on the old
garment, and the eyes of whose heart are obscured,
seek the wall of help, and watch there until the sun
of righteousness, which the prophet calls the day-
spring, rises with healing power and removes thy
spiritual blindness."

Representations of a lizard running along a wall
or peeping out of some chink in it, either sculptured
in stone or carved in wood, are not uncommon in
mediteval churches, especially among the decora-

I

In Ecclesiastical Architecture

95

Itions of the chancel. It was not the mere caprice
of the architect that put the reptile there, but its
presence is due to its significance as a symbol of
the regenerating and illuminating influence of the
gospel.
The unicorn is another favourite type, and is
thus described by the Physiohgus : " It is a small
animal, but exceeding strong and fleet, with a
single horn in the centre of its forehead. The only

» means of capturing it is by stratagem, namely,
by decking a chaste virgin with beautiful ornaments
and seating her in a solitary place in the forest
frequented by the unicorn, which no sooner perceives
her than it runs to her and,
laying its head gently in her
Jap, falls asleep. Then the /
hunters come and take it cap-
tive to the king's palace and
I receive for it much treasure,"
Herein the unicorn resem-
bles our Saviour, who "hath "'' '(b«.'mV )'"''""
raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house
of His servant David"; and the work of redemp-
tion, which neither thrones, nor dominations, nor
heavenly powers could accomplish, He brought
to pass. The mighty ones of this world were
unable to approach Him or to lay hold of Him,
nntil He abode in the womb of the Virgin Mary.
As it is written : "And the Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the
glory of the only-begotten of the Father, full of

96

Animal Symbolism

grace and truth ;" or as this passage is paraphrased
in Le Bestiaire Divin —

" Sul por la volontd de Dieu,
Passa Deu por la Virgne m&re ;
Et la Parole fut char faite.
Que virginetd n'i ot fraite."

In the border of the central lancet window in^ '
the apsis of the cathedra! at Lyons is a representa- ,
lion of this fable of the unicorn and the Virgin
as a symbol of Christ's incarnation. It is rather
awkwardly drawn, and the Virgin seems to sit
astride of the unicorn's neck, but it was evidently
the intention of the artist to have the animal's
head lying in her lap. There is a carving of the
same kind in St, Botolph's Church at Boston,
Lincolnshire, and a series of reliefs of a similar
character may be seen in the cathedral at Toledo,
in Spain. A curious German engraving of the
fifteenth century, entitled " Von der menschwerdong
gottes nach geistlicher auszlegong der hystori von
dem einhoren," pictures the Annunciation and In-
carnation as the chase of the unicorn. The arch-
angel Gabriel, the leader of the hunt, winds his-
horn, from which is supposed to proceed the
melodious greeting : " Hail, highly- favoured one,
the Lord is with thee, thou blessed among women ! "
The unicorn, pursued by hounds, is running rapidly '
towards the Virgin, who sits with upturned eyes,
and hands folded across her breast in a state of \
ecstasy, while the honi of the animal is in perilous
proximity to her lap. On her right are an altar

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 97

Bffith burning candles and a flowing fountain, a
B^mboi of the waters of eternal life. In the back-
■ground God the Father holds a globe surmounted
■with a cross in one hand, and gives His benediction
■with the other. The three dogs are Mercy, Truth,
land Justice, and denote the attributes of the

PSavicur and the feelings which impelled Him to
' become incarnate, and to redeem the world from
the dominion of Satan.' This symbolism is more
fully and clearly expressed in a German painting
of the fifteenth or perhaps the beginning of the

1 Cf. Dr. Ulrich Finder : Der bischlossen gart des rostn-
hrants Marie, Niirnberg, 1505, Band II., Blatt ix. Also
Cahier : CaractMitiques des Saints dans PArl papulairc,
Paris, 1844.

98

Animal Symbolism

I

sixteenth century, now belonging to the Grand
Ducal Library of Weimar. In this extremely
elaborate and highly-finished work of art there are
four dogs held in !eash and barking at the unicorn,
which is already in the lap of the Virgin ; their
collars are labelled respectively Veritas, Justitia,
Misericordia, and Pax ; the first two are dark-
brown, the third light-brown, and the fourth whitfc.
The Virgin wears a greenish -brown dress studded
with golden flowers, and a green mantle. Gabriel
is arrayed in scarlet, and has wings of many
brilliant hues. Gideon kneels behind her on his
fleece of wool (Judges vi, 36-40). In the back-
ground is a city representing Zion. To the right
of the Virgin in the sky appears God the Father,
with a large wreath of oak-leaves encircling His
neck and resting on His shoulders, His hands
upraised in the act of blessing, and the Christ-child
descending on a beam of light and bearing a cross.
At the lower end of the beam of light is a dove-
hovering over the Virgin's head and its beal
directed towards her ear. This attitude of the-
dove, which is quite common, and indeed almost
universal, in mediaival and early modern pictures
of the Annunciation, is intended to indicate the
naYve notion entertained by patristic writers andj
later theologians, that the conception of Christ was;
effected supernatu rally through the Virgin's ear, so'
that she remained perfectly pure and immaculate,
and her maidenhood intact. This queer theoiyj
had its origin probably in Gnostic speculations and

the Greco-Judaic religious philosophy current in
Alexandria, and was the result of a too literal
interpretation of the doctrine of the Logos. As
God spoke the world into existence, so the voice
of the Most High uttering salutation through the

^ mouth of the angel caused the Virgin to conceive,
" and the Word was made flesh." But as spoken
words are addressed to the ear, and through this
organ find lodgment in the mind and thus bear
fruit, it was assumed that the incarnation of the
Logos was accomplished in the .lame manner i
" Deus per angelum loquebatur et Virgo per aurem
impregnabatur," says St. Augustine (Sermo de
Tempore, xxii.) ; and this view, which was generally
accepted by the Apostolic Fathers, is expressed eight
centuries later in a verse attributed to Thomas ci
Becket —

" Gaude Virgo, mater Christi,
Qus per aurem concepisti."

The same description of the miraculous event is
given by the German medifeval poet, Walther von
der Vogelweide: "dur ir ore enphinc si den vil
suezen," In the parish church (formerly belonging
to the abbey) of Eltenberg on the Rhine, is an An-
nunciation moulded in clay, baked and painted, in
which the infant Jesus, attended by the Holy Spirit,
descends from heaven on the breath of God the
Father, and enters the ear of the Virgin. Similar
representations are to be seen (so far as they have
not been destroyed) at Oppenheim, on the portal of
the cathedral at Wiirzburg, and elsewhere. The

Anima! Symbolism

blast of Gabriel's bugle in the Weimar painting i
no uncertain sound, but becomes articulate as iM
"Ave gratia plena, Dominus tecum," to which the |

Virgin responds : " Ecce ancilla Domini, fiat mihi
secundum Verbum tuum." Indeed the air is ftiHj
of floating legends taken chiefly from the SongJ

In Ecclesiastical Architecture i o i

of Solomon, such as " Sicut liliiim inter spinas, sic
arnica mea inter filias " (As the liiy among thorns,
so my love among the daughters); "Fons hortorum,
puteus aquarum viventium qus fluunt impetu dc
Libano " (A fountain of gardens, a well of living
waters, and streams from Lebanon) ; " Veni Auster,
perfla hortum et fluant aromata" (Come, thou
south, blow upon my garden that the spices may
flow out) ; " Turris ebumea " (Tower of ivory), etc
The Virgin sits behind a wicker fence or palisade
in illustration of the passage : "A garden enclosed
is my sister." Engravings of this painting have
been frequently published ; as, for example, in the
sixth volume of Curiositdten der physch- literarisch-
artistisch- historischen Vor- und Mitwelt (Weimar,
1817, p. 133); Revue ArcMohgiipie {Vm\s, 1844-45,
. 462); Das Evangelisclte Jakrbuch, issued at
lerlin ; and in a recent Christmas number of
'.Harper's Magazine. There is another picture of a
^similar character at Weimar ; a third was formerly
in the Hospital Church at Grimmenthal on the
"Werra; and a fourth is in the cathedral at Bruns-
Avick, painted on one of the folding compartments
of a triptych or altar-piece. The Vii^in with the
"nniconi in her lap is on the outside, and the angel
.BS huntsman with horn, spear, and dogs on the
Inside. Out of the mouth of the animal proceed
the words : " Quia quern Cceli capere non possunt,
I in tuo gremio contulisti," — a punning form of ex-
■ pression, which may refer either to the incarnation
of Christ, or to the hunting of the unicorn : " Whom

102 Animal Symbolism

the heavens (highest powers) could not contain
(capture), thou didst hold (take) in thy womb (lap)."
The Virgin has a blue robe, the lower part of which
is reddish ; a basket of manna is at her feet, and
near her the legend : " Fons signatus " (a fountain
sealed). The angel is dressed in white with a red
mantle floating in the wind, and has four dc^
in the leash.^ In the Grimmenthal picture the
symbolism is still more striking. On the left of
the tall and majestic angel is a lion howling over
two motionless whelps, with the legend " Maria Leo,"
and just before him the eternal city or perennity of
God {^Permnitas Dei) ; above the gate of heaven
(Porta C<Bli) God the Father appears in the clouds
between the sun and the moon ; across the disc of
the former are the words " clara ut sol " (clear as
the sun), and issuing from the mouth of the human
face defined in the crescent of the latter the words,
" Pulchra ut luna " (fair as the moon). On the left
of the painting is a star {stella maris), and on the
right a pelican feeding its young with its blood,
and Moses talking with Jehovah in the burning
bush. In the centre is Gideon kneeling on his
fleece ; behind him is the flowing fountain of the
waters of eternal life ; above it a mirror with the-"
inscription, " speculum sine macula " (a mirror
without spot). An engraving of this picture, but
without any interpretation of its symbolism, wasj

' Cf. Ribbentrop : Besckreibung der Stadt BratmschuiHg
where this work of art is ascribed, but without sufficjen
reason, to Lucas Craoach.

published in Fried rich Rudo! phi's Gotka Diplo-
matica oder Ausfuhrlidie Histortsche Beschretbung
ties FursUnthunts Saclisen-Gotlia (Frankfurt am
Main und Leipzig, i/r?, p. 310). It was an altar-
piece, and was probably the work of Paul Lauten-
sack, better known as Meister Paul of Bamberg,
who was born in that city in 1478, and died in 1558
at Nuremberg, as an ardent and rather fanatical
Protestant. In the latter half of the fifteenth and
the early part of the sixteenth century, Grim-
menthal was a noted place of pilgrimage, where
many miraculous cures were said to have been
I effected through the agency of the Holy Virgin.
I The ruling prince, Wilhelm, of the House of
J Henneberg, a zealous Catholic, employed Meister
I Paul to decorate the interior of the church, and the
I artist devoted himself for ten years to the task,
I and received twelve thousand florins for his services,
I a sura regarded at that time as an exceedingly
1 munificent remuneration. People flocked to this
1 wonder-working shrine from all the countries of
I Europe, and no less than forty-four thousand
persons are reported to have visited it in a single
year. The maimed, the halt, and the blind were
healed of their infirmities, but the medical virtue
of the Madonna manifested itself most strikingly
as a specific for syphilis, lOr the Venusseuche, as
I it was commonly termed. According to an old
Latin chronicler, there was in 1 503 " a grand pere-
l grination to the Blessed Virgin at Grimmenthal,
where an immense concourse gathered, chiefly on

104

Animal Symbolism

account of the French malady, otherwise called
acute and burning leprosy ('principaliter propter
malum Franzosije, alias acutam lepram ac arden-
tem dictam '), that raged for a period of more
than ten years, during which time some three
hundred Moorish knights or Ethiops ('quasi 300
Mauri equites sive Aethyopes') passed through
Silesia journeying thither." ' The Reformation
naturally tended to check these pilgrimages, and
finally put a stop to them altogether. Luther
himself felt a strong antipathy to this holy shrine,
which he denounced as " ein rechtes GrimmenthaJ,
Vallem furoris." In 1525 the revenues derived
from pious offerings were so small that they hardly
sufficed to defray current expenses, and in 1547
the buildings, which formerly served to lodge
pilgrims, were converted into a hospital, and the
church was henceforth used merely for the cure of
souls. But, although the method of healing had
been officially secularized, the sacred place pre-
served to a certain degree its traditional reputation
in the minds of the people, until in 1767 the
church, with all of Meister Paul's paintings, was
destroyed by fire. The Virgin with a unicorn
resting its head in her lap is quite common in
ecclesiastical architecture, especially in stained
windows, as for example in St. Redegonde, at
Caen. Again, in an Italian engraving of the six
triumphs of Petrarch, dating from the fifteenth

century, and belonging to the Albcrtine collection
in Vienna, the triumph of chastity is symbolized
by a virgin seated and a unicorn with its head in
her lap. In the background is a hunter blow-
ing a horn, and rapidly approaching with a pack
of dogs. In another engraving illustrating the
same triumph the car of chastity is drawn by
unicorns.

Superstitious notions about the peculiar virtue
inherent in the unicorn's horn were quite current in
the middle ages. Thus John of Hcrse, who made
a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1389, records his
observations on this point. " Near the field Helyon
in the Holy Land," he says, " is the river Mara,
whose bitter waters Moses struck with his staff
and made sweet, so that the children of Israel
could drink thereof. Even now, evil and unclean
beasts poison it after the going down of the sun ;
but in the morning, after the powers of darkness
have disappeared, the unicorn comes from the sea
and dips its horn into the stream, and thereby
expels and neutralizes the poison, so that the other
animals can drink of it during the day. The fact,
which I describe, I have seen with my own eyes."
This story furnishes an excellent illustration of the
value of human testimony, and the conclusiveness
of ocular evidence, showing the little confidence
to which the report of an extraordinary event is
entitled, even when it rests, not upon hearsay, but
upon the positive statement of an honest eye-
witness. That John of Herse meant to tell the

io6 Animal Symbolism

truth, and thought he observed what he record3>
there is not the slightest reason to doubt.

On account of this supposed anti-toxical pro-
perty, the unicorn's horn was used for making
spoons (so-called test-spoons), salt-cellars, and
especially drin king-cups. Articles manufactured
of this material held a prominent or rather an
important place in the table-service of mediseval
nobles and princes, and were prized as a sure
protection against ail sorts of poison, as well as a
specific for epilepsy and other forms of convulsion.
A closer examination of these objects, which are
now preserved as curiosities in museums, proves
them to have been fabricated from the tusks of the
narwal.

Equally spurious are the so-called griffin's claws
now preserved as relics in churches or as curiosities
in museums, as for example in the churches of
HiJdesheim, Weimar, Cologne, and Gran on the
Danube, and in the museums of Dresden, Vienna,
and other European cities. They are simply horns
of the Caffrarian buffalo. An interesting specimen
of this kind is in the old abbey on the Inde,
founded by Lewis the Debonair in the ninth cen-
tury, and now known as Cornelimunster, because it
contains the relics of the canonized Pope Cornelius,
among which the saint's horn or drinking-cup,
styled the griffin's claw, holds the most conspicuous
place. Hagiologists even teil us that a griffin gave
it to the holy man out of gratitude for having
been miraculously healed of epilepsy. This legend

is related as an historical fact as late as 1755 in
the HeiligthMmibuddein, issued for the guidance
and edification of pilgrims to the sacred shrine.
On such occasions wonderful cures are believed to
be wrought by pouring holy water from this horn
on the sick and infirm. It has been customary
for the last five centuries to exhibit these relics
once in seven years for healing purposes.

Samuel Bochart, in his Hierosoicon, written
about the middle of the seventeenth century,
cites a number of Arabian authors, who enlarge
upon the marvellous peculiarities of the unicorn's
horn. Among other curious statements, it is said
that if the horn be cut lengthwise, it will be
found to contain the figure of a man, a beast, a
bird, or a flower, beautifully designed in white,
and filling the whole shape from the tip to the
base.

In the Parsival of Wolfram von Eschenbach,
among various remedies employed to heal the
wound of Anfortas, king of the Gral, the heart of
a unicorn and the carbuncle growing under its
horn are mentioned. In the same poem Queen
Orgeluse's lover, Cidegast, whom Gramofianz has
slain in combat, is extolled as "a unicorn in
fidelity." In Heinrich Frauenlob's KreusUidi (Lay
of the Cross), Konrad von Wiirzburg's Goldene
SckmUde (Golden Smithy), and other poems of the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries in praise of the
Virgin, God the Father is represented as a hunts-
man, pursuing the unicorn until it takes refuge in

Animal Symbolism

the womb of the immaculate Mary, Reinmar von
Zweter lauds the power of chastity, which was
stronger than the Almighty; and Hugo von Lan-
genstein celebrates in florid and somewhat motley
allegory the majesty of the maid whose loveliness
and purity captivated and conciliated heaven's uni-
corn, and thus averted the Divine wrath from our
sinful world. In a German hymn of the fifteenth
century addressed to the Virgin, she is said to have
" tamed the unicorn and the hind "; and in a hunt-
ing-song, quoted by Lauchert from Uhland's collec-
tion (No. 339), the whole scheme of redemption is
set forth as the outcome of the fascinations of " ein
seuberlichs junkfrewelin."

Metaphors drawn from the fabled habits of the
unicorn, or allusions to them, are frequently met
with in the effusions of mediaeval erotic poets, who,
like the unicorn, would fain lay their heads in the
laps of their ladies and be enslaved by their
charms. The Suabian knight and minnesinger,
Eurkhart von Hohenfels, likens himself to the
unicorn, because a fair woman has allured him to
his destruction ; and Guido Cavalcanti, the contem-
porary and friend of Dante, makes use of the same
imagery in a sonnet addressed to Guido Orlandi,
who was languishing in fatal thraldom to the all-
subduing passion. Thibault, Count of Champagne
and King of Navarre, describes in one of his lyrics
the treachery of the hunters, who catch and kill the
unicorn while lying faint and languishing ir
virgin's lap, and adds —

Ecclesiastical Architecture i og

The unicorn, like the lion, has a twofold signifi-
cation, and in the Waldensian Physiologus stands
for Satan, who can be overcome only by purily
and innocence. The enmity of the unicorn to the
elephant, described by Isidore, and enlarjjed upon
by the author of Le Bestiaire Divin, tends also to
confuse the spiritual meaning, since both of these
animals are types of Christ The elephant is, how-
ever, in this case, as we shall see hereafter, a sym-
bol of fallen humanity. The Latin texts and the
later popular versions of the Physiologus carry
out the religious symbolism of the unicorn into
the minutest doctrinal detail. Thus the single
horn signifies the oneness of the Father and the
Son, while the smallness of the animal and its
similarity to the he-goat express the exceeding
humility and condescension of Christ in consenting
to become incarnate in the likeness of sinful man.

According to Albertus Magnus, the horn of the
African viper was said to rival that of the unicorn
in its sensitiveness to poisons, and to show their
presence by emitting perspiration ; for this reason,
he adds, it was used for the handles of table-knives.
This statement, however, he gives with reserve, as
not sufficiently proven : " sed hoc non satis proba-
tuna est" iDe Animal., Kb. XXV. vi. (Aj'). Of the

' " Et moi ont fait de tel semfalant
Amors et ma Dame, por voir ;
Mon cucr n'en puis point ravoir."

no Animal Symbolism

antidotal and prophylactic virtue of the unicorn's
horn in such cases the erudite Dominican and
" doctor universalis " does not seem to have enter-
tained the slightest doubt.

In the Alexanderlied of Pfaffen Lamprecbt we
are told that Queen Candace — whose kingdom was
" on the edge of the earth's abyss, where the sky
revolves round it like a wheel on its axis "—-pre-
sented the Macedonian conqueror with a live uni-
corn, which had been captured by means of a decoy
virgin. The animal is described by the poet as a
highly heterogeneous and utterly impossible crea-
ture, having the body of a horse, the tail of a pig,
the head of a stag, the feet of an elephant, and a
long horn projecting from its forehead. The car-
buncle concealed at the root of this horn is also
mentioned, and its medicinal properties, so often
described in mediEeval pharmacopceias, are extolled.
,, The elephant, says the Physiologus, is a very
pntelligent animal, but has an exceedingly cold
and passionless temperament. Therefore, when the
time for copulation comes, the male and female
betake themselves to a region in the neighbour-
ttiood of Paradise, where the mandrake grows, and
feat of this aphrodisiac plant, and thereupon beget
Voung.^ Now when the period of parturition arrives,

' The mandrakes which Reuben found in the field were
used by his mother Leah for venereal purposes (Gen. icxx.
14-16), and this precious peculiarity is enlarged upon in
rabbinical literature. The Greeks spoke of them as anthro-
pomorphic ; and according to popular superstition they
spring from human sperm spilled on the ground, and are so

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 1 1 1

the female elephant goes into a pond until the
water touches her breast, and there brings forth her
young, as the Psalmist says : " Save me, O God,
for the waters are come into my soul." But the
male keeps watch in order to ward off the dragon,
which dwells in the pond, and seeks to devour the
new-born elephant.

Thetwo elephants signify Adam and Eve, who ate
of the forbidden fruit of the tree of life, and yielding
to the power of sensual passion excited by it, begat
children, and brought death and woe into the world.

Another characteristic of the elephant is that
when it falls down it cannot get up again, since
it is unable to bend its knees. For this reason
it always sleeps standing, and leans for support
against a tree. The hunters take advantage of this
bodily defect and, having discovered its sleeping-
place, saw the tree almost asunder, so that when
the huge beast leans against it the tree gives way,
and the elephant falls to the ground, and there lies
roaring helplessly. Then the other elephants hasten
to its assistance, but all their efforts to raise it up
are in vain ; at length a small young elephant comes,
and, thrusting its trunk under the fallen animal,
lifts it to its feet again. Now the first elephant
symbolizes Adam, who fell " through a tree," as an
old English bestiary puts it, towards the fruit of
which he had stretched out his hand. And all the

full of animal life and consciousness that they shriek when
torn out of the earth, so " that living mortals, hearing them,

112 Animal Symbolism

great prophets and the lesser prophets essayed in
vain to restore him to his first estate; but '
new elephant, our Saviour," though accounted the
least of all the prophets, was able to accomplish it,
becoming a servant and abasing Himself that we
might be exalted.

Julius Caesar, in his commentary on the Gallic
War (vi. 2^"), in speaking of the fauna of the
country, describes an animal something like the
unicorn as follows ; " There is an ox having the
form of a deer, from the middle of whose forehead,
between the ears, there rises a single horn, lo)
and straighter than the horns of any other animal
known to us, and spreading widely at the top
palm-like branches. The appearance of the male
and the female is the same, and the shape and size
of the horns are similar." He then adds: "There
are also animals called alces [elks], like a deer in
form and colour, but larger in size. They shed
their horns, and their legs are without joints or
articulations. They do not lie down to rest, and
if they happen to fall to the ground they are
unable to rise. The trees serve them for beds,
against which they lean, and thus, slightly reclining,
take their repose. When the hunters discover these
places of resort, they either undermine the trees at
the roots or cut them so far that the trunk has
only the appearance of standing firmly, so that
when the animals lean against them, according to
their habit, the weakened trees give way and they
fall together to the earth." The stiff and stilty

In Ecclesiastical Architecture

'3

manner in which the elk holds its legs in running
and leaping, seems to have led Ca:sar to infer that
they were without joints, and from this queer mis-
take for such a sober and accurate observer to
make the fabulous account of its method of sleep-
ing could have easily arisen, especially as this was
supposed to be the case with the elephant, the
method of capturing which is also described in the
.Spanish PoEina de Alexandra by Juan Lorenzo de
Segura.

Mediaeval poets use the statement that the ele-
phant gives birth in the water as a symbol of
baptismal regeneration, but the animal seldom
figures metaphorically in madrigals or lays of love.
The inditer of an amorous sonnet or soft ditty
would hardly venture to compare himself or his
sweetheart to the hugest and most unwieldy of
pachyderms. It is rarely represented in sacred
architecture, but is often found embroidered on
sacerdotal vestments, and especially on chasubles, as
a symbol of priestly chastity. Haufler {Archiv fiir
Kujtde dslBrreichisclter GeschichtsqueUen., 1S50, ii.
593) mentions a chasuble of the eleventh centurj'
at Gos near Loeben adorned with various animals,
and among them elephants with towers on their
backs, which he thinks typify prudence and virtue
equipped to resist the powers of evil. It may be,
however, that, after the original symbolism was
forgotten, the elephant continued to be used merely
. traditional decoration, in which case the
howdah and other trappings would naturally be

114

Animal Symbolism

added without attaching to them any special signifl
cation.

The serpent has four characteristics: (i) Whrf
it has grown old and its eyes are dim, it fasts forty
days and forty nights until its skin shrivels and
loosens. Thereupon it squeezes itself through a
narrow crevice in the rocks, and thus casts its skin
and renews its youth. And thou, O son of man, if 1
thou desirest to put off the old Adam and be re-
generated, must pass through the strait gate and
walk in the narrow way, which leadeth unto life.

(2) When the serpent goes to a spring to drink
water, it leaves its venom in its hole ; so he, who
would refresh his soul with the waters of eternal life,
must leave behind him every sin of his carnal heart.

(3) The serpent fears a naked man and flees from
him, but assails him when he is clothed. Those J
who are acquainted with this characteristic of the
serpent throw off their garments, when pursued by
it, and thus save their lives. So, too, when Adam
was naked in the garden and had no desire for
raiment, the serpent could do him no harm. IijJ
like manner, if we do not trouble ourselves aboiitl
the vanities of this world, we need not fear the a
saults of the wily serpent, the devil. According t
this doctrine nudity is a sign of innocence and th(
sanctified should dispense with clothing, whidil
originated in the fall of man and is a covering oFfl
sin, that may find a lurking-place even under thel
scanty vesture of a fig-leaf The Adamites of the i
second, and the Picards of the fifteenth century 1

In Ecclesiastical Architecture

held that those whom Christ had redeemed were
restored to the original purity of our first parents
in Eden, and should return to the primitive habits
of the race, including nudity and sexual promiscuity.
(4) When one seeks to kill the serpent, it exposes
its whole body, in order to shield its head from the
blows of its assailant. The application of this
characteristic to Christians, who should endure
every trial and afRiction for the sake of Christ,
their head, has already been noticed. The serpent
shows its wisdom also in this, that it stops its ears
to the charmer and refuses to listen to his spell,
thus teaching us to shut our ears to Satanic sug-
gestions. The notion that poisonous reptiles could
be charmed so as to prevent them from stinging or
to render their bite harmless, was based on such
passages as Jer. viii. 17 and Ps, Iviii, 5, and seemed
to be confirmed by the wonderful feats of Oriental
fakirs and magicians.

These imaginary attributes of the serpent arc
occasionally represented as religious symbols in
churches among the wood-carvings of the chancel
and the reliefs adorning the doorways or the
capitals of columns, but more frequently in the
illuminations of raediseval manuscripts. Still more
common is the metaphorical use of them by the
poets of the middle ages in illustration of both
sacred and secular subjects. Thus in one of the
mystic spiritual songs of the Minorite Jacopone da
Todi, the reputed and probable author of the
Stabat Mater, the first characteristic of the serpent

ii6

Animal Symbolism

figures the love of Jesus, which purifies and r
the soul. The third characteristic is applied in a I
queer way by a troubadour, Eertolome Zorgi J
(quoted by Lauchert, p. iS6, from Diez : Leben un£\
Werke dcr Troubadours), who says of his lady-lort |
that, like the serpent, she flees from hira when he
is naked, and is fearless in his presence only when
he is clothed, surely no unusual display of timidity
in a modest dame. It is also related in the Poema
de Alexandro already cited, that as the army of
the Macedonian monarch was passing through a
desert and suffering intensely from thirst, the
soldiers found a spring, which, however, was so sur-
rounded by serpents that all who approached it
were in danger of being bitten. But Alexander,
who was not less distinguished for wisdom than for
valour, ordered the men to strip, so that they went
to the water unharmed by the serpents, which fled
from them as from moving pillars of fire. The
author tells many other marvellous stories of ani-
mals, and assures the reader that they are all true :
"esto es cosa vera." The serpent was likewise
revered by the Egyptians as a symbol of regeneration
and the renewal of life.

The Physiologus states that when the eagle has
grown old and its eyes have become dim and
darkened, it flies upward towards the sun until it
has scorched its wings and purged away the film
from its eyes ; then it descends to the earth and
plunges three times into a spring of pure water.
Thus it recovers its sight and renews its youth. In

>

,]ike manner, when we have grown old in the
sinful love of this world, and the eyes of the
heart are obscured thereby,
then should we seek the day-
star of the divine word, and
fly aloft on the wings of the
spirit to the sun of righteous-
ness, Christ, our Saviour, who
will draw out of us the old /

man with all his works. And

when we dip ourselves thrice EBgicrentwinRiuyouih.
in the new well-spring of sal- [Hnhary.)

vation in the name of the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost, then will the old garment of the devil
be taken away, and we shall be clothed in the new
and shining raiment which God hath made ready
for us.

The eagle can gaze at the bright sun without
blinking, and is accustomed to carry its unfledged
young on its wings upward and compel them to
look upon the shining orb ; those which can do so
with open and steadfast eyes it rears, but discards
the others and lets them fall to the ground. Here
the sun represents God the Father, upon whose face
Christ can gaze undazzled by His glory, and to
whom He presents the children of men who claim to

! have been born of Him; those who are able to
stand before God and to look upon the light of His

I countenance are accepted, while the others are
rejected.

Again, we are told that the eagle looks from the

Animal Symbolism

; it

uppermost region of the air into the depths of the
sea, and when it perceives a fish swimming about,
plunges into the water and seizing the fish t>ears it
away to its aerie. Here the eagle typifies Chrii
the sea the world, and the fish the elect whom Hi
saves and takes to Himself.

The eagle renewing its youth by plunging into
fountain is the symbol of regeneration by baptisn
and is therefore sometimes scuiptured on fonts and
baptisteries. In ecclesiastical architecture the eagle
is often found perching alone, as, for example, in
the church at Alne ; in the miniatures of the
script bestiaries belonging to the Arsenal Libri
and to the Royal Library of Brussels it is seen fl^
ing with its newly-fledged young up towards th^
sun ; in a stained window in the cathedral at Lyons
three eaglets are looking un-
flinchingly at the blazing sun,
while a fourth is falling to the
k earth ; a mosaic in the baptistery
of Santa Maria di Capua repre-
sents an eagle taking a fish out
ofthewater, and the same scene
is carved on a Celtic cross at
St. Vigean's in Forfarshire, and
EngiHspiiinBBtthosdn. °" the jamb of a Norman door-
(iyBiH caihedrai.) way at Ribbesford in Worcester-
shire ; it is also found on a metal plate in the British
Museum, and among the illuminations of a Celtic
manuscript of the Book of Armagh at Trinity
College, Dublin.

»

In Ecclesiastical Architecture i ig

The fable of the rejuvenation of the eagle grew

Lturally enough out of the fact of the renewal of
plumage after moulting; but the Apostolic
Fathers were not satisfied with this simple explana-
tion of the words of the Psalmist (ciii. 5), and trans-
formed an ordinary phenomenon into a supernatural
and miraculous event, which would be more effec-
tive for exegetical purposes.

Aristotle {HisS. Animal., ex. 32) relates that the
mpper beak of very old eagles grows so long as to
i|)revent them from eating and to cause them to die of
hunger. In the Greek version of the Physiologiis of
the twelfth century the author adds that in order to
remedy this evil and to avert this danger the eagle
breaks off the superfluity of its beak against a stone,
a statement which is adduced by homilists and
exegetists to prove that the rock of salvation is the
only cure for the growth of carnal-mindedness, and
the sole means of preventing spiritual starvation.

In Dante's Divina Commedia (Pt, I. 47-48)
Beatrice is said to fix her eyes on the sun as stead-
fastly as never eagle did —

" Aquila si non gli s'affisse unquanco."

It was a test of Dante's fitness to visit the celestial
spheres that he could do the same —

"E fissi gli occhi a! sole oltre a nosir'uso."

Allusions to this notion occur in other parts of

the poem. Ariosto uses the same imagery in one

of his sonnets : " Although the young of the eagle

ito

may resemble the parent in its claws, head, breas^
and plumage, but are not like it in keenness an<
strength of vision to endure the light, the eagle wil
not recognize them as its offspring. So th(
thoughts and desires of lovers should be in perfec
conformity ... Be not then different from me ii
any respect," he concludes, addressing his lady-lov^
" for you must accord with me wholly or not be mini
at all "—

" Non sieie dunque in un da me difforme,
Perchc mi si confaccia il piti di voi;
Che o nulla, o vi convien tutta esser mia."

A German poet, Wachsmut von Miihlhausen,
declares that he will renew himself like the eagls
and mount up joyously into the Kther, " if thou, O
lady, wilt console me in my sadness and my long-
ing." Warriors, too, are praised or censured fof.
possessing or not possessing the firm and unflinch-.
ing eye of the eagle, when in the heat of battle
Thomasin von Zirclare says, in the Welsclur Gast^.
that sovereigns should not be blinded by bribes,
but should keep their sight unclouded, so as to b
able to look clearly and fixedly at the truth in the
light of justice, as eagles look at the sun, and that
they should renew their strength for righteousness
and ruling in equity by seeking communion with;
the Most High. They are likewise to imitate the
eagle, which breaks of^" portions of its beak, when
it has grown so long and crooked as to be an im-
pediment, an admonition which might be taken
as a warning against the circumlocutions of court

etiquette and the trammeis of red tape. In the
literature of a later day one of the most splendidly
rhetorical passages in the peroration of Milton's
Areopagitica is borrowed from this superstition of
the eaglet renewing its youth and purging its sight
at the source of all life and illumination.

Strangely enough the fish is not especially men-
tioned by the Physiologiis, although in sacred
iconology it occurs most frequently as a symbol
of Christ, the Greek word IX0T2 being the initial
letters of the Greek phrase signifying Jesus Christ
God's Son Saviour, I^troCs- Xptrrros ©toi) Tios SojT^p.
But the fish, although proverbial among the Greeks
for its stupidity, was carved on ancient tombs,
because it was supposed to bear the soul of the
deceased across the sea to the islands of the blest.
This was especially the case with the dolphin, the
strongest and swiftest of fishes, or, as Gregory of
Nyssa calls it, the most royal of swimmers : h btX^ls
ioTi Tuiii mjktSi' 6 ^atnXiKiiTaTos. It is possible that
the dolphin was at first, for the same reason, sculp-
tured on Christian tombs, and that the fish was
afterwards substituted for it on account of the
monogrammatic meaning of the word.

The early Christians were accustomed to eat a
roasted fish in commemoration of Christ's Passion,
and a survival of this ceremony is the use of fish as
an article of food on Friday. The fish was also sacred
to Venus on account of its extraordinary fecundity ;
for the same reason April, the opening {aperilis) or
germinating month, was consecrated to this goddess,

Animal Symbolism

whose appropriate day {dies Veneris, venerdi,
vendredi) was Friday, corresponding to Friatac, the
day of Fria, the old German goddess of love.
Patristic theologians were fond of seeking similitudes
and discovering analogies between a baked fish
and the suffering Christ : " inter piscem assum et
Christum passum." Christian sepulchres are often
adorned with frescoes or sculptures, in which the
disciples are seated at a table furnished with a loaf
of bread (the bread of life) and a baked fish. Thia
is a sacramental or eucharistic meal.

Of sea-creatures only the whale and the fabulous
remora and serra or winged saw-fish are discussed
in the Pkysiologus and in the bestiaries. The
whale has two characteristics. First, when he is
hungry and lusts after food, he opens his wide
mouth seaward and a pleasant odour issues from his
maw, so that other fishes are deceived and swim
eagerly towards the place whence the sweet odour
comes. In heedless shoals they enter into his ex-
tended jaws ; then suddenly the grim gums close
and crush their prey. Thus the devil allures men
to their destruction and closes upon them the
barred gates of hell, from which they can no mora
escape than the fishes sporting in the ocean can
return from the mouth of the whale.

Secondly, the mariners often mistake the whale,
as it rests on the surface of the sea, for an island,
on which they land and build a fire to cook their
dinner, but when the whale begins to feel the heat
through its thick hide, it plunges under the waves

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 123

and engulphs all the brave seafarers with their
high-prowed ships. In the old English bestiary
this disaster is described in the succinct and graphic
style of the old German epics. Here, too, the
whale is the devil, the sea is the world, and the
ship represents the human race.

Brunette Latino states that the whale often
remains stationary on the surface of the ocean,
until it becomes incrusted with earth. From the
seeds dropped by birds in this soil trees and shrubs
spring up and grow to large forests, so that sailors
are easily deceived and mistake the animal for an
island. In the Book of Esdras (vi. 6) it is said that
Behemoth and Leviathan, when they were created,
covered each a seventh part of the earth. The
Talmud adds that it would take a ship three days
to sail from the head to the tail of one of these
monsters ; and some of the rabbis speak of whales
fifteen stadia in length, which is a relatively sober
estimate. An Arab writer maintains that the earth
rests on the back of a whale, which performs the
all-sustaining office of the turtle in Indian cosmog-
ony, and that earthquakes and other convulsions of
nature are caused by its occasional movements
from one side to the other. The devil is constantly
at work trying to persuade the whale to dive and
thus destroy the world. Once the whale was just
on the- point of yielding to these Satanic solicita-
tions, but was prevented by the merciful interven-
tion of the Almighty, whereby the globe and its
inhabitants were saved from such a catastrophe.

124

Animal Symbolism

in architecture sometimes only the ship is
represented, and the whale left to the imagination
of the beholder, as for example in the old Norman
church at Alne, or the whale is given and the ship
omitted, one object being deemed sufficient to
suggest the other. In the miniatures of the besti-
aries the whoie scene is
usually depicted in such
a manner as to illustrate
both characteristics : the
ship lies at anchor, the
mariners are cooking
their dinner under the
shadow of trees on the
back of the whale, into whose extended jaws shoals
of little fish are swimming. A parchment codex of
the Icelandic version of the Physiologiis, dating from
the thirteenth century, and now preserved in the
Ama-Magnasan collection of the University Library
of Copenhagen, has two crude drawings, in which
these characteristics of the whale are portrayed.

The remora, called essinus {tx^in\Xi') in the
bestiaries, and confounded with the sea-urchin, is
a fish about a foot long and a native of the Indian
Ocean, but so strong that it can keep a ship from
moving by fastening itself to the keel. In storms
it holds the vessel steady, and prevents it from
capsizing when tossed by the tempest, and is
therefore a type of the Saviour, the sea symbolizing
the world, and the ship man buffeted by the waves
of temptation, which threaten to engulph him.

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 1 25

Plmy(ix. 25 ; xxxii. i) extols the immense strength
of this little fish, which, he says, decided the battle
of Actium and the fate of the world by clinging to
Anthony's galley and preventing it from going into
action. Similar statements are made by JEUan
(ii. 17) and Suetonius (In Caio, xHx.), from whom
the authors of the bestiaries seem to have derived
their information. Thus we are told that, when
Caligula was returning from Astura to Antium, a
remora sucked itself fast to the imperial five-decker,
and neutralized the efforts of four hundred oarsmen.
Again, as Periander was about to send a galley
from Corinth to Corcyra to murder three hundred
children, a great number of these fish fastened
themselves to the vessel and kept it from sailing,
although the wind was favourable. Out of grati-
tude for this good deed the echeneis (ship- detainer)
was fostered and revered in the temple of Venus
at Cnidus. Oppianus, in his didactic poem on
fishing (to 'AKievriKd), describes the astonishment
and anger of the fishermen, when their boats are
kept stationary by the force of these sea -creatures.
The marvels of this sort recounted by ancient
"writers are repeated and magnified in German
mediaeval poems of heroic adventure and achieve-
ment, like Graf Rtidolf, Hersog Ernst, and the
Alexander of Pfaffen Lamprecht. The remora
is sometimes called serra, but the latter is usually
described as a sea-dragon, a fire-breathing monster
with wings like a griffin, the tail of a goose,
and the feet of a swan. When it sees a ship it

Animal Symbolism

flies after it for thirty or forty leagues, but finally
grows weary and turns back to disport in the sea.
It symbolizes those who follow for a season in the
wake of the Church, but through lack of persever-
ance never reach the ark of safety.

According to the Physiologus, the phcenix is a
native of India and Arabia, When it is five
hundred years old, it flies to Lebanon, and fills its
wings with the fragrant gum of a tree growing
there, and thence hastens to Heliopolis in Egypt,
where it bums itself upon the high altar in the
temple of the sun. When the priest comes on the
next day to offer sacrifice, he removes the ashes
from the altar, and finds therein a small worm of
exceedingly sweet odour, which in three days
develops into a young bird, and on the fourth day
attains its full size and plumage, and greeting the
priest with reverence returns to its home. But if
the phcenix, adds the exegetist, is able to destroy
itself and to come to life again, why should the
Jews murmur at the words of our Saviour, when
He said : " I have power to lay down My life, and
I have power to take it again " ?

The perfume which fills the two wings of the
phoenix symbolizes the sweetness of divine grace,
as diffused through the books of the Old and New
Testaments. Other expositors of Pelagian ten-
dencies discern in these perfumes the good works
which the righteous man accumulates, and by
which he earns eternal life ; and as the phcenix
kindles the fire which consumes it by the fanning

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 127

motion of its own wings, so the saint, mounting up
on the wings of heavenly meditation, has his soul en-
kindled and renewed by the flames of the Holy Spirit

Cremation as practised by the Romans would
naturally serve to make the phcenix still more
suitable and striking as a symbol of the Resurrection
and of immortality; in this sense the bird in the
act of burning itself was often sculptured on
cinerary urns with the inscription D[ts] M[ani6us],
and is also mentioned in Jewish writings as an
emblem of the renewal of life and vigour. The
Greek word for date-palm and phixnix is the same
(^oii'if), and the tree was fabled to die and then
to spring up anew like the fowl. The passage in
Psalm xcii. 12, "The righteous shall flourish like
the palm-tree " (m ^oli'i^), may mean in the Septu-
agint like the phcenix, and was so understood by
Tertullian and the Physiologus.

The phoenix, like so many other symbols, passed
from the old to the new religion, and was transferred
from the pagan urn to the Christian sarcophagus.
Sometimes a date-palm is used to express the
same idea ; and very frequently the tree and the
bird appear together. Mosaics in many early
Christian churches, as for example in SS. Cosma
e Damiano, St. Prassede, and St. Cecilia in Trastc-
vere, represent the phcenix with a nimbus. Among
the mosaics adorning the tribune of the Lateran
is a large cross, and beneath it the New Jerusalem,
out of the midst of which rises a stately palm-tree
with a phcenix perched on its top.

Animal Symbolism

A similar type of the atoning Christ is the
pelican, tearing open its breast and feeding its
young with its own blood. When they are partly
grown they smite their parents in
the face and the old birds kill
them ; but no sooner do the
parents perceive what they have
done than they repent of their
rashness and have compassion on
their dead offspring, and, sprink-
ling them with their own blood,
restore them to life. In like
, Christ was beaten and

buffeted by the children of men, and yet shed
His blood in order to give them eternal life. St.
Augustine refers to this fable in his commentary
on Psalm cii. 5 : "I am like a pelican in the
wilderness," and says ; " The males of these birds
are wont to kill their young by blows of their
beaks, and then to bewail their death for the space
of three days. At 'length, however, the female
inflicts a severe wound on herself, and letting her
blood Row over the dead ones, brings them to
life again." This supposed fact of natural history
is often adduced by patristic theologians in illus-
tration and confirmation of the doctrine of the
Atonement, In some old books of emblems, as
well as in architecture, the same conduct is ascribed
to the eagle and the vulture. The Egyptian Hor-
apollo says : " The vulture is the type of the merci-
ful man, because, if food cannot be obtained for its

In Ecclesiastical Architecture

129

young, it opens its own tiiigh and permits them to
partake of its blood, so that they may not perish
from want." The Hebrew word for vulture, rdc/idni,
meaning a. compassionate creature, was doubtless
a recognition of this supposititious virtue. On a
;old coin of the time of Hadrian the phcenix
appears with the inscription sac. aur., as indi-
cating the restoration of the golden age under
his reign ; it occurs later on the coins and medals
issued by Constantine and other Christian emperors.

On the principal door of St.
Laurence in Nuremberg a burn-
ing phoenix is sculptured under
the lintel on the right, and a
peh'can, in the act of piercing its
breast to feed its young, under
the lintel on the left. There
are similar representations on
the doorway, as well as on the ""*=°''- (■^"''"y'
capitals, of some columns in the Ernestine Chapel
of Magdebui^ Cathedral, and probably date from
the thirteenth century. Phcenix and pelican arc
carved on the stalls of BSle Minster, belonging to
the latter half of the fifteenth century. In the
northern transept of the cathedral at Lund in
Sweden, over the window, is a pelican rending
its breast with its beak, and on the western wall
a phcenix burning in its nest ; on the eastern
wall is a crucifix, and over an arch to the south
a lion tearing a man, showing how the devil
deals with heretics. There are in the same church

Animal Symbolism

some curious carvings of animals on the stalls of J
the choir, symbolizing the conflict between Chris- i
tianity and paganism. The phcenix and pelican I
are frequently associated with other creatures hav-
ing a like spiritual significance. Thus in a picture
with a Latin inscription in the church of St.
Laurence, and one with a German inscription in
St. Sebald's church in Nuremberg, the phcenix
and the unicorn are on one side, and the pelican
and the lion on the other side, emphasizing and ■
enforcing by an accumulation of types the doc-
trines of the incarnation, death, and resurrection of 1
Christ, and the redemption of mankind through
His sufferings. A painting of a similar character,
belonging to the Cologne school of the fourteenth
century, was formerly in the possession of Dr. Bessel, i
president of the provincial court of Saarbriicken.

In the Florentine Galleria degii Uffizi, in the
cabinet of gems, is a shrine of mountain crystal
containing a golden casket adorned with a phcenix
in enamel, and bearing the inscription " sic moriendo
vita perennis." It is a masterpiece of one of the
most celebrated lithoglyphlc artists of the sixteenth
century, Valerio Belli of Vicenza, better known as
Valerio Vicentino, who made it for Pope Clement
VII. (1523-34) as a pyx or receptacle for the host
The outer case is of rock crystal, and embellished
with scenes from the life and Passion of Christ.

Both the phoenix and the pelican are used by 1
sacred and secular poets of the middle ages and [
of modern times to illustrate the power of heavenly I

i

t

i

In Ecclesiastical Architecture

and earthly love. Dante makes an original appli-
cation of the fable in the Inferno (xxiv. 97-108),
where he describes the damned in the seventh
circle of hell as being burned and born again from
their ashes to suffer an endless repetition of their
torments, as the phcenix dies and renews its life
every five hundred years. Elsewhere (Pt. xxv.,

;) he speaks of Christ as "our pelican." The
Sicilian lyrical poet, Inghilfredi, who flourished in
the thirteenth century, confesses in one of his

xsoni that he is at once consumed and rejuven-
ated by the fires of love, like the phcenix ; and
the Provencal poet, Aimeric de Pregulhan, is af-
fected by the tender passion in the same way, and
expresses himself in identical language. Giovanni
dair Orto, in La Notte Gioconda, praises the breath
of the ioved one as sweeter than the spices brought
by the phoenix from India and Sheba for its funeral
pyre. In another passage he entreats the fair dame,
who has slain him in her anger, to take pity on
him and, like the pelican, restore him to life by
the manifestations of her affection. Reinmar von
Zweter expresses the hope that the good may be
self-renewed like the phcenix, but that the bad may
remain without issue like the same mythical fowl.
Similes of this sort, in which diverse characteristics
of a single animal serve to illustrate opposite quali-
ties, were deemed especially clever,

The otter is described as a small animal re-
sembling a dog, and an enemy of the crocodile.
When the latter sleeps it keeps its mouth open ;

132 Animal Symbolism

but the otter wallows in the mire until it becomes^
thickly coated with mud, which dries and hardens I
and forms a sort of armour, thus enabling it to
run securely into the jaws and down the throat of
the sleeping crocodile, and to kill it by devouring
its bowels. So our Saviour, after having put on
flesh, descended into hell and carried aivay 1
souls dwelling therein ; and as the otter com
forth unharmed from the belly of the crocodile, s
our Lord rose from the grave on the third day,
alive and uninjured. The ichneumon is fabled to
slay the dragon in the same manner, and both
animals are symbols of the triumph of the incarnate J
God over Satan.

Strabo states that the ichneumon attacks poison- :
ous serpents, but never single-handed. It was I
therefore used in Egyptian hieroglyphics as aa.l
ideograph, signifying that union is strength, i^lian.
Plutarch, and I'liny relate its feats of heroic auda-
city in entering the maw and eating the entrails
of the crocodile ; it was said to hunt up and destroy
the eggs of this reptile, and was therefore cherished j
and revered as a public benefactor ; hence, too, its I
name, the "tracker." As a matter of fact, how-
ever, it not only devours insects and small quad-
rupeds, but also destroys doves, domestic fowls and
their eggs, and all kinds of fruits, and does immense
harm to the husbandman. The fellahin have no
greater foe. The Greek word for otter, (wbpis,
signifies also water-snake, and this ambiguity has
caused it to be confounded with the hj-dra, ivhose

ut on
y thej

o
h

I

^1

many heads, growing again as soon as they are
lopped off, symbolize the fearfully prolific and
ineradicable nature of original sin. For this reason
the otter in the Waldensian Physiologus becomes
the type of the devil, who puts on cunning dis-
guises in order to insinuate himself into the heart
of man and to compass his destruction. Owing to
this confusion of terms the otter most frequently
appears in the delineations of the artist as a ser-
pent eating its way through the bowels of a
nondescript monster supposed to be a crocodile.

Otwr and WaWr-aakc. {Psalter o/Isaitlla of Framt.)

It is the nature of the panther to live in friend-
ship with all animals except the dragon. It has
a beautiful skin of many colours, like Joseph's coat,
and is an exceedingly beautiful beast, tame and
gentle. When it has eaten a little it is satisfied,
and goes to sleep in its lair, and after three days
it awakes and roars with a loud voice, and out of
its mouth proceeds a sweet smell. Then all the
beasts of the forest far and near follow after it,
attracted by this odour, which, according to an old
English bestiary, is

"A steam more grateful,
Sweeter and stronger
Than every perfume,
Than blooms of plants

1 34

Animal Symbolism

And forest-leaves,
Nobler than all
Earth's ornaments."

This rare scent is offensive only to the dragon, ■
which hastens to flee as soon as it gets a. sniff" of I
it. In like manner our Lord Jesus Christ arose
out of the sleep of death, and drew aH nations unto
Him through His "sweet savour." As the Psalmist
says : " The king's daughter is all glorious within ;
her clothing is of wrought gold;" so the adorn-
ment of our Saviour is variegated through chastity,
purity, meekness, kindness, peace, temperance, and
every excellence. Again, in the words of the wise
man: "Because of the savour of thy good oint-
ments, thy name is as an ointment poured forth,
therefore do the virgins love thee." "Draw me, we
will run after thee." "The smell of thine ointments "
he declares to be "better than all spices." Also the
passage in Hosea (v. 14), which reads in the Sep-
tuagint, " I will be unto Ephraim as a panther and
as a lion to the house of Judah," is cited as perti-
nent. Finally Christ, like the panther, discomfits
"the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil."

A German poet of the twelfth century artributes
the perfume of the panther's breath to its diet, con-
sisting of aromatic roots and herbs that impart to
it a balmy quality, which is not only grateful to
the senses, but also healing to the beasts that
inhale it. According to this view, the creature is
a sort of peripatetic sanitarium, and is for this
reason attended by a large concourse of animals

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 135

which seek to be cured of their ailments. The
attraction is not so much aesthetic and sentimental
as medical or veterinary. The hygienic influence
of the panther is prophylactic as well as remedial,
so that, if one were disposed to carry the quib-
bling spirit of patristic theologians into the pro-
vince of paranomasia, the beast might be called
" an ounce of prevention." The breath of the
panther is often likened to the virtue which went
out of Christ and healed the woman who touched
the hem of His garment.

In ecclesiastical architecture the panther is some-
times represented as facing the dragon, as, for
example, on the doorway of the church at AIne, in
Yorkshire. More frequently, however, the dragon
is fleeing from the pan-
. ther, which is followed by ,
numerous beasts, usually '
divided into two groups,
those nearest the panther
typifying the Jews, and
those farther off the Gen- -»— "--"-s- i^*""-?.;
tiles ; as the Apostle Paul says of Christ, He "came
and preached peace to you which were afar off,
and to them that were nigh."

In Hugo von Langenstein's poem, The Mar-
tyrdom of St. Martina, written in 1293, a very
elaborate allegory of the panther is introduced to
illustrate the sufferings and virtues of his holy
heroine. He characterizes Christ as the " heavenly
panther," and the variegated skin of the animal is

136

Animal Symbolism

minutely interpreted in a mystical sense as sym-
bolizing the wisdom, love, humility, mercy, justice,
and other attributes of the Redeemer, about twenty
of which are specially mentioned. Lauchert gives
numerous examples of rhetorical and metaphorical
allusions to this fable in profane literature. Thus
an anonymous troubadour of the thirteenth century
compares the power of Amor to that of the panther,
whose sweet breath and beautiful colour attract all
beasts with so irresistible force that they would
rather die than not to follow in its footsteps. The
Sicilian lyric poet Inghilfredi, already mentioned,
expresses the fascination he feels by the same
simile. Guido delle Coionne and Messer Polo
celebrate the modesty of their mistresses, who are
as unconscious of their sweetness and beauty as
the panther. The same imagery is employed by
poet laureates and royal panegyrists. Frauenlob
likens the persuasive voice of Count Ludwig of
Oettingen to the sweet breath of the panther ; and
another Meissen poet uses this comparison with
reference to Albrecht 11. of Brandenburg, the
founder of Berlin. Master Rumeland of Saxony,
a wandering minstrel, who sang the praises of
many princes, extols Duke Ludwig of Bavaria as
an eagle, a leopard, a panther, and indeed a whole
menagerie of typical beasts and birds. Konrad
von Wiirzburg turns the point of the trope against
low - minded sovereigns, and says that a mean
prince shuns the society of the pure and noble
as the dragon flees from the panther.

I

In Ecclesiastical Architecture

t37

In the Lay of the Nibehingen, Siegfrid bears a
large quiver covered with panther's skin, which
emits a pleasant odour, and emblematizes the irre-
sistible charm of the youthful hero ; and in Pfaffen
Lamprecht's Alexander, a curious work of the
goldsmith's art belonging to Queen Candace is
described, namely, an automatic panther, which
not only howled, but also exhaled sweet perfumes.
The account is too realistic to be a mere product
of the fancy, and is probably the description of
something which the poet had seen, and, if so,
proves to what perfection this kind of artistic
handicraft was carried in the twelfth century. The
characteristics of the panther are likewise set forth

Reinaert de Vos (Martin's ed., pp. 54-55 sqq^.

The later bestiaries derive the word panther from
jtSv, signifying all, and implying that it was the
whole world which Christ came to redeem. This
idea of the universality of the Atonement is ex-
pressed by the Norman clerk in Le Bestiaire Divin
as follows —

" Pantiere dit, qui bien entent,
Tanl comme chose qui tot prent,
Et senefie, sanz error,
Jhesu Crist nostre Sauveoi
Qui par sa grant humility
Vesti nosire chamalitd,
Et trest loz les aiecles

In this connection it may be mentioned as a sin-
gular coincidence that, according to an ancient
tradition, the real father of Jesus was a Roman
soldier named Panthera.

The three beasts that obstructed Dante's path as
he found himself at the midway of life erring in a
dark and savage wood, were a panther, a lion, and'
a wolf, supposed to be the types of luxury, pride,
and greed ; but they have nothing in common with
the animal symbolism of the Physiologus.

The testicles of the beaver, we are told, contain
a precious substance, which heals divers diseases,
and especially convulsions, once regarded as a sure
sign of diabolical possession. When the animal is-
pursued by the hunters, and
is in danger of being caught,
it bites off its private parts
and thus saves its life ; for
it is a sagacious creature,
and knows why it is hunted.
Afterwards, when it
chased, it throws itself on its
•.MniaTy.i back, so that the hunter may

see that what he seeks is no longer there, and go his
way. But thou, O man, separate from thyself the
works of the flesh, which are adulteries, fornications,
revellings, and env>-ings, and throw them to the
devil, who hunteth after thy soul, saying : " I will
pursue my enemies and overtake them." Then
canst thou exclaim with the Psalmist : " Our soul
is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowler ;
the snare is broken, and we are escaped."

It is well known that the beaver secretes in two
inguinal sacs a caseous substance with a pungent
perfume called castoreum. The fable related by

the Physiologtis is of very ancient date, and is
recorded by the Egyptian priest Horapollo, as well
as by Apuleius, Pliny, itlian, and Juvenal, and was
generally accepted as true by mediaeval writers.
Albertus Magnus, as we have seen, rejects it as
" false, although frequently reported in parts of our
land." In art, the beaver is commonly represented
in the act of self-mutilation, which suffices to tell
the whole story, the hunters being left to the imagin-
ation. Konrad von Wiirzburg chooses an odd and
rather far-fetched comparison, when he commends
to princes the prudence of the beaver, which saves
its life by voluntarily depriving itself of what is
dearest to it ; he thereby intends to inculcate the
virtue of liberality freely exercised for the public
weal, and without stint of self-sacrifice.

Still more marvellous is the account which the
Physiologus gives of the hyena. This filthy beast,
he says, haunts cemeteries and feeds on corpses.
It has also the power of changing its sex, the same
individual being sometimes male and sometimes
female. This characteristic is used to illustrate
the vice censured by Paul in his epistle to the
Romans (i. 2, 27), In the Latin version of the
Pkysiologtis the hyena is made a type of the Jews,
who at first had a knowledge of the true and living
God, but now subsist on dry bones and dead cere-
monials. They were the prophets of the Messiah
and foretold His advent, but rejected Him when He
appeared. As Jeremiah says (xii. 9, Septuagint) :
" The lair of the hyena has become my heritage."

140

Animal Symbolism

In the bestiaries the words of James (i. 8, curiously
enough attributed to Solomon), " A double-minded
man is unstable in all his ways," and the saying of
Christ, *■ No man can serve two masters," are cited
as texts, the truth of which the habits of the hyena
exemplify and establish.

In the apocryphal epistle of Barnabas (ix. 8) it
is said : " Neither shalt thou eat of the hyena ; that
is, again, be not an adulterer, nor a corrupter of
others ; neither be like to such. And wherefore so ?
Because that creature every year changes its kind,
and is sometimes male and sometimes female."
Philippe de Thaun, in his Book of Creatures, speaks
of the hyena as "une beste mauvaise et orde," a
foul and ugly beast, stinking and very fiercCj digging
into graves and devouring carrion. He begins his
account of this animal with the following general
observations —

" Moult est a dire et a retraire
£s essarnples del Bestlaire,
Qui sunt de bestes et de oiseaus.
Moult profitables, boens et beaus.
Et le livre si nos enseigne
En quel guise le mal remaigne.
El la veie qu« deit tenir
Cil qui a Deu veut revertir."

Sir Walter Raleigh, in his History of the World J
(London, 1614), excludes hybrids from Noah's ark,
and mentions hyenas as belonging to this class.
He asserts that only pure species were saved, and
not mongrels. After the Deluge, hyenas, he says,
were reproduced by a cross between the dog and

I

the cat This notion is about as correct as his
belief that before the Deluge there were mountains
thirty miles high, which were reduced to their
present elevation by the abrasive action of the
water.

The eyes of the hyena are fabled to turn into
jewels when it dies ; and the Physiologus asserts
that it has in its eye a stone which, if it be placed
under the tongue, enables a man to foretell future
events. In the East the hyena is universally
regarded as an incarnation of the sorcerer, and
Arabian folk-lore is especially full of fearful stories
of the doings of wizards and witches, who assume
this form for diabolical purposes. The fact that
the hyena is seldom seen by day, but begins to
make night hideous with its cries as soon as it
grows dark, tends to confirm the popular super-
stition that the creature is a man who has trans-
formed himself into this filthy beast with the going
down of the sun. For this reason a dread of the
hyena as uncanny and capable of inflicting injury
by malign and magical influences, prevails among
all African and Asiatic peoples, where this animal
has its habitat. Dogs, it is believed, lose their
bark and scent if the shadow of a hyena falls upon
them ; he who tastes of its brain goes mad, and
the hunter who kills it is sure to be pursued by its
vindictive ghost

In architecture the hyena is usually represented
as preying upon the prostrate form of a man,
probably a corpse, which it has dug out of a

grave ; it symbolizes vice battening on corruption.
Sometimes, as among the sculp-
tures on the church at AIne, we
find the figure of the hyena.
standing alone, an embodiment
of the evil principle in its most'
offensive form.

The salamander is a large
Hyena. (B^i/ar^.) ji^grd, which does not fear the
fire, but puts it out by passing into it, and typifies
the righteous man, who is not consumed by the
fires of luxury and lust, but extinguishes them.
As the Apostle Paul states : " Through faith they
stopped the mouths of lions and quenched the
violence of fire"; and the prophet Isaiah says of
the just man ; " When thou walkest through fire
thou shalt not be burned." This was the case
with the three Hebrew youths Ananias, Azarias,
and Misael (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego]^
who were cast into the burning fiery furnace, and
came forth unharmed, with no smell of fire on their
garments.

The incombustible mineral substance known as
amianthus was once supposed to be salamander's
skin. In Les Proprietes des Bestes it is related
that the Emperor of India had a full suit of
clothes made of a thousand skins of salamanders,
which he wore as a coat of mail in battle ; and
Vincent de Beauvais in his Speculum NalitraU
asserts that Pope Alexander III, had a tunic
made of the same stuff, which was palish white

in colour, and, when dirty, was cleansed by being
thrown into the fire instead of being put into the
wash-tub. There is no reason for regarding these
stories as mere inventions, except in respect to the
nature and origin of the material, since this method
of cleaning asbestos garments by heating them
red-hot is still practised by some tribes of Western
China.

This fabulous and formidable lizard has been
reduced by more careful observation to a small
frog-like reptile with rows of tubercles on its sides,
which secrete a milky poisonous fluid in sufficient
quantities to extinguish a live coal and slightly to
retard the action of fire.

Italian erotic poets are fond of referring to the
salamander as typical of the lover, who either rejoices
in the amorous fire (" 11 fuoco amoroso ") as his
Tiative element, or regrets that he does not possess
the nature of this reptile in order that he may not
be utterly consumed by his passion.

"As the partridge gathereth young which she
hath not brought forth, so he that getteth riches
and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of
'his days, and at his end shall be as a fool." This
passage from Jeremiah is quoted by the Pkysio-
logus as referring to the thievish propensity of the
partridge in stealing the eggs of other birds and
hatching them, but when the young are grown,
they recognize their real parents and fly to them,
leaving their self-constituted foster-mother stand-
ing alone like a fool. This bird is the type of the

1 44 Animal Symbolism

devil, who seeks to gather to himself the children
of men, but when they grow in wisdom and are
come to a knowledge of the truth, they forsake
the devil and his works, and flee to their natural i
mother, the Church.

The habit here ascribed to the partridge does I
not seem to have been known to any Greek or I
Roman naturalist; but in the Institutes of Manu \
it is said that persons who steal raiment ;
destined to be reborn as grey or speckled par- -
tridges, according to the colour of the vestments I
stolen. The penalty thus inflicted by the strictly
retributive laws of metempsychosis would imply
certain pilfering propensities on the part of the bird,
and may be based upon a supposed tendency to steal
eggs originating in a desire for numerous offspring.
The partridge is monogamous in its domestic
habits, and has the feeling of conjugal attachment
and parental affection very strongly developed.
It possesses a remarkably benevolent disposition,
and is distinguished in a high
degree for the sentiment corre- ,
spending to philanthropy
■ altruism in man, adopting the I
orphans of other partridges and
treating them with the san
demess as its own young; but
there is no evidence that its philo-
progenitiveness ever manifests
itself in thievery of any sort
ceptionally noble and virtuous fowl

That such an e

should be condemned to figure the devil in Christian
typology is only an additional proof of the per-
versions of hermeneutical theology.

Artistic delineations of this supposed charac-
teristic in bestiaries, missals, and other books of
devotion, as well as in sacred edifices, usually
show the partridge sitting alone in her nest, while
her fosterlings are hastening to join their real
mother in the air above.

The charadrius (a species of plover) is a white
bird without a dark spot on it ; and when a person
ick it is brought to his bedside in order to
determine whether he ^vill recover or not. If the
sickness is unto death, then the bird turns away
from him ; but if he is predestined to live, then
the charadrius looks steadfastly into his face and
draws the malady out of him, and, flying up
towards the sun, causes the disease to be con-
sumed by the solar heat, so that the sick man is
restored to health. In like manner Jesus Christ,
on whom there was neither spot nor wrinkle, came
down from heaven and turned his face away from
the Jews, but looked with favour upon the Gentiles
and healed them of their spiritual infirmities. Only
those upon whom the Lord lifts up the light of
His countenance are sure of eternal life.

In architecture, and in the formative arts
generally, the charadrius is represented as looking
at the sick person or turning away its head, or
quite frequently as flying up into the air. The
last-mentioned movement of the bird is also a sign

146

Animal Symbolism

of restoration to health, since it is carrying off the'
malady or, more scientifically speaking, the bacteria,
of disease to be burned and destroyed by the.
intense heat of the sun. This scene is carved in
stone on the doorway of the church at Alne ; and
in the border of a lancet window in the apsis of'
the cathedra] at Lyons is the picture of a woman
half-reclining on a couch, while a bird is stretching
out its beak close to her left hand, which lies in
her lap, and another bird is flying towards her
with its head slightly averted. Such delineations

e often found in missals, prayer-books, and similar
aids to devotion, as, for example, in the profusely
and curiously illustrated manuscript psalter of
Isabella of France, now in the Royal Library at
Munich.

The marrow of the thigh-bone and the lungs of j
this bird, which were believed to be a sure cure
for blindness, are compared to the chrism, and
signify the supernatural power that opens the eyes
of the spiritually blind and causes them to perceive
the truth, as in the case of Saul.

A minnesinger likens his lady-love to the chara-
drius, and declares that it is a question of life or

I

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 1 47

death whether her face is turned from or towards
him. Another poet wishes that he possessed this
fatal faculty in order that he might turn his eyes
from mean and sordid mortals and thus destroy
them, and insure long life to the noble and liberal-
minded by looking benignantly upon them.

Both the crow and the turtle-dove are typical
of Christian constancy and devotion. If cither of
these birds loses its mate, it never takes another,
but lives a life of solitude. As our Lord went
with only three disciples to the Mount of Olives,
where He was transfigured before them and heard
an approving voice from heaven, so His followers
should withdraw from the world and devote them-
selves to religious meditation.

The turtle-dove is often referred to in poetry as
a symbol of fidelity; thus Gottfried von Strasburg
calls the Virgin Mary a turtle-dove in faithfulness.
When it loses its mate it renounces all the plea-
s of life, never again perches on a green bough,
tut sits disconsolate on a dry branch, and never
drinks clear water, but first muddies the stream
■with its feet, and drinks the foul water as evidence
«f its sorrow.

A celebrated Spanish lyric poet and doctor of
theology of the sixteenth century. Fray Luis Ponce
de Leon, in his famous version of Solomon's Song,
which caused him to be imprisoned for five years
so the dungeons of the Inquisition, translates the
ieleventh verse of the first chapter thus : " We will
' make thee turtle-doves of gold with tips of silver,"

Animal Symbolism

The Hebrew word tlior (necklace) meant in his
opinion an ornament in the form of a turtle-dove,
such as lovers were wont to present to their ladies
in token of enduring affection, and the bridegroom
in the Song of Songs promises his bride to give
her one of gold, with its beak, tail, and claws
tipped with silver.

In architectural decoration and works of art,
two turtle-doves are re-
presented sitting together
on a green bough, or a
single one perched on a
dead branch mourning
its mate. The latter is a

is steadfast under tribu-
lation, and of whom it is said, " he that endureth
to the end shall be saved."

The fuHca or heron is wise and discreet above
all other birds. It never touches carrion, nor does
it fly from place to place, but abides in one spot,
dwelling there where it finds suitable food. So the
righteous do not care for the corrupt things of this
world and the offal of evij-mindedness, neither do
they wander hither and thither after false doctrines,
but abide in the simplicity of the faith in the
bosom of the Church, where they are nourished
with the pure bread of life. The ousel and the
merl, on account of the sweetness of their song,
are typical of the grace of God, and the hoopoe of
filial affection.

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 149

The swallow, says the Pkysiologiis, sleeps all
-winter, and wakes to new and vigorous life in the
spring, as it is written : " Awake, thou that sleepest,
and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee
light." Luther, in his Latin commentary on the
sage in Genesis (i. 20), in which it is said that
the waters brought forth the fowl that fly above
the earth and in the open firmament of heaven,
states, in confirmation of the aqueous origin of
birds, that even now swallows lie dormant all
winter in the water, and issue from it in the vernal
season, rising into the air and thus repeating
annually the process of creation, and proving the
truth of Holy Writ.

Ravens, according to the Physiologiis, are hatched
featherless, and remain callow for a long time, and
are therefore not recognized by their parents, who
take no care of them. In their distress they cry
to God, who sends them manna in the form of
dew for nourishment, as the Psalmist says: "He
giveth food to the young ravens which cry." After
twelve days, when the feathers begin to grow, the
old birds recognize their offspring and feed them.
Thus man, although made in the image of God,
has lost all resemblance to his Creator ; but when
he has grown through grace into the divine like-
ness, then God recognizes him as His child, and
nurtures him through the sacraments of the Church,
and does not let him perish. Another character-
istic of the raven is that, when it finds a carcass, it
first eats the eye. The great religious truth drawn

1 5°

Animal Symbolism

from this fact of natural history is that " confession
and penance are the ravens which
pull out the eyes of covetousness
from the soul dead in trespasses
and sins." In our illustration
both of these symbolisms of the
raven are set forth.

Concerning the wolf, the'
bestiaries inform us that the
word means ravisher. and this is,
in fact, the signification of the Sanskrit name of
the animal, vrika, seizer. For this reason, they add,
the term is applied to lewd women.^ A peculiarity
of the wolf is that it cannot turn its head, because
there is no joint in its neck, but must turn its
whole body when it wishes to look behind, thus
symbolizing people stiff-necked and stubborn in
sin. The female whelps in the month of May,
when it thunders, and at no other time. She seeks
food by night, approaching the sheepfold noise-
lessly and against the wind, in order that the dogs
may not scent her ; and if she steps on a dry twig,
so that it breaks and crackles, she bites her foot
severely as a punishment for her carelessness. Her
nature is such that if she is seen by a man with
her mouth shut, then she loses the power of opening

' Lupa means she-wolf and prostitute, and lupanar, nolf 's
lair and brothel. Ovis, sheep, signifies ninny or simpleton,
and the English word is used as a term of contempt.
Plautus in his comedies ridicules the fast young men of his
time as sheep that cannot keep away from the wolves and
their dens.

I

In Ecclesiastical Architecture

it, but if a man is seen by her with his mouth
open, then he loses his voice. When she is hungry,
she fills her stomach with clay, but when she has
taken prey, she puts her paw into her gullet and
vomits the clay, and sates herself with flesh.
Albertus Magnus, who gives this account of the
wolfs method of stilling the pangs of hunger,
states likewise that the wolf is in the habit of
lubricating its paws with spittle in order to render
its footsteps inaudible.^ Brunetto Latino relates
in his T/iesaiaitj, that the wolf often presses its
paw to its mouth in order to falsify or magnify
its voice, and thus frighten the shepherds by
making them think a whole pack is coming. In
an engraving published by Cahier {Md. d'Arc/i^
pi. xxii., BM) a wolf is approaching a sheep-
cote, and holding its paw to its mouth. It may
be biting or lubricating its paw,
keeping its mouth open, dis-
gorging clay with the prospect
of filling its maw with tender .
and succulent mutton, magnify-
ing its voice, or practising any
of the tricks which symbolize
the many ruses of the devil in his dealings with
mankind.

It is superfluous and would be tedious to make
further citations from the Pkysiologus, since the
specimens already given suffice to illustrate the

152

Animal Symbolism

character and purpose of the work. It enjoyed a I
high reputation among the early Christians, and, ;
we have seen, has been translated into a score or I
more of Oriental and Occidental languages. At I
an early period in the history of the Church it I
was condemned as heretical, and forbidden to the I
faithful by the apocrypha! decree of Gelasius, but I

J found not long afterwards a powerful patron in I
Gregory the Great, who made very free use of it I
in scriptural exposition. From the seventh to the ]
twelfth century it was universally esteemed as
Christian compendium of natural history, and
popular epitome of moral and theological instruc- I
tion. During this period most of the translations
and paraphrases of it were made, now kept as
curiosities in old libraries, to which they have been 1
transmitted as the musty heirlooms of mediaeval J

_ monasteries, secularized and suppressed by the ]
progress of modern civilization.

The invention of printing naturally gave thel
work a wider diffusion as a folk-book ; but long \
before the birth of Gutenberg and the age of 1
movable types, it was cited by preachers and f
theologians, and used by artists for the illustration I
of sacred themes, as may bo seen in illuminated \
manuscripts of the Bible, and in mediaeval missals I
and similar books of devotion. Thus, in a codex I
of the Vulgate of the seventh century, the initials I
and capitals are composed of doves, fishes, eagles, I
and other symbolical creatures ; and an Evangeli- I
arium, once the property of Charlemagne, and now f

Ijelonging to the National Library of Paris, contains
■'a miniature representing tlie gospel fountain in
the form of a Byzantine baptistery, to which all
"beasts and birds are flocking for refreshment.
The beautifully-illuminated parchment psalter of
Isabella of France, dating from the middle of the
fourteenth century, and already mentioned as one
of the treasures of the Royal Library of Munich,
has the margins adorned with drawings of animals,
which have no direct relation to the text, but only
a far-fetched symbologica! significance, inasmuch
as they elucidate the teachings of the Physiologus,
and represent scenes from Jewish history and
mythology supposed to have a prefigurative
character.

Virtues and vices are often figured by women
contending for victory, and bearing shields on
which are inscribed their names or emblems, as,
for example, the twelve virtues and twelve vices
in the catliedral at Amiens ; sometimes they are
riding on animals, as in the miniatures of a manu-
script in the Musde de Cluny dating from the
fburteenth century. Here Humility is mounted
on a panther. Chastity on a unicorn ; Patience or
Christian Resignation wears a helmet adorned with
a swan, because this fowl sings with its dying
breath like the martyrs ; Love bears a pelican on
her shield ; Devotion rides an ibex, the symbol of
aspiration and perseverance, owing to its fondness
for high altitudes and its climbing power, and has
a phcenix on her shield to signify the renewing

virtue of fervid piety ; Pride has an eagle on her
shield, because this bird discards those of her
young which cannot endure the fierce light of the
sun, as a haughty spirit despises the meek and
lowly ; on the shield of Lust is a siren, whose sweet
song allures men to their destruction.

In the cloister connected with the cathedral of
Le-Puy-en-Velay are mural paintings personifying
Grammar, Logic, Rhetoric ^the trivium), and Music.
Logic is a female figure in a stately cathedra, and
at her feet is Aristotle sitting on a stool an(
earnestly carrying on a discussion, and noting the
points of his argument on his fingers. Underneath
is the motto : " Me sine doctores frustra coluere
sorores ; " implying that the sister arts cultivate
dialectics in vain without the aid of the doctors
or men of learning. Logic has a rather amused
expression, and holds in her hands a lizard and
a scorpion engaged in fierce combat, a parody of'
scholastic disputations and the proverbial venom of
odium tkeologiaim.

In the Bibles of the tenth century the evangelists
are pictured as men with the heads of beasts ; and
the four gospels are summed up symbolically in
the form of the so-called " Tetramorph," a four-
bodied and four-headed monster composed of man,
ox, eagle, and lion, with wings covered with eyes
like a peacock's tail, a combination of incongruities
surpassing in whimsicalness the famous Florentine
bronze of the Etruscan chimera, or the marvellous
creations of Indian and Egyptian mythology. A

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 155

mosaic of the thirteenth century in the monasterj'
of Vatopedi on Mt. Athos shows the four heads
enveloped by six wings, and the feet of the man
resting on two-winged wheels, as described in the
visions of Ezekiel and of St. John the Divine. A
tetramorph sculptured out of stone, ridden by a

The Gospel aiiJ Iht Law. (//ort^i Dilkiarnm.)

woman with a crown on her head, and dating from
the year 13CX), adorns the south porta! of the
cathedral at Worms, and is exhibited in a plaster
cast in the Germanic Museum at Nuremberg. It
typifies the rapid triumph of the gospel. A mini-
ature in the Hoiiiis Ddiciarum, formerly in the

Strasburg Library, represents a similar monster, on
which is seated a woman wearing a crown, bearing
a banner, holding a goblet in her hand, and
catching the blood from the side of the crucified
Saviour ; another woman mounted on an ass, and
partially blindfolded, holds in her right hand a
knife, and in her left hand the tables of the law
and a ram for sacrifice. They signify respectively
the New and the Old Dispensation. Above the cross
on the gospel side is a radiant sun, and on the
opposite side a waning moon. The standard
Judaism, instead of floating in the breeze, has
fallen to the ground ; the attitude of the ass and
the noose at its feet are intended to illustrate the
passage referring to the cross as "a snare, and a
trap, and a stumbling-block " to Israel.

On the cover of an Evangeliarium in the cathedral
library of Trier is a plate of copper enamel en-
graved with biblical scenes ; in the centre is the
Crucifixion, and standing round the cross are Mary
and John and the symbolical figures of the Church
and the Synagogue ; above are the sun and moon
in eclipse, indicating that " there was darkness over
all the earth."

The church of Saint-Nizier at Troyes has a
stained window of the sixteenth century with a
representation of the apocalyptic beast which rose
out of the sea having seven heads and ten horns, as
well as of the other beast, which came up out of
the earth and had two horns like a lamb ; the
artist appears, however, to have been over-liberal in

In Ecclesiastical Architecture

^57

I endowing the monster with eleven horns, counting
I that of the snail.

ic Apocalypse, (St

5/r™,vri.)

lo the church of St. Nicholas at Gottingen is a
picture dating from 1424, and symbolizing the
origin and formation, or rather the fabrication, of
Christian theology. God the Father appears in
the sky with the four evangelists as man, ox, eagle.
and lion, hovering like angels beneath Him and
holding Him up. Each has in his hand a vessel
.from which he pours the contents of his gospel.

.58

Animal Symbolism

indicated by a label containing the first words of it,
into two mills turned by the twelve apostles by
means of long bars. The several gospels, thus reduced
to homogeneous pulp by passing through the milb of,
the epistles, run out into a large goblet held by a;
pope, an archbishop, a bishop, and a cardinal. It is
designed to show that the evangelists were inspired!
by God to write the gospels, which were
elaborated by the apostles into doctrinal consistency
as the expressed juice of Scripture or essence o
theology, and that this product is in the keeping c
the Church and to be dispensed by the sacerdotal'
order. On two labels issuing from the lower part
of the mill are inscribed the words et deus erat vbi.
(■■ and the Word was God" ) and et vbfn caroftih. t
(" and the Word was made flesh "), Here we hav*
the crude symbolism of the divine Incarnation,
it is ground out of Holy Writ by apostolic theolo-
gians and presented in potable form to believers
by ecclesiastical dignitaries. We may add, as ;
interesting coincidence, that this conception of oui
sacred writings corresponds to that entertained by
the Brahmans, who speak of the magical and
supernatural virtue inherent in the Vcdic hymns o
mantras as the juice {rasa) of the metres, which i
expressed and utilized by the ritual machinery o
song and sacrifice. This essence is the wonder*
working brahma, the monopoly of which by tbS
priests is the chief source of their power.

On the capital of a column in the abbey i
Vczelai in Burgundy is a relief representing twO

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 1 59

men working at a mill, one pouring com into the
hopper, and the other turning the crank and hold-
ing a sack to receive the flour. St. Jerome, in his
exposition of Matthew xxiv, 41, says the two
women, there said to be grinding at the mill, signify

Gospel-mill. iAbbeyB/,

■the Sjmagogue and the Church ; the former brings
I the wheat of the law, and the latter separates from
I it the fine flour of the gospel, leaving only the bran
I of empty ceremonialism as the portion of Judaism.
I This forced interpretation was not original with the
I learned and ingenious anchorite, but seems to have
|l>een traditional in the primitive Church, and is
I frequently met with in patristic theology.

i6o Animal Symbolism

The two men in the relief just mentioned are a
Hebrew prophet and the Apostle Paul. The latter,
who was educated as a disciple of Gamaliel and
became the first systematic theologist of the Church
and the real founder of dogmatic and historical
Christianity, dwells in his epistles with peculiar
emphasis on the relations of Judaic rites and
ceremonies to the New Dispensation, and might
therefore be fitly portrayed as an assiduous toiler'
at the typological mill, by which, in the words of a
Father, the precious grain of the Old Testament
Scriptures is ground and bolted and converted into
the flour of gospel truth. In a mediseval Latin
verse descriptive of this process the apostle of the
Gentiles is expressly mentioned —

'ToUis, agendo molam, de furfure Paule farinam ;
MosaicEc legis intima nota facis.
Fit de tot granis verus sine furfure panis
Perpetuusque cibus noster et angelicus."

"Turning the mill, O Paul, thou takest the flour from the

The hidden things of the Mosaic law thou makest known.
Of so many grains is made true bread without bran,
Eternal food for us and food for the angels."

The symbolism of the mill is often delineated-
on painted windows, as, for example, in the cathe-
dral of St. Etienne in Bourges and in Canterbury
Cathedral. According to a description of the
Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Denis written by the
celebrated Abbot Suger in the twelfth century
{de rebus administratione sua gestis), one of the

In Ecclesiastical Architecture i6l

stained windows contained a representation of the
prophets pouring grain into the hopper of a mill,
while Paul turns the crank and bags the grist. The
same idea of the propaedeutic and preiigurative
relation of Judaism to Christianity is expressed on
another gorgeously-stained window in the cathedral
of Bourges by the ark of the covenant surmounted
by a crucifix and drawn by a man, an ox, an eagle,
and a lion, the four beasts of the evangelists, thus
'transforming the sacred repository of the tables of
the law into the triumphal chariot of the cross, as
intimated in the accompanying inscription —

In a window of the church at Bron in France,
■belonging to the sixteenth century, there is a paint-

g of Christ seated on a globe in a four-wheeled
chariot drawn by an angel, an ox, a lion, and an
■eagie, and attended by a pope and a cardinal at the
fore wheels and two bishops at the hind wheels,
pushing it along. An ivory carving of the eleventh
century in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, shows the
Virgin with a cross on her shoulder, a book in her
hand, and her feet on a Hon, a dragon, a crocodile,
and wolf, and in a manuscript of the same period
in the National Library at Paris the Virgin holds a
palm branch and tramples on a skeleton and a
dragon, signifying the victory of the gospel over
-death and the powers of darkness.

It is rather strange that the cock, which is so

i6z

Animal Symbolism

frequently mentioned in tlie Scriptures, and which I
plays so important and honourable a part as the I
monitor and reprover of the cowardly and recreant ]
Peter, should be entirely passed over by the PAjy- I
siologiis and the bestiaries. On ancient pagan and I
early Christian sarcophagi two fighting-cocks are I
often sculptured, one of which has already :
cumbed to the onsets of its adversary, and were I
probably intended to represent the battle of life.
The cock typifies both vigilance and liberality, J
because it is always on the!
watch, and when it finds J
anything, it does not eati
it, but calls the hens to-J
gether and divides it among 1
them. In like manner the
preacher should distribute
among his flock the kernels
of divine truth which he discovers in Holy Writ^ J
picking them into pieces in order that they may b© J
more readily taken in and digested, as a medieval
poet declares —

" Gallus granum rejjerit, convocat uxores
Et illud distribuit inter cariores.
Tales discant clerici pietatis mores,
Dando suis subditis scrifituarum fiores ;
Sic sua distribuere cunctis derelictis,
Atque curam gerere nudis stafflictis."

It might be added that the preacher should not
be a weather-cock, blown about by every wind of
doctrine. In the Mus^e de Cluny is a manuscript
of roundelays addressed to Louise of Savoy^'

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 163

Countess of Angoul^me and mother of Francis I.
of France, with illustra-
tions of the seven Virtues
subduing their opposite
Vices ; aniong them is
Liberality mounted on a
cock pouring gold coins
out of a vessel with one
Iiand and holding a large
platter or salver in the
other ; at her feet is Avar-
ice bestriding an ape.

The cockatrice or basi-
lisk, on the other hand, ,
holds a prominent place
in mediaeval symbology
and ecclesiastical archi-
tecture. This little king
(^cKTiXto-Kor) of reptiles, so
called because the wart
on its head resembles a crown, had the reputation
of being a terror to all its subjects, the most vene-
mous serpents fleeing affrighted when they hear its
hiss. It is hatched from the egg laid by a cock in the
seventh year of its age, and it happens in this wise.
When the egg has grown large, it produces an
intense griping in the bowels of the cock, which
seeks a warm place in a stable or on a dung-heap,
and there lays the egg. A serpent or toad then
comes and sits on it, and hatches a creature with
the head of a cock and the body of a reptile. No

1 64 Animal Symbolism

1

sooner is it bom than it hides itself in a crevice c
cistern, or in the rafters of a house, so as not to t
seen by any one ; for such is its nature that if a man
sees it before it sees him, it will die, but if it !
him first, he will fall down dead. It has also the
power of darting poison from its eyes, so deadly
that it kills birds flying over the spot where it lies
hidden ; even herbs and shrubs, which it touches
in passing, wither away. This baneful reptile is
beautiful in form and colour, having a skin o£
variegated hues spotted with white ; but, adds tho
author in a moralizing strain, beauty is often a
ciated with badness. Whoever wishes to slay the
basilisk, holds before his face a vessel of crystal
through which he looks at the beast ; and the
crystal not only arrests the venom issuing from ib
eyes, but even causes it to be reflected and hurlec
back upon the animal, which is killed by the fatal
recoil.

The basilisk signifies the devil, who entered into.
Paradise and enticed our first parents to eat of th&
forbidden fruit. For this transgression they were-
driven forth from Eden, and when they had passed
away from the earth, which they had corrupted,
they were cast into the burning pit with the basilisk.
Then the merciful Son of the King of Heaven took
pity on the many people poisoned by this old ser-
pent, which no one had been able to destroy ; and
He chose a vessel clearer than crystal, the blessed
body of our Lady, the purest of virgins, in which to.
encounter the direful foe. And when the basilisk

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 1 65

L darted the venom from its eyes, the vessel caught it

\ and threw it back upon the reptile, which languished

during the thirty years of Christ's incarnation, until

the victory was fully won by the crucifixion. And

after He had been placed in the tomb, He rose

again on the third day and descended into the pit,

where the basilisk had concealed itself, and rescued

I all those who had been infected with its poison

I from the time of Adam, and restored them to

everlasting life.

Jacopo da Lentino in his erotics makes the fable
illustrate the perils of love ; and a Provencal poet,
Aimeric de Pregulhan, compares himself to a
basilisk and his mistress to a mirror, which he
cannot look upon without being smitten to death.

The basilisk figures frequently in illustrations of
devotional works and in sacred architecture, as, for

example, on the capita! of a column in the church
of the Abbey of Vezelai, where a man approaches
the hissing reptile, holding a conical vessel as a
shield before his face; near him is an enormous
locust with a human head. This sculpture symbol-
izes the redemption of the Gentile world from the
thralls of Satan by the atonement of Christ. Beda,
in his commentary on the thirtieth chapter of Pro-
verbs, says : " Locusts refer to the nations formerly
without Christ for their king, without prophets,
without teachers ; but now gathered together in
the unity of the faith, they hasten to the spiritual
combat against the devil." This is a spiritualiza-
tion of the passage : " The locusts have no king,
yet they go forth all of them in bands " (xxx. if),
or, as it reads in the Vulgate : " Regem locusta non
habet, et egreditur universa per suas turmas," a
rendering which facilitates the symbolical inter-j
pretation given by the venerable Anglo-Saxof
presbyter.

Gregory the Great, in his exposition of J<^l
{Moralia, sive Expositiojies in Jobuni), states, uil
explanation of the verse " Canst thou make him 1
afraid as a grasshopper.'"that grasshopper or locust
signifies converted paganism ("conversagentilitas").
This, he adds, is what Solomon means when he
says, " The almond tree shall flourish, the locustJ
shall grow fat, and the caper bush shall waste!
away."^ "Now the almond flowers before all other J

' This is the Vulgate version of Eccl. xii. s : " FlorebitS

amygdalus, impinguabitur locusta, dissipabitur capparis."

trees; and what is meant by the flowering almond,
unless it be the beginning of the holy Church, which
put forth in its preachers the first blossoms of virtue
and bore the earliest fruits of holiness? 'The locust
shall grow fat' signifies that the unction and rich-
ness of heavenly grace shall be infused Into the
leanness and barrenness of heathenism. 'The caper
bush shall waste away,' because, when the Gentiles
are called and attain the gift of faJth, the Jews shall
be left desolate, and shall remain sterile." In this
connection Gregory quotes the passage from Pro-
verbs (xxx. 27), already mentioned, and interprets
it as referring to the Gentiles, who, when they were
left to themselves, were alien to the Divine law,
but, when they were gathered and arrayed together,
went forward to fight the fight of faith against
spiritual adversaries.

The locust with a human head signifies the Gen-
tile nations united under Christ as their head to
war against Satan. "The basilisk is the king of
serpents," says Gregory, " but who is the head of
the reprobates, unless it be Antichrist ? " Essen-
tially the same exegesis is given by St. Hilarius in
his commentary on Matthew lii. 4, where locusts
are mentioned as the principal articles of food of
John the Baptist, the forerunner of Him who was
to gather in the Gentiles, and also by St. Am-
brosias in his remarks on the third chapter of
Luke, so that Gregory cannot claim to be the
originator of this brilliant feat of hermeneutics.
Odo, the second Abbot of Cluny, in the fourth

decade of the tenth century, abridged the Moralua
of Gregory, and it was probably to this work t
the sculpture in the church at V^zelai owes :
origin, since V^zelai stood for a long time in inti-'B
mate relations to Cluny, and, indeed, seems at this J
time to have been to some extent under the jui
diction of the rich and powerful Benedictine abb«
on the Gr6ne,

Another capital in the abbey of Vezelai repre
sents in relief a man in a Phrygian cap mountedl
on a basilisk and holding a round missile in hisj

right hand. His arm is drawn back as if in the I
act of hurh'ng this weapon at a sphinx-like crea-
ture, that has the head of a woman and the feet of I
an ox, and wards off the attack by means of a I
crystal vessel, as already described. The basilisk I
begins to show signs of succumbing to the retro- |
flex action of its own venom. The sphinx, if we j
may regard the cloven-hoofed monster as such, f
wears a crown, and is partially clad in armour, and J
is probably a symbol of spiritual knowledge and |
strength overcoming evil.

Albertus Magnus, the most circumspect and
critical of mediseval scholars touching the marvel-
lous tales which constituted the natural history of his
day, remarks : " What is related about an old cock
('decrepitum gallum') laying an egg, and putting it
in the dung, and about a basilisk being hatched
out of it, and looking like a cock in a!l respects
except that it has the long tail of a serpent, I do
not think is true; yet it is reported as a fact by
Hermes, and is accepted by many persons" {De
Animal., xxiii.).

In the same treatise (xxv.) he adds: "It is said
that the weasel kills the basilisk, and that the
troglodytes of Nubia send weasels into their caves
for this purpose before entering these habitations
themselves. And if this be true, it seems indeed
wonderful. . . . Hermes also asserts that if siU^er
be rubbed with its ashes, it receives the splendour,
weight, and solidity of gold. Some aver, further-
more, that there is a sort of basilisk that flies, but I
have not read of this kind in the books of sages
and philosophers."

Evidently the basilisk was a riddle to the great
Dominican, Aristotelian, and Doctor Universalis,
of which he could find no satisfactory solution — a
creature which excited his wonder, and made ex-
cessive demands on his credulity, but which he
could not dismiss as a mere figment of superstitious
fancy, owing to the weight of testimony in its
favour, and especially on account of the deference
due to the almost supernatural and semi-divine

lyo

Animal Symbolism

authority of Hermes Trismegistus. The mythical
cock's egg, however, continued during the middle
ages, and even into modem times, to furnish the
principal ingredient for the fabrication of witches'
ointment, the devil's chrism, with which he an- 1
ointed his elect, and thereby enabled old hags to
transform themselves into beasts, ride through the I
air on broomsticks, and work divers kinds of I
fiendish mischief. How this belief compromised
our innocent but ostentatious knight of the bi
yard, and led to his criminal prosecution and !
punishment as a satellite of Satan and phar-
maceutical purveyor to his infernal majesty, has
been shown by the author in a work entitled The
Criminal Prosecution and Capital Punishment of
Animals.

Modern science, which, in its mission of abolish-
ing mysteries, has relegated so many ancient fables j
and venerable traditions to that

" limbo large and broa.d, si
The paradise of fools,"

e called

and which tends more and more to circumscribe \
and gradually eliminate the sphere of the miracu-
lous in nature, has now stripped the dread basilisk 1
of its fatal qualities. The sole residuum which 1
sober research has left us is a harmless species
of hooded lizard, whose only peculiarity is the
power of blowing up its conical crest with wind.
The cockatrice, with its "death-darting" eye, has
been curtailed of its formidable proportions and i

degraded to a funny little saurian, which might
serve to amuse children, but has lost all the terrors
with which mythical zoology once invested it even
in the minds of the most intelligent men and
greatest thinkers of their day. The transformation,
too, which scholarly opinion and popular belief
have undergone on this point is typical of the
functions and efficiency of science in subverting
superstition.

Besides its value as a key to zoological sym-
bolism as expressed in art and literature, and
especially in hermeneutica! theology and ecclesias-
tical architecture, the Physiologus is psychologically
interesting as an index to the intellectual condition
of an age which could accept its absurd statements
as scientific facts, and seriously apply them to
biblical exegesis and Christian dogmatics.

In addition to the Scriptural expositions already
cited, the following may serve as specimens of the
wretched twaddle which men now revered as the
lights of the Church, and quoted as infallible au-
thorities in questions of divinity, were capable of
uttering. " David said : ' As the hart panteth after
the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O
God.' The Pkysiologus tells us that the hart is
the foe of the dragon, which, when it sees its
enemy, runs away and creeps into a cleft of the
rocks. Then the hart goes to a stream and fills
his belly with water, and spews it into the cleft,
and, having thus drowned out the dragon, tramples
it under his feet and kills it; as the prophet Isaiah

Animal Symbolism

predicts that at the coming of Christ a man shall
' go into the clefts of the
rocks, and into the tops of
the ra^ed rocks, for fear of
the Lord,' Thus our Saviour
slew with the water and blood
flowing from His side the
great dragon that was once a
~) partaker of Divine wisdom
in heaven, and redeemed
us thereby, and taught us to contend against the
hidden designs of the devil. Hearken then to the
voice within thee, which bids thee not to commit
whoredom, nor to steal, nor to go after another
man's wife; but, when thou hast drunken of the
water of the New Law, kill all idle words and vain
works. The hart loves to dwell in hilly regions;
hills are types of the contemplative life of prophets
and saints, and the sources of spiritual strength ; as
the Psalmist says: 'I will lift up mine eyes unto
the hiUs, from whence cometh my help.' " Accord-
ing to the exegetist the hart longs for water not
in order to quench thirst, but for the purpose of
expelling dragons from their holes. Others assert
that the hart, in killing the dragon, inhales its
poisonous breath, which produces intense thirst and
consequent longing for the water-brooks. Either
interpretation shows the tendency of the expositor
to seek extravagant and far-fetched explanations
of the simplest texts, thus violating one of the
most elementary principles of scientific investigation.

The hart was also fabled to renew its antlers
and become rejuvenated by eating serpents and
drinking from a pure spring, and this characteristic
is used by ^milius Dracontius in his poem De
to symbolize the regeneration of the human
soul and its purification from evil by the waters of
salvation. Representations of the hostility of the
hart to the dragon occur occasionally in ecclesias-
tical architecture, but very frequently in illustrated
bestiaries, breviaries, psalters, and other devotional
works.

Again, we are informed that " the antelope is a
wild animal with two power-
ful horns, with which it saws
trees asunder and fells them
When it is thirsty it goes
down to the Euphrates to
drink. Growing on the banks [
of this river are certain ■
shrubs of pleasant savo
which the antelope attempts A»tsiope. (Btuia,-y.-,
to eat, and thereby gets its horns entangled in
the branches, so that it cannot free itself again.
Then it cries out with a loud voice, and the hunters
hearing it hasten to take it, or it is killed by beasts
of prey. The two horns are the Books of the Old
and New Testaments, with which the believer can
resist the adversary and push him to the ground,
and can cut down all growing sins and vices ; but
he who allows himself to be drawn aside from the
waters of salvation by the pleasures of the world.

and gets entangled in the thickets of lust and pride
and evil passions, falls an easy prey to the devil."
The author then quotes as a passage from Holy
Writ the words " Wine and women separate a
man from God," evidently an inference from the
admonitions contained in Prov. xxxi. 3-5.

The fiction of the antelope is alluded to by
minnesingers in illustration of the fate of malicious
and meddlesome courtiers, who are finally taken
and destroyed in the web of their own devices.
Venetian marble relief of the tenth century, now
in the Berlin Museum, represents a lion attacking
an antelope ; it symbolizes Satan assaulting the
soul, and is based upon the fable of the Physiologus.

The mishap of the antelope was a favourite
theme of mediaeval artists, who usually gave only the
final scene, in which the entang;led beast is killed ;
in the engraving, taken from the illuminated
psalter of Isabella of France, the whole story is
told. It is also one of the beasts on the arch of
the doorway at A Inc.

In the bestiaries barnacle geese are described as
growing on trees by the sea-side, and hanging from
the boughs by their beaks until they are covered

with feathers and fall like ripe fruit. If they reach
the water they swim and
live, but if they remain
on the dry ground they
perish. They illustrate
the saving efficacy of bap-
tism. Gerard of Wales i
cites this legend as a
fact designed to prove
the doctrine of the Im-
maculate Conception, as
these birds are born with-
out procreation.

It must be remembered that the men who wrote
such hermeneutical stuff as this, and took such
childish tales seriously as the testimony of nature
to the truth of revelation, were not obscure and
ignorant persons, but the most learned divines and
eminent representatives of the early Church, the
creators of patristic theology, the great cxegetists
and eloquent apologists, who were deemed worthy
of canonization and adoration as saints. But what
preacher of to-day, if we except perhaps an
American backwoods evangelist, or illiterate Capu-
chin discoursing to rude peasants in the remote
districts of Southern Italy, would risk his reputa-
tion for sanity by expatiating from the pulpit or
expounding the Bible in this style ? And yet it
was by this credulous and utterly uncritical class

'Gerald. Tap, Hibem. v, 47. Cf. Jacobs: The Je'ws of
Ange-uiy, England, p. 54.

176 Animal Symbolism

of minds that the foundations of historical anc
dogmatic Christianity were laid, and the constitu-
tion and canonicity of our sacred Scriptures detCT^
mined. It was they who framed the accepte
creed of Christendom, and settled ex cai/tedrd wha
doctrines were to be received as orthodox, and
what opinions were to be rejected as heretical;
Persons more incompetent to decide any of the
difficult and delicate questions thus submitted to
their judgment can hardly be imagined. Their
belief in any event was in direct proportion to i
marvellousness and incredibility, and the highest
law of evidence which they recognized and appUedi
as the test of divine truth was TertulHan's famous
criterion: "Credo quia absurdum." The queer'
and often comical irrelevancy of their citations oS'
biblical texts to the matter under discussion betrays
their lack of logical faculty, and their incapaci^
for close and consecutive thinking. They do not
show the slightest ability to sift testimony and to
separate the true from the false in any statement;
on the principle of omne mirabile pro probabili they^
were ready to accept as indubitable whatever was
sufficiently wonderful, and to regard as conclusive
demonstration a petitio principii which a modem
school-boy of ordinary acumen would easily detect
It is evident that minds so implicitly credulous
could have had no proper appreciation of the prob-
lems which the rise and growth of Christianity
during the early period of its dogmatic evolution
presented for solution, nor is it hardly possible that

they should not have been deceived in any in-
vestigations they undertook, or in any conclusions
they reached concerning the authenticity of the
events recorded in the gospels and other scriptures
of the New Testament, and the genuineness of these
records. Under such circumstances it is not sur-
prising that our sacred canon should begin with
an astrological legend related as an historical fact
in connection with the birth of Jesus, and end with
a wild and weird apocalyptic vision, giving an
autoptic description of the Last Judgment and the
glories of the heavenly Jerusalem. In the same
mental category to-day are the men and women
who receive the Book of Mormon as a revelation
from on high, who believe in the immaculate con-
ception of Anna Lee, and accept George Jacob
Schweinfurth as the incarnation of the Son of God,
Tvho listen to the sounds produced by the voluntary
dislocation of the toe-joints of two tricksy girls
as rappings from the spirit-world, and who put
their faith in the healing waters of the grotto of
Lourdes and the panacea of "Christian science"
AS expounded by Mrs. Eddy.

CHAPTER IV

SYMBOLISM SUPERSEDED BY SATIRE

Excess of animal symbolism in sacred edifices of the
eleventh and twelfth centuries — Earnest but fruitless
protest of St. Bernard — I mage- worship authorized and en-
joined by the Council held at Nice in 787 — Images not to
he inventions of artists, but to be tashioned according to
ecclesiastical traditions and ecclesiological prescriptions—
i of St. Nilus — Paintings and sculptures for the
iction of the igiiorant — Gautier de Coinsi renews the
protest against "wild cats and lions" in the house of
God — Angelus Rumpler makes the same complaint —
Warnings by the Councils of Milan and Bordeaux — In-
troductions of episodes from the beast -epos with satirical
tendencies — Secular guilds supplant religious orders as
architects — Caricature of sacred rites— Fox preaching
to geese in St. Martin's Church in Leicester — Sculptures
in Strasburg Minster — Reliefs of the wolfs novitiate in
Freiburg Minster — Poem by Marie de France — Sam-
son and the lion — Provost's cushion in St. Michael's
at Pforzheim — Burlescjue of Calvin in St. Semin at
Toulouse — Luther satirized in St. Victor's Church at
Xanten — Foolscap [laper — Origin and character of the
Papstesel— Monstrosities as portents— Bishop-fish^The
Papal Ass in religious polemics — The Monk-calf of
Freiburg and its interpretation — Miniatures illustrating
the " Woes of France "—The fox of the Physiohgus and
of the beast-epos — Reliefs of the wiles of the fox and the
woes of drunkenness in St. Fiacre — Execution of the cat
in the cathedral at Tarragona — Significance of the crane
extracting a bone firom the fox's throat in Autun Cathe-
dral — Burrowing foxes types of devils in Worcester \
178

Animal Symbolism 1 79

Cathedrnl — Scenes from the Reynardine and other poems
in the church of the Templars, St. Denis, Amiens Cathe-
dral, Sherborne Minster, and other sacred edifices, but
most fully represented in Bristol Cathedral and Beverly
Minster — Heraldic rebuses and canting devices — Satire
on the election of a pope in Lincoln Cathedral — Mendi-
cant friars caricatured as foxes in Ely, Gloucester,
Winchester, and other cathedrals — Odo of Sherington's
opinion of these orders — Similar delineations in the
churches and cloisters of continental Europe : Kempen,
Emmerick, Calcar, and Cleves — The Lay of Aristotle
and Vergil's affair of gallantry— The Vision of Piers
Plowman — Animals as musicians — Grotesques, bur-
lesques, and riddles — Funeral banquet at the burial of the
fox at Marienhafen — The frog as a symbol of regenera-
tion — Carvings of individual fancies and conceits and
illustrations of proverbs — Episodes from the Roman tU
Renart — Many of these sculptures, especially in Northern
France and the Netherlands, destroyed by iconoclasts
and revolutionists.

It was in the eleventh and especially in the twelfth
century that symbolical animals played a most
conspicuous and very peculiar part in the ornamen-
tation of church furniture and in ecclesiastical
architecture. Lamps, censers, pyxes, aspergills,
chrism atories, reliquaries, and sacramental vessels
were wrought in the form of griffins, ostriches,
pelicans, cranes, dolphins, doves, dragons, lions, or
some other real or fabulous creature, or had these
animals carved on them. It was deemed a hard
hit at the devil, and a masterly stroke of pious policy,
to press beasts of evil omen and Satanic significance
into the service of the Church, and force them to
assist at the celebration of holy offices. They were
therefore embroidered on sacerdotal vestments and
sculptured in the chancel and the chapels and

around the altars of the sanctuary, where religious
rites were usually performed. Later, towards the
close of the twelfth century, they began to take
possession of the windows, portals, arches, and
pinnacles, and finally extended to the whole exterior
of the edifice, no part of which was safe from their
encroachments. It was especially in cloisters that
these beasts ran riot, but not without provoking the
indignation and opposition of many ecclesiastics.

One of the earliest of these protests was that of
St, Bernard of Clairvaux, who about the year 1125
wrote a letter on the subject to William, Abbot of
St. Thierry, sharply censuring what he regarded as
a profanation of sacred places. " What business,"
he exclaims, "have those ridiculous monstrosities,
those creatures of wonderfully deformed beauty
and beautiful deformity, before the eyes of studious
friars in the courts of cloisters ? What mean those
filthy apes, those fierce lions, those monstrous
centaurs, those half-men, those spotted tigers, those
fighting soldiers and horn-blowing hunters ? Thou
seest many bodies under one head, and again many
heads on one body. Here is a serpent's tail at-
tached to a quadruped, there a quadruped's head
on a fish. There a beast presents the fore-parts a
a horse and drags after it the rear of a goat
a homed animal has the hind parts of a horse. ItM
short, there is seen everywhere such a marvellous-l
diversity of forms, that one reads with more I
pleasure what is carved in stones than what isj
written in books, and would rather gaze all d^l

t

upon these singular creations than to meditate on
the divine word. O God ! if one is not ashamed of
these puerilities, why does one not at least spare
the expense ? "

That the famous " doctor melUEuus " should have
been ignorant of the meaning of the artistic repre-
sentations he condemns is scarcely credible ; natur-
ally enough, however, the coarse symbolism which
they sought to express could hardly fail of being
offensive to the refined and subtile mysticism of the
saintly Cistercian, who rejected the dogma of the
Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary as a too
gross and sensual suggestion and emblematic ex-
pression of her spiritual purity. He was indignant
that the Christian mysteries should be degraded
and vulgarized by being clothed in what he deemed
the foul and tattered vesture of pagan allegory.
This attitude was perfectly consistent with his
character as a reformer of the Church, and especially
of the cloisters, and a zealous promoter of stricter
monastic discipline. As ecclesiastical architecture
was at that time still in the hands of the religious
orders and the secular clergy, he held them re-
sponsible for these exhibitions, which he regarded
.as an evidence of their frivolity and dissoluteness.

Suger, the celebrated abbot of St. Denis and
minister of state of Louis VII., was less fastidious
and austere than St. Bernard, and in rebuilding
the famous Benedictine abbey in 1144 did not
hesitate to have the stained windows adorned
with symbolical animals, which he appears to

IS2

Animal Symbolism

have prized both as decorations and sources o£j
edification.

The seventh CEcumenical Council, which waSiJ
held at Nice in 787, and which authorized icoB-J
olatry and enjoined this cult as a religious duly I
upon believers, decided that the images were noti
to be the invention of the artist, but were to bel
fashioned according to the traditions and prescrip* I
tions of the Catholic Church. The artist was not!
permitted to follow his own fancies or to work!
out his own devices, but his sole function was tarn
execute the intentions and embody the ideas andT
suggestions of the official ecclesiologists as derived
from the writings of the Fathers : " Non est iraagi-
num structura pictorum inventio, sed ecclesiEe catho-
licae probata legisJatio atque traditio." In the fifth
century St. Nilus wrote to Oiympiodorus : " Yoit
ask me whether it is proper to burden the walls
of the sanctuary with representations of diveo^
animals, hares, goats, and other beasts seeking
safety in flight from the snares which cover Uta
ground, and from the hunters, who with theif
dogs are eagerly pursuing them. Elsewhere, on
the shore, we see all sorts of fish gathered by
fishermen. I reply that it is puerile to amuse the
eyes of the faithful in this manner," ^

Evidently the censorious saint did not take thtf
symbolical significance of such pictures into cca*
sideration, but looked upon them as purely oma-

' Maxima Bibliotheca Palrum, x.

mental and designed to please the eye. As a
matter of fact, there was a large class of persons
in the early and medieval Church who relied upon
such paintings and sculptures for their religious
instruction and edification, like the old woman into
whose mouth Francois Viilon puts these words —

" Femme je suis, pauverelte et ancienne.
Qui riens ne s^ay, onques lettres ne leiu,
Au moustier voy, dont je suis paroissienne,
Paradis painct ou sont harpes et luz
Et an enfer oil dampnes sont bouUuz,
Lung me fail pour, I'autre joye ei liesse."

Symbolical representations of beasts and other
delineations of this kind, however grotesque, are
the records of human thoughts and beliefs in
certain stages of civilization, and deserve to be
deciphered with as much care as Runic signs or
hieroglyphic and cuneiform inscriptions.

A hundred years after St. Bernard, Gautier de
Coinsi, Prior of Vie sur Aisne, found it necessary
again to censure the clergy for permitting "wild
cats and lions" to rank with saints in the house
of God, and for preferring to adorn their chambers
with the lewd exploits of Isegrim and his spouse
rather than to decorate the minsters with the
miracles of the Virgin —

"En leur mousliers ne fort pas faire
Silost i'image Noslre Dame,
Com font Isangrin et sa fame
En leurs chambres oil i!s reponnent."

Again, in the beginning of the sixteenth century
the pious abbot of Formbach, Angelus Rumpler,

Animal Symbolism

renewed St. Bernard's query as to the purpose and
fitness of putting lions, dragons, and the Hke in
the churches, which ought, he says, to be simply
and suitably adorned, and not so conspicuously as
to furnish occasion for gazing instead of praying.
" Not that I censure proper ornament," he adds,
" but only what is fantastical and superfluous. For
pictures are the books of the laity or unlearned ;
but by pictures I mean such as portray the
Passion of Christ and the sufferings of the saints."
He wishes to have representations that wilJ incite
to devotion, and not merely gratify curiosity or
engender evil propensities. What he expressly
reprehends are scenes which a young girl cannot
look at without having her mind corrupted and
lascivious desires excited in her heart; and the
manner in which he refers to them proves that
they must have existed in places of worship.
What we should expend for the relief of the poor, .
he concludes, we squander on sumptuous and
needless edifices; but enough of this: sed dc hoc
re hactenus.

The first Council of Milan in 1565 warned the
bishops not to permit in the churches any paint-
ings or sculptures opposed to the truth of Scripture,
or of tradition or ecclesiastical hi.story: "Caveant
episcopi, ne quid pingatur aut sculpatur. quod
veritati scriptuarum, traditionum aut ecclesiasti-
carum historiarum advcrsetur." Twenty years later
(1585) the Council of Bordeau.x forbade preachers
to introduce fables into their sermons, and thus

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 185

move their hearers to laughter, instead of drawing
tears of contrition from their eyes, as they ought
to do : " Concionatoris enim est, non nsum movere,
sed lacrymas auditoribus excutere,"

The symbolical meaning which Clemens Alexan-
drinus, Augustine, Origen ,Chrysostom, Epiphanius,
Jerome, Bonaventura, Ambrosius, Isidorus, and
other great interpreters of Holy Writ had dis-
covered in these real or fabulous creatures was
now forgotten or discarded. The gross and beastly
types had been superseded by the finer mysticism
of expositors like the abbot of Clairvaux, whose
Eesthetic sense as well as religious feeling was deeply
offended by these crude and whimsical illustrations
of spiritual truths.

Meanwhile other fables, derived partly from
hagiological sources and partly from old Germanic
sagas and the marvels related of foreign lands by
meditEval travellers, had become gradually mixed
up with the Physiologiis, and under its shelter and
sanction as a precedent succeeded in creeping into
holy places. Scenes from the beast-epos, espe-
cially the adventures of the fox and the wolf,
carved on wood, cut in stone, painted in fresco,
or more frequently pictured in glass, began to
make themselves conspicuous on the stalls of the
chancel, and on the pulpits and portals and stained
windows of cathedrals. At first they were de-
signed to enforce moral precepts and to illustrate
ethical principles, but in seeking these ends they
found it necessary to satirize the vices of the clergy.

l8

Animal Symbolism

I

y
)-

1 ring J

and to censure with deserved severity the greedl
and gluttony and general dissoluteness of th&M
monastic orders.

During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries
the religious fraternities were in a great degree
supplanted as builders by associations of secular
architects, and, as the influence of the laity became J
predominant in church ornamentation, and tbel
spirit which resulted in the Reformation grew"
bolder and more aggressive, this satirical tendency
increased, and did not confine itself to the expo-
sure of religious hypocrisy and pseudo-sanctity,
but soon delighted in ridiculing and caricaturing J
sacramental rites and sacred observances. ApesI
in choristers' robes, swine in monks' hoods,
in cowls chanting and playing the organ, sirens in
the costume of nuns with their faces carefully
veiled and the rest of their persons exposed, stags
in chasubles ministering at the altar, and wolves
in the confessional giving absolution to lambs,
were some of the means employed to burlesque
the principal ceremonies and fundamental institu-
tions of the Church, and to turn them into ridicule.
On one of the painted windows of St. Martin's
Church, in Leicester, was the picture of a fox iij
surplice preaching to a flock of geese from l
text : " Testis est mihi Deus quam cupiam
omnes visceribus meis" ("God is my witness hoi^
1 long for you all in my bowels "). One of t
wood-carvings in Ely Cathedral represents the fojd
arrayed in episcopal robes, with almuce and stoiel

and crosier, discoursing to a similar audience from
the same passage of Scripture ; in the next scene
he has made a practical application of the text by
throwing off his holy vestments and hurrying away
with a goose, pursued by an old woman with a
distaff,* Here we have not merely an exposure of
the begging friars, but a hard hit at the highest
dignitaries of the Church.

The obscenity of many of these delineations
resulted naturally and inevitably from the fact
that they satirized obscene things. Thus the
abbot Grandidier, in describing the grotesque
figures sculptured on the pulpit staircase in Stras-
burg Minster, says : " On y remarquait entr' autres
celle d'un moine couche au dessous et aux pieds
d'une b^guine, dont il soulevait Ics juppes." This
pulpit was constructed in i486 under the super-
vision of the famous preacher, Johannes Geiler
von Kaisersberg, in whose sermons the licentious-
ness of the monks and particularly the unchastity
of the vagabond b^guines were severely scourged.
Indeed, beguinage came to be synonymous with
spurious piety or lust in the disguise of sanctity.
But however coarsely such scenes may have been
depicted, they originated in a high moral purpose,
and had a pure aim, which, as the old plattdeutsch
poet Lauremberg, in his Sckertsgedickte, says of
the hidden wisdom in Reincke Vos, shone forth
like a glowing coal in the ashes, or a gold penny in
a greasy pocket —

' Herrig's Archiv, Iviii. 355.

1 88 Animal Symbolism

With the progress of the Reformation these
representations were drawn into the great religious
movement and put to polemical uses, and proved
to be more effective in influencing the mass of
public opinion than any doctrinal discussion. Thus
Fischart published woodcuts of the sculptures near
the choir of Strasburg Minster with explanatory-
doggerels, in which he interpreted them as an
allegorical derision of the Romish clergy ; and this
view seems to have been accepted by the Catholics
themselves, although a zealous Protestant, Oscar
Schad, in his description of the cathedral, printed
in 1617, vents his indignation against the Fran-
ciscan, Friedrich Johann Nass, who, he says, " had
the effrontery to thrust his nose into this matter,
besiavering with his venom the sound expositions
of Fischart, and absurdly affirming these beasts to
be types of pious and faithful evangelical preachers
and godly servants of the Word," As these sculp-
tures date from the end of the thirteenth century,
and are therefore much older than Protestantism,
which dates from the Diet held by the evangelical
estates at Spire, in 1529, the interpretation of them
given by Nass is grossly anachronistic. Besides,
they caricature, not a Protestant, but a Catholic
rite, namely, the burial of the fox, as prescribed by
the Romish ceremonial. First comes the bear
with an aspergill and a vessel of holy water; the
wolf carries a crucifix, and the hare holds a burning

taper; the bier, on which lies the fox simulating
death and plotting revenge, is borne by a sow and
a he-goat An ape is seated on the ground near
the bier, apparently as spectator. A stag is chant-
ing the office at an altar, while a cat serves as
lectern to support the epistles, which are read by
an ass. At the feet of the bear is a globe with a

Burial of the Fox. iChsiref SIrailitrg MlMiltr."}

cross on it forming a reichsapfel or tut, and indi-
cating, perhaps, that the officiating priests are Car-
thusians, since the tut was the badge of their order
(Herrig's Archiv, Ixvi. 269-70). It is possible, how-
ever, that the cross is intended to indicate a grave
in the cemetery, to which the fox is being borne.

The fact that the chapter of the cathedral caused
these sculptures to be chiseled off" in 1685 is a con-
fession that they were thought to be directed, or
might, at least, be easily turned, against the papal
hierarchy. Also a Lutheran bookseller, who kept
woodcuts of them on sale, was condemned to stand
in his shirt and do penance for his offence in front
of the minster, and was then banished from the city.

Again, in Freiburg Minster (Breisgau), in a nar-
row passage leading from the south transept to
the choir, are reliefs belonging to the first half ot

igo

Animal Symbolism

the twelfth century, and representing the wolfs
novitiate. The lupine candidate for a cloistral life
or for the clerical office is learning his letters from
a monk, who is seated on a faldstool with a peda-
gogue's baton consisting of a bundle of rods in his
hand. The dull pupil, who holds a pointer awk-
wardly in his right paw, has already reached the
third letter of the alphabet in his pursuit of know-
ledge, when the longing for lamb gets the better of
his love of learning, and he seizes a sheep of the

pastoral flock and endeavours to devour it. The
tonsured teacher applies the rod vigorously to the
back of the recreant novice, whose natural appetites
assert themselves and are not to be extinguished by
the capoch. These works of art delineate episodes
of the beast-epos, and correspond to the description
given by Marie de France of the wolfs attempt to
become a monk, being drawn to this pious vocation
by merry thoughts of fat living. Her poem might
be rendered into English as follows —

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 191

" There w

It who wished tc

If he couid leach the wolf his ABC.
' A,' said the priest ; the wolf said ' A,'
And grinned in a grim and guileful way.

I ' B,' said the priest, ' and say it with me.'

' B,' said the wolf, ' the letter I see.'
' C,' said the priest, ' keep on just sa'
'C,' said the wolf. 'Don't be so slow,"
Remarked the priest ; 'come, go on now.'
And the wolf replied ; ' I don't know how.'
' Then see how it looks and spell it out.'
'Lamb, lamb, it means without a doubt.'
'Beware,' said the priest, 'or you'll get a blow.
For your mouth with your thoughts doth ov-erflow,'

., And thus it haps ofttimes to ea^

That his secret thought is by his speech

^ Revealed, and, ere he is aware.

Is out of his lips and in the air." '

Near the wolf seizing the lamb is Samson in the
act of tearing open the jaws of a lion. The long

«Ui

Fable Zo.—Lfim prestre etd'm
prestres volt jadis aprendre
I lou a letres fere entendre.
A disi li prestres. — A dist li leus
Qui mult est fel et engingneux.
B dist li prestres, di o moi.
B dist li leux, la letre voi.
C dist li prestres, di avant.
C dist li leus. Ail dont
Respont li prestres, or di par toi.
Li leu respont : Je ne sai coi.
Di que te semble, si espel.
Respont li leus : Aignel, aignel.
Li prestres dist : que verte touche:
Tel on penser, tel en la bouche.
De pensons, le voit Ten souvent;
Ce dont il pensent durement.
Est par ta bouche conneu
Ain^ois que d'autre soit si
La bouche monstre le pei
Tout doit ele de li parler."

Animal Symbolism

hair of the Hebrew solar hero, which in the myth
is said to be the source of his strength, as the force
of the sun is in its rays, has caused this figure to
be mistaken for a woman, and interpreted :
symbol of spiritual power overcoming brute force.
A similar sculpture adorns a console in the Stifts-
kirche at Stuttgart, a capital in the church of
Remagen in the Rhineland, and the outside of the
apsis of the old Romanic church at Schongrabem
in Lower Austria. Here Samson wears his hair in
a long braid. It may be found also on the portal
of the cathedral of St. Stephen's in Vienna, on an
altar in the monastery Klostemeuberg, on a stall
in the cathedral of Amiens, and on the capital of
a column in the church of SL Sauveur-de-Nevres,
where it bears the inscription : " Samson ades^
heros fortis." Indeed, it is very common
medieval church edifices and on consecrated'
vessels, and is sometimes associated with repre^
sentations of Christ's deliverance of the captive
spirits from hell, as in a painting in the vestibule
of Freiburg Minster. Another sculpture in this
minster shows a man contending against a griffin,
which signifies the effort to overcome carnal
passion. So, too, the centaur, which will be more
fully considered hereafter, is the symbol of what
Paul calls the natural man, or /lomo animal, as it
rendered in the Vulgate.

Flogel {Gesckichte der komisc/ien Literatur, \a,
358) mentions a beautifully-embroidered cushioa
of the provost's chair in the collegiate church of

St, Michael at Pforzheim. The embroidery repre-
sents a wolf in monastic garb standing in a pulpit
and discoursing from an open book to a flock of
rgeese, which are devoutly listening and holding
each a rosary in its beak. The sacristan, whb per-
forms the duties of goose-herd, is dressed in motley.
Out of the hood of the preacher projects the head
of a goose. A fox is lying in wait under the pulpit,
Uid round the wolf is embroidered the verse —

" Ich will euch wohl viel Fabeln sagen.
Bis ich fiihle alln ' mein Kragen."

" Of fables to you I'll lell a deal.
Till in my maw 1 all may feeL"

This cushion was purchased in 1 540 by Jacob Heer-
farand, Chancellor of the University of Tiibingen,
when he was .sent with other theologians to promote
Ihe cause of the Reformation in the Margravate
of Baden-Durlach, and was used by him against
tiie papacy in his polemical treatise, Refutatio
^fensionis assertionutn Jesuiticarum.

In this manner the whole beast-epos was diverted
from its original course, as a purely narrative poem,
into the turbulent and more or less filthy channel
of religious controversy. Thus a zealous champion
ef Protestantism, John Bale, published at Zurich
in 1543, under the pseudonym of John Harryson,
a book entitled : " Yet a Course at the Romysche
foxe, a dysclosynge or openynge of the Manne of
Synne." Catholic defenders of the faith, too, were
: is the same whether we read

■).

not slow in filling their quivers with arrows drawQ
from the same exhaustless source. Not only the
printing-press, but also the walls and other parts
of sacred edifices were put to polemical purposes^
as, for example, in the chancel of St Semin at
Toulouse, where a fat hog in gown and bands dis-
coursing from a pulpit is styled Calvin U pott
prescliant (" Calvin the pig preaching "). This is the
interpretation given to the carving and its legend
by M. de Montalembert ; but the clerical animal
is not cloven -hoofed, and resembles an ass rather
than a pig, and the inscription may read Calvin
U fire, since a nail driven into the second letter
of the third word has so defaced it as to render it '
dif^cult to decipher. This work of art may, there* ■
fore, portray " Father Calvin " in the form of aa
ass preaching heresies to his deluded disciples, onft;
of whom is kneeling before the sacred desk with
eyes devout and the palm of his hand on an open
book, as if appealing to Holy Writ in confirmation
of the doctrines proclaimed from the sacred desk.
In St. Victor's Church at Xanten on the Rhine is
an Ecce Homo, dating from 1536, representing
Christ followed by a great rabble crying, " Crucify
Him ! " The leader of this bloodthirsty mob
Martin Luther, who wears a pilgrim's scrip,
which the head of a beast of prey takes the placftj
of the conventional cross and shell. Near him w[
a man making grimaces by thrusting his finger ii
his cheek, while another is throwing filth.

The reformers of the sixteenth century indulgei

very freely in coarse caricatures of this sort, and
often outdid their adversaries in such expressions
of scorn. Thus Henry VIII. showed his contempt
of the Roman See by using for official purposes a
paper with the water-mark of a hog wearing a
tiara, just as the Republican parliament substituted
a fool's cap and bells for the King's arms on the
official paper of the realm ; hence the name which
the large folio paper used in law-offices and courts
of justice still bears.

One of the most noted of this class of productions
was the so-called Papstesel, or Papal Ass. This
monster has the form of a woman with the head
of an ass ; the left hand is that of a human being,
the right hand is an elephant's trunk, the rump is
the mask-like face of a man with long beard and
horns, and a serpentine neck ending in a dragon's
head ; one of the feet is an eagle's claw, and the
other an ox's hoof, and the body is covered with
scales like a fish.

This drawing has been commonly, but erroneously,
attributed to the elder Lucas Cranach, who may
have copied, but certainly did not create it. It is
also a mistake to suppose that it was intended
originally to ridicule the papacy. In December
144S the city of Rome was devastated by an in-
undation of the Tiber, followed by famine and
pestilence. After the waters had subsided, this
strange carcass is said to have been found in the
deposit of the flood on the banks of the river,
and a full description of it is given in Malipiero's

196

Animal Symbolism

Venetian annals.' No contemporary writer seems
■to' have entertained the sHghtest doubt that the

remains of such an abnormal creature were actually
-'discovered ; the only diflerence of opinion thafa

could possibly arise would be in regard to its origi&]

and significance, whether it was a work of God or

of Satan, and what it might forebode.

In the middle ages monstrosities and freaks of
■nature were looked upon as dire portents, and

every marvellous phenomenon was deemed a sure'
-sign of the impending wrath of God. Not only'
comets, eclipses, and other remarkable appearances
in the sky, but even any uncommon occurrence oB
-the earth, such as a fall of red snow, sufficed to fill
the hearts of men with chilling fear, and to freeze
the blood in their veins ; and the birth of a double-
headed calf or a deformed pig was a source of
■terror to whole nations. The intellectual awaken-
'ing, known as the revival of letters, tended
confirm rather than to undermine the belief in
■existence of monstrosities, inasmuch as it cultivated
and diffused a literature all alive with centaurs,
■fauns, satyrs, hippocamps, tritons, sirens, nereids,
sphinxes, grifiins, dragons, minotaurs, and chimeras,
"the reality of which no true humanist would think

Kn-
tedl

. ' Arckivo Storico, vii. 422. Cf. Der Papslesel, em Beilrag
'sur Kultur- uad Kurtstgesckichle des Re/ormationszeitaiUn,
won Konrad Lange, Gottingen, 1891. This monograph cor-
.tains the most thorough discussion of the subject hitherto
published, including a. clear and consistent account of the
origin and character of this monstrous figment of ite
jmaginatioD, and the symbolical and satirical purposes I
which it was made to subserve. ^

of calling in question, and the renascence of which
soon exerted a marked influence upon the decorative
arts. With a like faith begotten of enthusiasmj
scholars accepted the reports of Herodotus, the
father of history, and of Ktesias, the Munchausea
of classical antiquity, concerning goat-hoofed and
dog-headed men, one-legged giants, men with on©
eye {monocuH — perhaps a primitive race of dudea),
men with eyes in their breasts, and others with
their heads beneath their shoulders, or without any
heads at all. It is not surprising, therefore, that
the sixteenth century, notwithstanding its superior
enlightenment and reputation for learning, should
have produced numerous and ponderous tomes de^
voted to the description and exposition of marvels
id monstrosities. Perhaps the most exhaustive
repertory of this kind is the Prodigiorum ac
astentorum Ckronicon of Lycosthenes (Wolfhart),
published at Bate in 1557. The author begins
with the serpent in Eden, " ante Christum 3959,"
and gives a brief account, with rough woodcuts,
of every wonderful thing he had ever heard or
read of down to A.D. 1557, in a volume of six
hundred and seventy pages. In the Royal Library
of Munich there are two copies of this work, one
of which has a manuscript continuation of more
than fifty pages, bringing it down to 1677, with
many drawings in the style of the illustrations
contained in the printed book. To this is added
by a third chronicler, in French, the queer descrip-
tion of a spectral battle between three armies, said

198

Animal Symbolism

to have been fought in tlie clouds on February 25,
1696, and witnessed by more than two hundred
persons. In accordance with the current opinion
of their time, both Lycosthenes and the authofi
of the continuation interpret these phenomena <
tokens of the divine anger, and endeavour )
connect them with great physical disasters and
noteworthy historical events.

Shakespeare indicates the fascination which sucfci
vulgar superstitions and tales of prodigies had for
the most refined and sensitive persons of an earlier-
day, when he makes Othello beguile the gentte
Desdemona of her tears and win her heart bj»
discoursing about them. Not only the outlying;
and unexplored regions of the!
earth, but the sea also was f
lific of wonders, the most re*
markable of which was the sO'
called bishop-fish (Episcopus
marinus) or sea-bishop (^Meer-
bisckof), a specimen of which is
said to have been caught in tha J
Baltic in 1433. It had a mitrel
on its head, a crosier in its hand, I
and wore a dalmatica. Thai
king of Poland wished to con-'J
fine it in a tower, but it stub^l
bornly resisted this attempt on I
its freedom, and by mute geS'l
turesentreated its fellow-prelates, I
the bishops of the realm, to whom it showed I

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 199

special reverence, to let it return to its native
element. This request was finally granted, and, in
token of joy and gratitude, it made the sign of the
cross, and gave the episcopal benediction with its
iin, as it disappeared under the waves. Engravings
of this marine marvel were published in Gessner's
Fisckbuck in 1575, in Schott's Physica Curiosa, and
in other works of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries. In 1 531, according to Dutch chroniclers,
another bishop-fish was taken in the German Ocean,
^nd sent to the king of Poland, but it obstinately
refused to eat anything, and died on the third day
of its captivity. Gessner describes also the merman
(^Homus marinus) and the mermonk {Monackus
piariniis), said to have been taken in the Baitic,
the British Channel, in the Red Sea, and on the
coast of Dalmatia. Evidently we have here to do
with some of the numerous species of seals seen
through the magnifying and distorting medium of
religious superstition. The Jesuit Caspar Schott,
in the above-mentioned work, a volume of nearly
fourteen hundred pages, discusses all sorts of
inonsters and marvels real and imaginary, demons,
fipooks, deformed men, energumens, birds, abnormi-
ities of land and sea, and portents of earth and
sky, showing the material, efficient, and final causes
■of such phenomena. All these strange forms were
supposed to be special creations or manifestations
having a profound spiritual significance, and bear-
ing peculiar relations to the Church, which drew
them into its pale, and put them to decorative and

2oo

Animal Symbolism

didactic uses in ecclesiastical architecture, as,
example, in the rose-window of the south transe]
of the cathedral of Lausanne, dating from tl
thirteenth century.

Whatever may have been the origin of
Roman monster, whether the story arose from
fortuitous concurrence of parts of men and of
beasts that had perished in the flood, or was the
trick of some wag, whose love of a joke could not
be repressed by the horrors of the situation, or wa*.
a mere invention of the imagination excited b)H
fear, there is no doubt that drawings of it wepc]
made soon after its supposed discovery. The
earliest known representation of it in art is a relief
on the north door of the cathedral of Como^
sculptured by the brothers Jacob and ThomaS
Rodari about the year 1497.* As a satire on the
see of Rome it would certainly not have found a
place in a Catholic church at that time ; but as A
divine admonition and warning, and especially as
a symbol of the woes of inundation, foreign in-
vasion, famine, and pestilence, by which the States
of the Church and Italy were then sorely afflicted,
such a carving, however offensive to the taste of
the present day, would have been considered
perfectly appropriate and even highly edifying.

If, as Lange assumes, the strange figure was

\

' This door is popularly known as porta della rana, ft
the carving of a frog snapping at an insect. The f
according to the Physiotogus, is a type of those who si
at the fleeting pleasures of this world.

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 201

simply an allegory of the city of Rome, it would
naturally be portrayed as a female; the ass's head
would signify subjugation and servitude ; the
elephant's proboscis would indicate the pest of
syphilis, then confounded with elephantiasis, which

•^

y

^

T

te

V

^^^:%^

•J

P»pa!A8«. (CaHiJraio/Ci>mi>.y

the Spaniards had introduced into Naples from
the New World, and the French troops had brought
with them to Rome ; the eagle's claw would repre-
sent the rapacity of Charles VIII.; the ox's hoof
would refer to Alexander VI., whose coat-of-arins
was an ox, and who kept his footing in the Vatican

202 Animal Symbolism

only by sharing his power with the French kin]
while the scaly skin would suggest the devastatinj
overflow of the Tiber.

About this time, however, the dissoluteness (
the Roman pontiff", and the scandalous conduct o
his mistresses and his children, began to excite t'
attention and to provoke the censure of the public
to such a degree, that there would be a general
tendency to interpret the monster, not perhaps as
a symbol of the institution of the papacy, but as a
satire on the licentious occupant of the apostolic
see, and a warning from God against the evil
doings of the Vicar of Christ

Somewhat later, probably about the year 1500, it 1
was engraved on copper by the goldsmith Wenzel
of Olmutz, and seems to have been accepted by
the Moravians as emblematic of the Romish hier-
archy, and used as a means of anti-papal agitation.
It next appears as a woodcut in Melanchthon's
Figur des Antichristlidten Bapsls vnd seiner
^y^^gogy published in 1523, and again in the same
year in his and Luther's joint work entitled, Deutung
der cswo grewlichen Figuren Bapsteseh csu Rom,
vnd Munckkalbs su Freybergynn Meysszen funden,
A new and improved edition of Melanchthon's
exposition of the Papstesel was printed at Witten-
berg in 1535, and endorsed with Luther's "Amen."
It also appears as Plate II, in Luther's Abhildung
des Bapstum (Wittenberg, 1545), a series of coarse
and positively indecent woodcuts, probably the
work of Lucas Cranach, with explanatory doggete'

t

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 203

verses. In a letter of June 3, IS4S, to Nicholas
von Amsdorf, first Protestant bishop of Raumburg,
the Reformer writes ; " Your nephew George showed
me a picture of the pope," adding by way of
comment, and evidently with a chuckle of delight,
"but Master Lucas is etn^rtJ^er J/3/?r," and in a
letter of June 1 5 to the same friend he remarks :
" I shall endeavour to have Lucas the painter
exchange this foul picture for a more proper one."
The reference here is not to the Papstesel, but to
Plate I., entitled, Ortus et origo Paps ("Rise and
Origin of the Pope"), and representing his Holiness
as the excrements of a ghastly, grinning monster.
The infant pontiff, thus born in corruption, is reared
by the Furies, Alecto rocking his cradle, Megsra
acting as his wet-nurse, and Tisiphone holding him
in leading strings. It is evident from the descriptive
rhymes accompanying these drawings that Luther
fully entered into the spirit of the artist's con-
ceptions, and heartily enjoyed their coarse humour.
His seeming censure of the " gross painter " and
the " foul picture," and the expression of his intention
of having a more decent delineation substituted
for it, must be taken ironically, and may have been
called forth by some criticism of his correspondent.
The " Miinchkalb " (monk-calO. the second of the
monsters delineated and discussed in the Interpret-
ation of two grewsome Figures already cited, was
reported to have been taken from a cow in a public
slaughter-house at Freiburg, December 12, 1522,
and to have had a round, flabby, and mis-shapen

204

Animal Symbolism

head with a tonsure, on which were two lai^e warts
or wens. The chin was that of a man ; the nose)
ears, and upper jaw were those of a calf; the hide
hung in folds between the shoulders, like a monk's
cowl, and had sHts in the hind legs, like the slashes
in old costumes. This hideous creature was inter-
preted by Luther as a symbol of the stupidity
and beastliness of the monastic orders, although
Melanchthon afterwards discovered in it a diiTerent
signification, explaining it as portending the
cesses of the reformatory movement that reveali
themselves in iconoclastic outrages and the horrors
of the Peasants' War, which broke out three years
later. It is an interesting fact that one of the
earliest explications of it was given by a Bohemian
astrolc^er in Prague, who saw in it a condemnation
of the heresy and apostasy of Luther, the renegade
monk. A similar view is taken by Cochlaeus,
Emser, and other Catholic controversialists, and in
a treatise on monsters from the time of Constantino
to the year 1 570 by the French theologian Sorbinus,*
the causal connection between the birth of such
creatures and some form of schism in the body of
Christ, or some sacrilegious assault upon the ortho-
dox faith, is shown to the satisfaction of every
believer.

In the City Library of Lyons is the manus
of a poem entitled De THstibus Gallia (" W(
of France "), with miniature paintings of a 5atin<

mt ■
3rs1

character directed against the sectaries and schis-
matics, who are represented as abasing and pillaging
.the land. A lion, the symbol of France, is ridden
by an ape, which bears a sack full of spoils, pro-
'bably taken from churches and cloisters ; another
ape has tied a priest's vestment to the lion's hind
i!eg; a third holds the king of beasts ignominiously
.by the tail, while a fourth confronts the lion with a
■Jiaiberd. Several apes are listening to a sermon
delivered by a field-preacher ; others are evidently
■applying the teachings of the itinerant evangelist
by plundering consecrated places and insulting a
crucifix.

The woes of France, resulting from Panama scan-
iials, which in our day are the sensational theme of
the journalist's pen, would have been delineated in
the middle ages quite as vividly and truthfully, and
'far more pleasingly, by the artist's pencil.
• ■ As the fox not only holds a prominent place in
.fee Pkysioiogus, but is also
the protagonist of the bcast-
£pos, it is natural that this
ammal should figure con-
fipicuously in pictorial and
plastic art, and become, from
the very nature of its charac- The wiics of ihc to..
teristics, a favourite vehicle "(raT)

of satire. The oldest of these representations are
based upon the Pkysioiogus, in which it is stated
that " when the fox is hungry, it lies down in a
fiirrow of the field and covers itself "partly with

2o6 Animal Symbolism

earth, as though it had been long dead. Then
ravens and other rapacious birds come to dew
it, when it suddenly leaps up and tears them
pieces. Thus the devil deceives those who Ii
the corrupt things of this world and obey the
of the flesh, and entices them to their own dei
tion." " He who tells idle tales and indulges in
carnal pleasures," adds an old English bestiary,
"pecks at the skin of the fox and tears its flesh,
but the devil requites the sinner by seizing him and
dragging him down to murky hell. The devil and
the reprobate are crafty like the fox, and deserve
shame. He who speaks fair words and meditates
evi! is a fox ; such a one was Herod, for he said
that he would believe on Christ, when he really meant
to kill Him."

In the church of St. Fiacre, near Le Faouet, ill
the department of Morbihan, formerly a portion
Brittany, are wood-carvings on the richly-orna-
mented rood-loft portraying these wiles of the fo%
which in the first scene is lying on its back with
protruding tongue and apparently dead ; instead of
carrion-crows, as elsewhere, a cock and several in*'
quisitive hens are pecking at different parts of its
body. In the second scene the fox has sprung up
and caught one of them by the neck.

There are similar reliefs on the abacus of a
column in the cathedral of Tarragona in Spatib
On the opposite side of the abacus are sculptures oi.
what Meissner (Herrig's Arckiv, Ixv. 214) calls
the burial of the cat, but which would seem rather

to represent the carrying of the cat to execution.
Tabby lies on a litter, which might be mistaken for
a bier, but is really a stretcher used instead of a
liangman's cart, borne by rats and mice, and pre-
ceded by a long procession of these rodents with
banners, vessels of holy water, aspergills, crosiers,
cen9ers, The executioner, a rat bearing an axe,
marches with the full consciousness of his oRicial
dignity under the litter. This stately pageant is

followed by a more lively spectacle : the cat springs
up and catches a rat, while the rest of the solemn
assembly disperse in all directions, leaving the
sacred utensils and the pompous paraphernalia of
the panic-stricken procession scattered on the
ground. The presence of the rat as headsman iiv-
dicates that the execution is about to take place ;
if it had already occurred and the " master of high
works" {tfiattre des kautes-osuvres, as the French
were wont to style this important functionary) had

done his duty, it would be hard to imagine th^
decapitated culprit coming to life again,'

Returning to St. Fiacre, we find in that quainta
church a third relief of a fox lurking behind soawl
■bushes, from which a cock and three hens i
picking snails. Still farther in the background I
a second fox wearing a cowl and standing in i^
sort of framework or enclosure, which Champflei
calls a donjon, but Meissner with greater proba*«

wsm^^^^^m

^adM

bility assumes to be a pulpit. Here we have, inste:
of the fox of the Physiologusy the chicken-stealing
and sanctimonious Reynard of the mcdiseval epic.

Another relief in the same church represents a
man seated on a bench and steadying with his left
hand a wine-cask, which rests on his knee. In his
teeth he holds a fox by the tip of the tail, the half-
flayed body of which hangs between his legs.
Champfleury explains this sculpture as a figurative
illustration of the phrase Scorcher le rertard (" flay
the fox "), i. e. suffer from what the Germans call

' Vide article on " Odo de Ceringtonia " in Herrig's Archiv.
Ixiv. In a work entitled. Gothic Arckittcture in SpatK,by
Geoi^e Edmond Street, is an engraving of this piece of
sculpture. Odo of Sherington's Boai of Fables was trans-
lated into Spanish under the title of Libra de ios Gaios, of
which a German version by Kunst has been published in
l.emcV.€& Jakrbttch, vi. Ct.Voi^Ms, fCleinerf Dinkmiiler di^. ■
Tkienags.

Katzenjamnier, or the after-effects of a drunken
debauch. In a word, it teaches a moral lesson
by a drastic exhibition of the
woes of inebriety. Rabelais de-
scribes Gargantua as a person
who was wont to " flay the fox,"
and the common people of France
still use the phrase piqver ttti
renard ("prick a fox") in the
same sense. Pepys records in
his Diary on one occasion : " I
drank so much wine that I was
even almost foxed." Wine or
beer that sours in fermenting is
said " to fox " or to be " foxy,"
because it goes to the head, and by deranging the
stomach acts as an emetic.

On the capital of a column in the cathedral at
Autun is chiselled the scene in which the crane
extracts a bone from the fox's throat. Here the
artist clothes the fable with a symbolical signifi-
cance derived from the Physiologus and the bestiaries,
in which the fox typifies the devil, and the crane is
an emblem of Christian care and vigilance, ever
. active in saving souls from the jaws of hell. In
[ Ihis case, the crane must be imagined as coming
I to the rescue, not of the fox, but of the bone.

" The fox," says the Physiologus, " injures the

\ earth by burrowing in it ; the earth signifies man,

I who should bring forth the fruits of righteousness ;

is the hole, which the devil digs and thereby

Animal Symbolism

causes these fruits to wither away. As the wiaii
king saith : ' Take us the foxes, the little foxes tha
spoil the vines ; for our vines have tender grapesJ
David also spoke of becoming 'a portion of foxes';
and our Saviour bore the same testimony when Hi
said : ' The foxes have holes.' "

This teaching is embodied in a carving on i
miserere in the celebrated Worcester Cathedra^
which shows foxes running in and out of holes
opposite this populous kennel stands John t!
Evangelist with his gospel in his hand and ;
eagle at his feet. Here the foxes are types of thi
devil, and the beholder is called upon to choo3<
between the wily adversary and the herald i
divine truth. Sometimes all four evangelists, ■
Christ alone, are thus set in opposition to th(
vulpine devils. Foxes in cowls are the itineran
friars, who were feared and hated by the secular
clergy on account of their restless and innovatii
spirit and propensity to religious agitation, whid
disturbed the peace of the Church, and the comfoii
of the holders of high dignities, and the incumbent
of fat benefices. The privileges conferred
the mendicant orders by Innocent III. and hl9
successors, the reputation which many of theii
members justly acquired for scholarship, and tl
eminence they attained as professors at the un
versities, excited the envy of the great body >
ecclesiastics. It was their severely reformatoiy
aim and exposure of established abuses, not I
than their arrogance in the garb of poverty, thaV

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 21 r

i^ade them the objects of hatred and the subjects'
i satire.

' The following may serve as fair specimens of the
manner in which the exploits of the fox are
klineated in various European churches, and the
piritual or satirical uses to which they are put.*
I the Maison des Templiers, formerly connected
irith the neighbouring church of the Templars
■"in Metz, and probably used as a refectory, are
traces of a painting of the thirteenth century por-
traying about thirty animals, to which the fox
is preaching from a pulpit. Among Reynard's
auditors are the bear, the ape, the he-goat, the
griffin, the cock, the hare, the stork, the sow, and
rthe cat, which are either holding prayer-books or
■falters, or singing hymns from sheets of music,
Brbile the unicorn plays the bagpipe, and the ass
"performs on the harp. A little apart, with its-
back turned towards these worshippers, is another
fox, in the act of receiving the chalice from a stag,
while a third fox, dressed as a pilgrim, greets a
leopard in passing. In the background stands a
tent, in which a dead animal, probably a calf, is
f lying-
in the church of St. Denis at Amboise, two
xes with pilgrim's staff and scrip are witnessing
s slaughter of the innocents, doubtless in allusion
Herod, whom Christ called " that fox." The
tjuency with which the fox appears in the garb
' Cf. Meissner's contributions lo Herrig's Archiv, biv., et

2 12

Animal Symbolism

of a pilgrim is a satire on the craftiness and deceit-
fulness of this class of pious vagrants, who were
morallj' about on a level with the modem tramp.
This is especially true of the professional pilgrim
or palmer, who passed his life in perpetual vaga-
bondage, and was to a!! intents and purposes a
mediaeval tramp. It is not merely an accidental
coincidence that palmer became a synonym for
swindler, and that the most voracious and devas-
tating of caterpillars was called palmer-worm, but
showed the popular appreciation of the " votarist
in palmer's weed."

On a stall in the cathedral of Amiens is carved, i
a fox preaching to a flock of domestic fowls. The |
pulpit is in the form of a tray, and the preacher is
reaching over the edge, as if zealously expounding
the Scriptures, but really for the purpose of seizing
a* hen, whose devout interest in the sermon has
brought her into dangerous proximity to the eager-
eyed and rapacious gospeller. Again, on the
exterior of Canterbury Cathedral are bas-reliefs
representing a fox in monastic habit discoursing tO ■
3 solemn assembly of geese. . |

On the underside of the seat of a faldstool in the
choir of Sherborne Minster is a carving of the
fox on the gallows, with four geese acting as hang-
men, and a monk standing on either side of it with
a book in his hand. Also on the church of St.
Michael in Bruges is a stone sculpture, formerly
the tympanum or facing of a pediment over the
portal of the collegiate church of St. Ursin, repre

In Ecclesiastical Architecture

213

senting a cock and hen hauling a fox on a cart to
the place of execution, and preceded by a bear
with a ball or globe at his feet, evidently the priest
who is to minister spiritual comfort to the culprit
in his last moments. The fox has anything but a
penitent air; on the contrary, he seems to take

quite a cheerful view of the situation, and bis sly
look implies an intention to play his executioners
some trick before reaching the scaffold. He tries
to assume a. long face as he journeys towards his
long borne, but the real state of bis mind is betrayed
by the merry twinkle of bis eye. It is the incident
so humorously described by the poet of Cham-
pagne—

" Rena.rd s'en allait trisiement

S'emparer de son dernier gite ;

Canteclair s'en allait gaiement

Notre d^funt etail en carrosse port^

Bien et dument empaquetd
Et v£iu d'une robe, helas ! qu'on nomme bierc :

Robe d'hiver, robe d'^Cd,
Que les morts ne d^uillent ^Sre."

The stalls of Bristol Cathedral are adorned with
s series of grotesques, which depict the trial of

214

Animal Symbolism

the fox as described in the beast-epos. First we
have a man riding on a bear towards the fox, who
is peeping from behind a tree; this is Bruin, the
Toyal messenger, coming to summon Reynard to
appear before the king and answer for his crimes,
In the next scene Bruin is caught in the cleft of
the log through his greediness for honey, and
severely beaten by boors with cudgels. Thirdly,
Reynard is sentenced to be hanged, and the
necessary preparations are made for the imposing
ejcccution of the death-warrant. King Noble and
his royal spouse are seated on their respective
thrones ; the bear, the wolf, and the goose are
helping the condemned up the fatal ladder with
undisguised pleasure, while the squirrel sits on the
top of the gallows-tree and pulls a rope attached
to the poor sinner's neck. Then follows the
mousing adventure of Tybert, the cat in the house
of the priest, in portraying which the artist has
adhered quite closely to the description of the
exciting incident given by the poet, so that his
work bears a striking resemblance to Kaulbach's
well-known sketch. The cat, in desperate self-
defence, scratches the priest in a very sensitive part
of his body, to the great horror of his housekeeper,
or, maybe, his wife (for at that time sacerdotal
celibacy had not become imperative, and was by
no means universal in the Catholic Church), who
pulls the sacrilegious depredator violently by the I
tail, while the malicious instigator of all this [
troilble stands in a corner and laughs, Reynard

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 215

appears next in a monk's hood, standing in a
pulpit and preaching to several geese, that stretch
'■out their long necks and listen with a peculiar
■expression of mingled solemnity and sentimentality
to the seductive orator. Again the irrepressible
.proclivity of the hypocritical homilist to overreach
some tender member of his flock brings him from
the sacred desk to the scaffold, where he is seen
dangling from the cross-beam of a gallows, a
number of his former auditors holding the rope,
and one of them tugging at the scoundrel's tail in
order to hasten the process of strangulation, while
another is perched on the top of the gallows,
cackling for joy and flapping her wings in triumph.
A woman, doubtless Reynard's wife. Dame Her-
pie'in, riding on a mule and probably returning
from her husband's trial, is the subject of the
seventh carving ; on one side is a house, evidently
Malepartus, with Reynard looking warily out of
the door, and a dove-cot with several doves in it,
Jn the eighth scene the bear and the wolf are
-dancing to the music of a drum beaten by an ape,
thus showing their gladness at the condemnation
of their common enemy. There were originally
other carvings of incidents mentioned in the
poem, but they have been partially destroyed, and
those still preserved have been renovated and re-ar-
ranged without the slightest regard to their logical
or chronological sequence. The general resem-
blance to Kaulbach's illustrations of Reineke Fucks
due, as already intimated, to the fact that

2l6

Animal Symbolism

they both faithfully depict episodes of the s
epos.

In this cathedral are also comical carvings «
incidents derived from other poems and popula
talcs, as, for example, that of an abbot riding back
ward on an ass and holding the tail of his steed ii
his hand in the manner described in Biirger^s ballad
where the emperor says to the round, fat, alf
abbot of St. Gall—

'' So lass' ich Euch fuhren lu Esel durch's Land,
Vcrkehrt, stall des Zaumes den Schwan/ in der Hand.'

" Bestriding an ass you shall ride through the land.
With the tail instead of the reins in your hand."

Another series of wood-carvings are the follow-
ing more or less fanciful delineations of the artist^
although some represent scenes from the Frend
versions of the beast-epos : —

I. A chained and muzzled bear with a ring ii
its nose ; on either side a fox looking out slyly froni
behind a tree, and two labourers with wheel-barrowi

II. A naked man armed with a sword, and
attacked by two animals resembling a bear and'
a wolf; on the right side the nude buttocks of i
man, recalling the episode in the fourteenth brancU
of the Roman de Renart : "De I'ours et du lou'et
du Vilains, qui monstrerent lor cus " —

"Trestuit trois nos cus mostrerrons,
£t cit qui gcaignor cul aura
Le bacon lout emporlera." — (xiv. 7087 sqq.)

III. A snail creeping up a mountain and driven

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 217

by a monk; at a little distance a knight watching
the performance. In the Roman de Renart the
snail holds the responsible office of gonfalonier,
and bears the royal standard—

" Le Rois Tardins le lima^on
Bailla le roial ganfanon,
Et li command a I'avant-garde,
Et le lupart rarrifere-garde."— (35 1 ,

M.)

But tliere is no such incident in the Reynardine
poems as that portrayed here ; Gautier de Coinsi,
however, mentions the snail as one of the animals
which served to adorn consecrated edifices —

" Plus delitont sont si fait conte
As bones gens par Saint-Omer,
Que de Renait ne de Roumer,
Nc de Tardin le limagon."

In Renart le Ncuvel it is the snail, as chief en-
sign bearer, that scales the walls of Malepartus,
after Reynard has escaped by a secret passage,
and plants the banner of the king upon the battle-
ments —

" Es-vous Tardins le lima^on
Ki dist que par tans le sara.
As Murs s-'ahiert, amont rampa
Nului n'i vit, jus desccndi,
A le porte vint, si I'ouvri ;
Mais ains mist le roial baniere
Ens en le maistre tour de piere
En signe pris est li castiaus.
Au Roi Noble est ds signes briaus."— (4214-22.)

1 a Roman Catholic prayer-book {Livre
d'Heures) of the thirteenth century there is a

21 8 Animal Symbolism

miniature painting of a man in the act of shooting
a snail with an arbalist or cross-bow. The snail is
sitting erect on an arabesque resembling a vine,
M. de Bastard thinks the snail is a symbol of Christ
and the resurrection ; but if this interpretation be
correct, it is difficult to understand the signification
of the cross-bowman. In another large picture of.
the fifteenth century we see a crowd of people,
among them one woman, attacking a snail with
swords and staves, and crying out in the words of
the inscription —

" Vuide ce lieu, tres orde beate.
Qui des vignes les bourgeons raange."

The Church, as we have shown in a volume
entitled TIu Criminal Prosecution and Capittd
Punishment of Animals, claimed and exercised the
power of expelling bugs and slugs and no:
insects from the vineyards and cultivated fields by
anathematizing them, after they had been formally
tried and condemned ; and it is this function of the-
papal hierarchy that the two delineations above-
mentioned are intended to illustrate. It is not
necessary to seek in them a more recondite sym-
bolism or theological meaning.

IV. Two men mounted, one on a goose and the
other "on a hog, and each armed with a spear
probably the caricature of a tournament

V. A pedlar thrown down and plundered by-
apes, which are taking the wares out of his pack.

I

VI. An ape as doctor examining a bottfc of
.tirioe,

VII. An ape playing on a lute, an instrument
>whose " lascivious pleasing " was associated with
-amorous delights and gallant intrigues.

VIII. An ape sitting astride an ass, which a
boor is holding by the tail and belabouring with a
cudgel.

These carvings belong probably to the end of the
fifteenth century. The stone sculptures in the
" Elder Lady Chapel " are much older, and date
from the early part of the thirteenth century ; the
fox, as was its wont, is running off with a goose;
an ape and a ram are performing on sylvan pipes ;
another ape is playing on a syrinx and carrying a
"hare on its back.

Although such representations may have been
inventions of the artist, it is hardly possible that
they should have been placed in the church without
the will and consent of the ecclesiastical authorities,
■whose intention was evidently to censure by
burlesquing the vices and foibles of their day. But
what must be regarded as most curio as and
characteristic is, that satirical and often necessarily
obscene delineations of this kind, although designed
for moral reproof and correction, should have been
deemed suitable decorations of sacred architecture.
That they sometimes made " the judicious grieve "
we have already seen ; but it is plain that they must
have been sanctioned by the majority of the clergy
and generally approved by the devout laity.

In Beverly Minster the misereres of the stalls
in the choir are adorned with carvings of animals,
in which the adventures of the fox as an itinerant
preacher are more fully delineated than in any
other ecclesiastical edifice. During the middle
ages, Beverly or Inderawood, as it was originally
called, was a popular place of pilgrimage, where
the bones of St John of Beverly, who was Arch-
bishop of York in the eighth century, and canonized
by Benedict IX. in 1037, were revered by pious
multitudes of all classes, that thronged to this
shrine from every part of England, Even after
the Reformation Beverly remained a stronghold o£
Catholicism, and the chief centre of reactionary
movements.

The carvings in question were the work of
" Johannes Wake clericus," whose escutcheon was
a crowing cock (Wake !) ; this chanticleer may have
been, however, a pictorial pun or heraldic rebus, 3
mere canting device, and not necessarily a family
coat-of-arms. They were made in the very year
(1520) in which Luther burned the papal bull at
Wittenberg, and were directed, not against the
secular clergy, to which Wake himself belonged)
but against the mendicant orders, and especially
against the Black Friars (Dominicans) and Gray
Friars (Franciscans), then exceedingly active as
predicants in Beverly, These restless and irritating
elements in the sleek and comfortable sacerdotal
body were perpetual thorns in the flesh to the
conservative dignitaries of the Church, who regarded

them with quite as deep aversion as they did the
heretical Protestants themselves. The following
arc the subjects of the carvings : —

I. A fox running away with a goose and pursued
by a man.

II. A fox in a monk's habit preaching to a flock
of geese ; behind the exhorter is an ape that seizes
every goose within his reach, throwing it over his
shoulder and holding it by the neck ; several of
them are already hanging in this position.

III. The fox is being hanged by geese, six of
them tugging at the rope as executioners, and two
standing by as spectators. To this carving there
are two pendants or side-views; in one the fox is
lying apparently dead under the gallows, and an
ape is removing the noose from the culprit's neck ;
in the other the resuscitated rascal has fallen upon
the sleeping geese and carried off two of them.

IV. The fox steals a goose ; the cries of the
other geese attract the attention of an old woman,
who rushes out of the house, but comes too late to
prevent the robbery.

V. A man pursues a fox with dogs, but the wily
quarry is already safe in its hole and peeping out
with a crafty look. A side-scene shows Reynard
in bed, suffering doubtless from indigestion caused
by over-indulgence in fat poultry.

VI. A fox-hunt with hounds.

VII. Three peasants are hauling a cart with a
fox lying cm it, evidently a representation of
Reynard's trick of pretending to be dead, and being

picked up and thrown on the cart, where the fish,
with which it is laden, can be eaten at leisure.

Besides these episodes from the beast-epos, there-
are many purely grotesque carvings or scenes
intended to enforce moral lessons or to illustrate
the wisdom of homely proverbs ; a cat playing the
fiddle for dancing mice, which she sports with and
finallyeats; an elephant with a howdah ; a dance of'
death with two men in motley ; a man putting his
cart before the horse, and another threshing eggs.
with a flail ; a woman pulling a man by the hair
an animal eating out of a narrow-necked vessel, in;
which its head is stuck fast; a boar-hunt; a stag-
hunt; an owl surrounded by small birds; a lion
with its paw on a woman's head ; a boar playing-
the bagpipe and another the harp, young pigs;
dancing, and an ape on horseback leading three
muzzled bears by chains; a pedlar plundered by
apes ; an ape as doctor examining a flask of urine
an ape dandling an infant; a miser hoarding his
money, while the devil seizes him from behind
drunkard holding a goblet and clutched by a demon,
and finally several canting arms of canons, such as
cocks fighting on a tun (Cockton), persons placing
weights on scales (Witton, i. e. Weight on), »
crowing cock (Wake), and other equally far-fetched
rebuses.

In the church of St. Mary in Beverly are still
older carvings of a like character : two capochcd
foxes at a lectern reading scripture-lessons ; a fox
as friar preaching; a fox engaged in a medical

diagnosis as above ; foxes with crosiers, and each
with a goose in its hood ; and a man riding a goat
with a rabbit under his arm. The dress of the
foxes shows them to be Cistercians.

On the stalls of the choir in Lincoln Cathedral
are somewhat similar wood-carvings dating from
the fourteenth century : two apes bearing a young
ape on a bier, and stopping to pray before a chapel
or shrine ; a crane dropping stones into a bottle in
order to make the water rise within reach ; and the
devil blowing a fire with a bellows and boiling a
kettle, out of which emerges a man wearing a tiara.
This is probably a satire on the election of a pope.

In Ely Cathedral we find a fox preaching to
geese ; the vulpine divine wears an almuce and
stole, and holds a bishop's crook in the left hand ;
in the right hand is a .scroll, with the words already
quoted from a similar representation on the window
of St. Martin's Church in Leicester: "Testis est
mihi Deus quam cupiam vos visceribus meis."
Another fox is running off with a goose, and is
pursued by an old woman with a distaff. There
are also carvings of squirrels, symbols of the con-
stant strivings of the Holy Spirit ; apes ; a hunt ;
a hart trampling on a serpent, typifying Christ
subduing Satan by the waters of salvation ; two
men playing dice and drinking, and a woman stand-
ing near and weeping over a broken bee-hive fallen
to the ground, a moral discourse on drunkenness
as subversive of domestic happiness and thrift

Carvings of a like character decorate the

224 Animal Symbolism

cathedrals of Gloucester and Winchester,
satirize the same religious fraternities, Indeet^
they existed formerly in nearly all the principal
English churches and priories, adorning usually t
stalls of the choir, the lectern, or the organ-loft,
At a later period, when the Reformation began i
be an earnest movement intensively and extensively;
and interpreted these works as deriding the ofHcea
of the Church and scoffing at the clergy, the very
persons to whom they owed their origin, they weM
in many cases destroyed, as, for example, in the
fine old Gothic cathedral at Chester.

In the collegiate church of St. Victor, at Xantea'
on the Rhine, are carvings on the backs of the stalls
of the choir, in which the begging friars are figureA
as a monster with the body and feet of a pig, th©
tail of a fox, and the head of a cowled monk. IK
is a piece of symbolism recalling the portentoua
parof sacerdos mentioned by Lycostheiies (p. 529)^
and embodying in plastic form the opinion ex-i
pressed by Innocent HI., who, as a man of leam^
ing and lover of the nicer elegancies of life, at first
refused to confirm the rules of the order of St.'
Francis, saying that they were more fit for swine
than for human beings.

The Benedictine Odo of Sherington, who lived
in the twelfth century, in his fable of the wolf in
sheep's clothing denounces the rapacity and hypo-
crisy of the Cistercians, stigmatizing them as rene-
gades and legacy -hunters, and declaring that he
would rather associate with a pagan or a Jew than

with such a monk. Many of the carvings already
described derive their inspiration directly from
Odo's fables, and inculcate his teachings.

An American bishop and High-Churchman was
wont to call out to his servant, whenever a dissent-
ing orthodox minister visited him: "John, count
the spoons ; there is an evangelical in the house ! "
This warning, although not intended by the cor-
pulent and otherwise good-humoured prelate to be
taken seriously, expresses the real antipathy of
mediasval bishops and other secular clergy towards
the mendicant and predicant orders.

The embodiment of this feeling in works of art
was by no means confined to the ecclesiastical
edifices of England, although more frequently
met with there than on the Continent, especially
in the churches and monasteries belonging to the
Benedictines. Foxes in the disguise of begging
friars are found in the cathedral of St. Etienne at
Limoges, in St. Jaurin of Evreux, in the cathedral
of Le Mans, and were formerly on the arms of the
seats in the chancel of the cathedral Notre Dame
at Rouen, but were hewn off by an over-zealous
iconoclastic canon.

On the frieze of a column in St. Peter's Church
at Aulnay is the sculpture of an ass standing on
its hind legs and invested with a dalmatica. It
is evidently "Bernard li arcip rest res," as the ass
is called in the Roman de Renart, and may be
regarded as a scoffing allusion to the noble and
saintly reformer of the Bernardines and Cistercians.

226

Animal Symbolism

In the magnificent cathedral of Toledo in Spain
are reliefs carved towards the close of the fifteenth
century, and representing a bear near a beehive in
search of honey; a fox strangling a cock; a womani
riding on a mule to market with two geese
basket, and a fox creeping up behind her in ordef
to steal them ; an ape feeding a duck with a spoon,
and a young ape catching hold of the old one and
evidently soliciting a share of the food ; a pig with
a girdle and a knife (the pig turned butcher); the
story of Aristotle as related in the Lai d'Aristote;
a man in motley approaching a tent, where he iS
received by a naked woman, who draws aside
curtain In order to admit him.

The Lay of Aristotle is a satire on the
of love and the irresistible fascination of ferns
beauty, against which neither philosophic wisdoi
nor old age is proof. The poem, based upon
old tradition, was written by Henri d'Andely,
canon of the cathedral of Notre-Dame of Roui
at the end of the twelfth century, and is contained
in Etienne Barbazan's collection of Fabliaux et
Contes Francois des XII'. — XV'. Slides (Paris,
1756). The fable is briefly as follows. Whilst
Alexander was pursuing his career of conquest in
the Orient, he became so deeply enamoured of cUi
East Indian girl as, in the opinion of his soldiery
to imperil the success of the campaign by givii
to dalliance too much rein. Aristotle was thei
upon deputed by the army to remonstrate
the young monarch, who confessed his fault ai

promised to have no further intercourse with the
.dangerous beauty. Naturally the young lady was
-quick to observe the change, and on reproaching
her lover with neglect and learning the cause of
it, vowed to avenge herself on the officious philo-
sopher. Accordingly the next day she went into
the orchard wearing only a long chemise of finest
muslin, and walked to and fro under Aristotle's
Tvindows, singing to herself and culling flowers.
Aristotle looked out and at first feigned indiffer-
ence, but soon had his wise head turned, and
descending to the orchard made an ardent declara-
tion of love, and expressed his willingness to do
anything to win her favour. As a test of the
sincerity of his affection she demanded that he
should condescend to be her palfrey. After some
hesitation he acceded to this humiliating proposal,
permitted himself to be saddled and bridled, and
began to creep over the grass on all fours with
the exultant girl seated on his back, holding the
5 in one hand and a riding-whip in the other.
Alexander, who had watched the progress of this
gallant adventure from a window of the palace,
now drew near and derided the absurd infatuation
of his grave preceptor, who candidly confessed his
folly, but could not refrain from the pedagogical
habit of drawing a moral lesson from it for the
benefit of others, " Beware," he said, " for if love
can make such a fool of an old man, how much
more dangerous must it be to youth !"

The Lay of Aristotle seems to have been often

228

Animal Symbolism

delineated in Christian art, especially in cloisters,
where it was designed to glorify asceticism and
celibacy. One of the finest representations of it
is a bas-relief underneath a console on the fagade
of the cathedral church of Saint-Jean in Lyons,
dating from the fifteenth century. Behind the
philosopher, degraded

Ljttv.)

to a lady's palfrey, is
a hare, the symbol of
libidinousness ; in the
two comers above are
persons generally sup-
posed to be Alexander
and his mistress; it is
probable, however, that
the scene on the right,

slightly mutilated, represents Aristotle declaring
his love, and the one on the left the young lady-
imposing the conditions on which her favour may
be secured. There is also a sculpture of the story
of Aristotle on a capital in the church of Saint-
Pierre in Caen, as well as one in the apex of an
arch and another on the base of a column in the
cloister of Cadouin. They used to be interpreted
as portraying the conjugal relations of Samson
and Delilah, but really have a broader application
in illustration of the concluding lines of Henri
d'Andeiy's poem —

" Veritez est, et je le di,
Qu' amors vainc lout et tout vaincra
Tant com cis si6cles durera."

Medijeval legend makes Vergil the hero of an
equally farcical affair of gallantry with the
daughter of the Emperor of Rome, who invited
him to a rendezvous at the foot of a tower in
which she dwelt. She then ordered her attendants
to let down from her window a basket by a rope,
for the ostensible purpose of drawing him up ; but
instead of being lifted to the goal of his lofty hopes
he was left suspended in the midway air, and
became an object of scoffing to every passer-by.
This episode was also sculptured on a pillar in
the cloister of Cadouin, but has been gradually
destroyed, so that only few traces of it are now
left. It was commonly supposed to represent the
manner in which Saul of Tarsus after his con-
version escaped the fury of the Jews by being let
down in a basket from the wall of Damascus.
The monks were extremely fond of selecting the
wisest and most illustrious men of pagan antiquity,
and thus satirizing their frailty in their relations
to women in order to exalt their own cloistered
virtue and saintly chastity.

These cynical, satirical, moral, and sometimes
perhaps purely fanciful delineations, with the
description of which it would be easy to fill a large
volume, were derived almost exclusively from the
cycle of Reynard's adventures, as recorded in dif-
ferent versions of the beast-epos, and have rarely
any relation to the Pkysiotogus. But it is not
probable that they would have ever found admis-

aion to church edifices or have served to decorate
ecclesiastical architecture, if the Physiologus had
not furnished a precedent and thus justified the
intrusion. In the footsteps of the fabulous fauna
and mythical monstrosities of the Physiolostis and
the bestiaries, as they were led along by exegeticj
threads of the slenderest and flimsiest sort into th(
innermost sanctuary, followed the whole lively anj
noisy pack of Reynard and his companions, wIk
soon took possession of the chancel, the chapel^
and the pulpit, and finally overran the entire buildt
ing, nestling in capitals, creeping along cornice^
squatting on balustrades, peeping out of illuminatecli
windows, peering over portals, and grimacing :
gargoyles from the roof. The beasts, which gained
admittance as symbols of divine mysteries and
illustrations of theological dogmas, were succeeded
and superseded by other beasts, which were i
first intended to caricature the preaching friars
and to censure their vices, but at last came to be
regarded as a parody of the sacred rites themselves,
and a satire on those who celebrate them.

The Romance of Reynard was diverted
polemical purposes, just as the Vision of Pie\
Plowman was at the time of the Reformation.
William Langland did not write his poem with
any intention of assailing the Catholic religion,
although he did not hesitate to expose ecclea-i
astical abuses, and thus supplied the Reformers o
the sixteenth century with a full quiver, frooi

:ives,

d M
Pier^

which they drew many keen-pointed darts to hurl

against the hated hierarchy. As is well known,
the writings of Chaucer and Petrarch were used
very effectively in the same way. The author of
Piers Plowman is extremely severe in his stric-
tures on the " foure ordres " of begging friars,
namely, Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites, and
Augustines ; especially the first two seem to have
been the peculiar objects of his aversion. The
Benedictines hated these orders, and not only
warned the people against them in sermons, but
abo burlesqued them in the carvings, paintings,
and sculptures of their cloisters and churches,
portraying them as wily foxes, ravenous wolves,
asses, hogs, and stinking and salacious goats ; and
there is no doubt that the obnoxious frkres, how-
ever worthy may have been the original objects
pf the brotherhoods, soon degenerated into persons
who made a profession of poverty, but practised
all sorts of fraud to enrich their convents, which
became in a short time the grandest and wealthiest
in England. They succeeded in acquiring immense
influence over the masses, and thereby excited the
envy and jealousy of the secular clergy, and made
themselves odious to the better classes by reason
of their intrigues and arrogance, and their success
in extorting rich bequests from the dying. They
were the sensational preachers of their day, and
sought to attract crowds by novel doctrines, eccen-
tric manners, coarse wit, funny stories, rhetorical
pyrotechnics, and other astounding feats of pulpit

Animal Symbolism

prestidigitation, so that Langland was wholly
justified in denouncing them as

who

" ryht as Robertes men raken aboute
At feires and ai ful ales and fylkn the cuppe,
And prechelh all of pardon lo plesen the puple."

In the frequent representations of animals per
forming on musical instruments and like whimsicai
conceits the artist did not take his subjects eithd
from the Physiologus or the beast-epos, but '
permitted to give line and scope to the sarcastit
suggestions of his own fancy in censure of public
folly and iniquity. On the stalls of the choi
Boston Minster, St. Botolph's in Lincolnshire, and
on a churchwarden's pew now in the H6tel
Cluny, are carvings of pigs playing on the organ
or on the harp. The hog and also the dog af
harpist occur in St, Peter's Cathedral, Poitier^
and date from the first half of the thirteentl^
century. In the cathedral of Burgos, a splendid
monument of pure Gothic style erected by GermUl
architects in the thirteenth century, are carvingi
of a bishop carried off by a buli-headed devil ;
knights and their ladies dancing to the dulcet
tones of a lute ; pigs seated on stools and eating,
pap out of pots ; wine-skins as knights on horse-
back, with lances in the rest and ready to tilt,
evidently a caricature of tournaments and persii-
flage of theological polemics ; a sow spinning

while giving suck to her farrow, and a boar caus-
ing the organ to peal for the entertainment and
edification of his family ; a. sow playing on the
bagpipe, and her pigs dancing round an over-
turned trough ; a man assailed and knocked down
by apes, whose young he had captured ; a fox
as hunter riding on a dog, and carrying on his
shoulders another dog tied by its hind legs to a
stick, showing how the tables may be turned. As
it was the assumed and generally acknowledged
function of the Church to correct and reprove all
forms of vice and folly, and to do what Hamlet
asserted to be "the purpose of playing," namely,
"to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own
image, and the very age and body of the time
his form and pressure," perhaps we have in these
beastly musicians a satire on the numerous wander-
ing minstrels, mediaeval Bohemians, and vagabond
Beghards, whose morals were not of the best.
Some such motive would explain their admission
into the Church more satisfactorily than to regard
them as mere caprices of the artist, which the
ecclesiastical authorities tolerated simply because
they amused the pubiic. Besides, the repetition
of them in so many churches in different coun-
tries would imply a general scheme of reform
and systematic crusade against the prevailing
iniquities.

The collegiate church at Manchester, in which
many grotesque designs of this sort are found,
contains also hunting-scenes with tuns, evidently

234

Animal Symbolism

allusions in rebus to Huntington, the first warden.-
In numerous instances it is impossible to solve,
these artistic puzzles, as neither history nor local'
tradition has preserved the key to them. An eagte
flying away with a child to its aerie is the memorial
of an incident said to have occurred in the housQ
of Stanley, one of whose members, James Stanley,
was the warden of Manchester College from 1506
to ISiS-^ The same family tradition is carved cni
a stool in the chancel of Salisbury Cathedral, and
might easily be mistaken for an eagle mounting up
with an eaglet to the sun.

Rats hanging a cat in the presence of owls, that
are looking on with judicial gravity and an air of
profound legal wisdom, are depicted in Great Mai*
vern Abbey, and may illustrate the doctrine of fin^
retribution.

Beside excellent specimens of the commonet
symbols founded on the Physiologus, such as the
unicorn asleep in the lap of a virgin, the pelican
feeding her young with blood from her breast, anti
others of a similar character, there is, on one (
the stalls in the chancel of Boston Minster, the
carving of an armed knight on a steed in hamesqi
While the horse is in full gallop one of its shot
is flung off, but the rider, without stopping, turaj
round in his saddle and catches the shoe in hi)
hand as it flies through the air. Meissner suggesti
that this may be mythological, and celebrate the

' Cf. Herrig'a Archiv, kv. 217-222.

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 235

exploit of some Scandinavian god or hero. More
probably, however, it immortalizes the marvellous
feat of some Lincolnshire chevalier, and has only
a local importance,

On the old church of Marienhafen, in East Fries-
land, were numerous animals cut in stone, which
adorned the portal and extended on the frieze
entirely round the building. The edifice was de-
molished in 1829, but the city architect of Emden,
Marten, made drawings of the sculptures as they
lay scattered about in the churchyard, and they
were subsequently published by the " Gesellschaft
flir bildende Kunst und vaterlandische Alterthiimer
zu Emden," I One series of these works of art tells
the story of the wolf at school, and does not differ
essentially from the reliefs at Freiburg already
described. Another series portrays the burial of
the fox, and follows quite closely the text of the
last branch of the Roman de Renart. An animal
in a cowl is reading the Gospel, another is cele-
brating mass at an altar, while an ape, as acolyte,
rings the sacring-bell; a fourth animal is standing
on its hind legs and reading the lections.

The next scene is a funeral banquet : one of the
animals is sweeping the dining-hall, another draw-
ing wine, a third carrying a bowl or pitcher, and
others bringing food into the hall, where numerous
animals are feasting. At the table three apes are
carving a joint, a fourth is eating a piece of bread,

1 Cf. Das Oitfriesiscke Monafsblatt, June, 187S.

236 Animal Symbolism

and a fifth is holding an empty glass to be filled.
Then comes the funeral procession : one animal
with a censer, another with a cross, a hog with
an aspergill and a basin of holy water, an ass itt
priestly robes, a horse as sexton with a spad^
a camel with a tabor, a goat with a bell, a wolf
bearing a crucifix, a pig with a shovel, and a fox
lying on a bier. In another scene at the grave two
horned animals seize the deceased by the head and
feet and lay him in the pit. These are the under-"
takers, Brichemer the stag and Belin the ram, aar
described in the French poem —

" Li Cors onl iluec descendu
Qui covert iert d'un paile vert,
Et quant il I'orent descovert
Brichemer par le chief le prist,
Ainsi con Bemart li aprist,
Qui maint mis en terre en avoit ;
A BeUn que devant lui voit
A fet Renart par les piez prendre.
En la fosse sanz plus attendre
L'ont mis et couchie doucement,
Et I'Arcipreslre innelement
Geta sus I'eue beneoite."

In the sculptures a priest, standing behind thestag,'4
gives the benediction, an animal resembling a pigfl
sprinkles holy water with an aspergill, and an apeJ
gazes sorrowfully into the grave, by which twO-J
shovels are lying. The animals are much defaced, f
so that it is impossible sometimes to determine!
what kind of creatures they are intended to repre- f
sent. Another group tells the story of the goat u
the well.

The western portal of the cathedral of Branden-
burg on the Havel is adorned with reliefs similar
to those already described. In the first scene a
fox as friar is reading scripture- lessons to some
geese ; in the second he is preaching to them from
a pulpit, but before the sermon is ended rushes into
■the devout flock and seizes a plump auditress by
the neck. Then follows the trial, with geese as
witnesses, the judge sitting on a chair and an exe-
cutioner at his side with a drawn sword ; finally
the culprit makes confession and saves his life.
Among the sculptures, all of which are seriously
injured, is one of a man fighting a basilisk with
a venom -repel ling cone of crystal as described in
the Physiologus.

The cornice of the cathedral of Paderborn is
decorated with delineations of scenes from the
fables. In the first, the fox and the crane are dining
together, the latter eating with relish out of a tall
and narrow-necked vase in which the food is con-
tained, while the former must be content with what
can be got by licking the outside of the vessel ; in
the second, a crane is extracting a bone from the
throat of a fox, doubtless in this connection simply
a representation of the incident described in the
fable, without any reference to the symbolism of
saving souls from the jaws of hell, as is elsewhere
the case. Thirdly, an old woman sitting on a
bench and spinning strikes with her distaff an ape,
which is trying to steal a dish of food. Finally,
there are sculptures of a frog and a swan, whose

Animal Symbolism

aquatic habits may have some relation to the re-
viving and transforming virtue of the baptismal
rite and the waters of salvation. Perhaps the
change of the batrachian from tadpole to frog may
furnish the basis of this symbolism of regeneration.
In the Egyptian Museum at Turin is a lamp rf
terra-cotta in the shape of a frog, with the inscrip-
tion Era EIMI ANATACIC : " I am the resurrec-
tion." The Vedic poet Vasishtha {Rigveda, vii. 103)
invokes the frogs as deities, and compares their
croaking to the chanting of Brahmans, who are
performing sacrificial rites, and praying to the
cloud-compelling Parjaiiya for rain in time of
drought. The frog that lows like a cow, and bleats
like a goat, the speckled and the green frog are
entreated jointly and severally to refresh and en-
rich and renew the earth. In the Liber de Htsri-
sibus (xi.) of Philaster, Bishop of Brescia, the frog-
worshippers {ranarum cultores) are mentioned as
an heretical Christian sect ; and a law of the year
428 forbade Arians, Macedonians, and Batrachi-
tians to reside within the limits of the Roman
Empire, It may have been due to this tendency
to worship frogs that their entrails were used as
charms in ancient times (Juvenal, iii. 44), and pre-
scribed as a potent medicament by medizevai
quacksalvers. Although the swan is not men-
tioned in the Physiologus, the melancholy musical
tones which it is supposed to utter when dying,
and especially after having been mortally wounded,
are often compared by early Christian poets to

the last utterances of the crucified Saviour and the
sweet resignation of the blessed martyrs. This
figurative application of the fabled characteristic
of the bird would account for its presence in eccle-
siastical architecture.

In the window-frame of an outside corridor of
the same church are three hares hewn in stone, and
having altogether only three ears, but so arranged
that each hare seems to have two ears. This
sculpture may have symbolized originally the
doctrine of the Trinity, but in the present instance
has no religious significance, since it was placed
there probably as a votive offering by the travelling
handicraftsmen of Paderbom as the badge or en-
sign of their guild. In the cloister of the Fran-
ciscan nuns at Muotta, in Switzerland, is a wood-
carving of three hares similarly arranged ; in this
case it was doubtless intended to be an emblem of
Trinitarianism.

In the parish church of Kempen on the Rhine
the misericords are adorned with nearly thirty

carvings illustrating fables and proverbs. Here
we have not only the crane eating out of a tall and

240

Animal Symbolism

slender vessel, as at Paderbom, but also the countc
plot of the fox who turns the tables on the craii
by inviting the latter to dinner and serving I
food as thin soup in a shallow dish, from which h
easily and eagerly laps it up, while his long-t
guest gets scarcely a drop. A man threshing egj
with a flail would be interpreted in general as 2
example of energy misapplied ; but in this case S
has a special censorious significance not commonin
understood. It was one of the privileges of t

Carvugs sd SoIIi in Patish Churth or Kempco.

clergy to collect eggs from parishioners du
Lent, and the exercise of this right was popularly^
known as Eierdreschen (egg- threshing), owing I
the diligence and zeal with which these ovari
contributions were levied. The man beating e
with a flail satirizes this odious exaction, and i
carved on the stalls of many churches in the Rhine- 1
lands, as, for example, at Calcar, Cleves, and £m*a
merich.^ Other carvings at Kempen refer to thej

' In connection with this form of tribute it may be mentioned
as a parody on trial by ordeal, that if any person'
butian amounted to haif an ^%% and he refused to give I
whole one, it was customary to lay the e^ on the threshold fl*
the house and strike it in two with a knife ; if the yolk flowi

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 241

I same custom, and are evidently intended to deride
I the egg-hunting parson ; such as a man holding an
I egg up to the light to see if it is fresh, a man feel-
L ing of a hen in order to ascertain the prospect of
Ts, so as not to be deceived by any excusatory

! plea of the peasant that the hens don't lay, a man
I sitting on eggs to hatch them, and a man weeping
■ a basket full of eggs fallen to the ground.
' Of the other representations, more or less sarcastic

a their purpose, are a fisherman drawing an eel-pot
out of the water; another hauling in a net; a fox
preaching to fowls, while a cowled confederate lies

242

Animal Symbolism

in wait for them behind the pulpit ; two dogs fighl
ing over a bone ; a fox swimming after ducks
j)ond ; an ass kneeling with a pack on its back aiU
a rosary in its mouth ; a man casting daisies befoH
swine {margaritas ante porcos), a confusion of t

pearl (mai^arite) with the flower (marguerite) ; i
ass playing the lyre (asinus ad lyrmn) ; a pig play^
ing the bagpipe ; a fox confessing a bird, as it %
usually explained, but more probably a delineatioB

of the incident related in the Roman de Renart, i
which Hubert the kite officiates as confessor t
Reynard and is suddenly seized and eaten byti
crafty confessant; a bear getting honey out ( '
hive ; a cat sitting near a bell, to which a stra
attached, and surrounded by four mice, who i

In Ecclesiastical Architecture

243

evidently trying to devise the best means of putting
it round her neck. Erast aus'm Weerth thinks the
cat rings the bell to entice the mice, perhaps to a
supper, "not where they eat, but where they are
eaten," as Hamlet would say ; this interpretation is
far-fetched and absurd ; the intention of the artist
was simply to illustrate the phrase " to bell the cat"
The ass with a rosary is also carved on a stall in
the Minorite cloister of Cleves, and dates from the
year 1474; it was designed to throw ridicule on
the Dominicans, whose founder, in the second
decade of the thirteenth century, introduced the
rosary as a means of keeping a proper tale of
prayers, and who were held in derision on this
account, especially by their rivals the Franciscans.
The idea of performing devotions by counting beads
was not original with Domingo de Guzman, but was
borrowed from the Mohammedans. The pack is
the heavy burden of sin, which the new and im-
proved system of supplication by machinery is
expected to lighten. At Kempen there are also
carvings of a man shearing swine, great cry and
little wool, a general illustration of the proverb, and
perhaps a special satire on preaching friars ; a mer-
maid with comb and mirror, probably the German
siren of the Lorelei ; a pig putting on trousers ; an
ape carrying a young donkey in a dosser, or maybe
one of her own young, although the creature in the
pannier has a decidedly asinine look; an owl view-
ing its face in a mirror, a rebus of the typical medi-
aeval wag Tyll Eulenspiegel ; a pelican feeding hecj

244

Animal Symbolism

brood with her blood, and other more common or
less striking delineations, all of which are remark-
able for their fidelity to natnre, and show in the
main, a wonderful degree of technical skill in their
execution. This realistic and indi vidua! izing tend-
ency reveals itself in the care and exactness with
which the minutest characteristics are observed and
reproduced. They are the works of the Flemish
school of wood-carving, which flourished during the
fifteenth century at many places in the Rhinelands,
and especially at Calcar.

As has been already stated, the same subjects
with some additions and
slight variations are treat-
ed in St. Martin's Church
at Emmerich, in the church
of St. Nicholas at Calcar,
and in the Minorite clois- i
Jolly FKir >nd Tmkcr. tcr of Clevcs, although the

IMbaritiCisiiltriiCUMi.') . . - . .

carvmgs are mfenor in ,
artistic execution to those of Kempen. At
Cleves are also representations of a man riding
backwards on a pig ; a man stroking a cat ; two
mendicant monks, one holding a fire-pot and the
other a bellows ; the same monks fighting; a friar
and a tinker having a jollification together ; and a
cloven-hoofed animal reading a breviary and sup-
posed to be the devil ; unfortunately for this inter-
pretation the German devil is not cloven-footed,
but solipedous, 'having a hoof like that of a horse.
The creature is evidently meant to be a stag, which

in the beast-epos discharges the grave functions of
an ecclesiastic. At Calcar the hare plays the bag-
pipe, and on the back of one of the stalls reclines
a queer man-monster with the breasts of a woman,
the feet of a goat, fins on his legs, faces on his
shoulders and knees, and eyes in his hips, read-
ing a book. At Emmerich a goat nibbling a grape
vine exemplifies the fable of the goat as gardener,
and a man sitting between two stools illustrates
the vice of indecision and the danger of playing
fast and loose with principles.

It may be added, in concluding this portion of
the subject, that the church edifices of the Nether-
lands were formerly richly adorned with paintings
and sculptures of a symbolical, satirical, and didactic
character, but that they have been nearly alt
destroyed. The work of demolition, begun by
Catholic iconoclasts, was continued by Calvinistic
reformers, and completed by French radicals and
revolutionists.

CHAPTER V

WHIMSEVS OF ECCLESIOLOGY AND SYMBOLOGY

Universality of the symbolism of the cross — Cruciform
phenomena in nature— The sign of the cross in the Old
Testament, and its prefigurative significance — Wonder-
working power of the cross in Jewish history — 1»
presence in the Garden of Eden and in the Hebrew
alphabet — The cosmos has the form of a cross — Influence
of the doctrine of the Trinity upon art — Trinitarian
suggestions in the material creation — Mystic meanings
in sacred architecture — ^Symbolism of bells and signifi-
cance of orientation — Superstitious regard for the poinis
of thecompass — Transition from christolatry to hagiolatry
— Subtilities of ecclesiology^Meagreness of Hebrew
mythology — Exercise of the mythopteic faculty by the
Rabbis — Early Christian opposition to the theatre-
Theatrical rites and indecent amusements in churcbes
and cloisters — Feast of Fools, etc. — Analogy between the
anatomy of the ass and the architecture of a cathedral
— Jewish and Christian reverence for the ass — Feast of
the Ass — Symbolism swallowed up in buffoonery — Traffic
in holy relics— Satirized in Heywood's play of The Four
P.P. — Anatomical peculiarities of saints — Queer fi-eaks
in sacred osteology — Specimens of relics in Catholic
churches — Miraculous power of self-multiplication—
Choice collection of Frederic the Wise — Anti-Semitic
sculptures in Christian churches — Coarse relief ridiculing
the Jews at Wittenberg, and its interpretation by Luther
— Similar carvings in other cities — Decrees of John the
Good and Frederic the Hohenstaufe concerning usury
— Classical myths in Christian art— Orpheus a prototype

Animal Symbolism 247

of Christ — Bacchus and the Lord's vineyard — Greek
comic poets adored as Christian saints — Isis as the
Virgin Mary— Crude symbolism of early Christian art —
Influence of Pagan antiquity— The peacock as a Christian
emblem — Moraliiation of the myth of A(gus and lo^
Sirens and centaurs in architecture— The Sigurd Saga
— Weighing of souls — Recording angels and devils —
Woman as an emissary of Satan — The devil in Christian
art— Dance of death — Oldest representation of it — Its
democratic character and popularity — Manuscripts with
miniatures — Holbein's drawings — Sensational sermons
of Honors de Sainte Marie — Modem delineations of the
theme by Rethel, Seitz, Liihrig, and others.

As the cross was the symbol of human redemption,
and the whole creation since the Fall was supposed
to have been groaning and travailing together in
longing for the advent of the Messiah and the
consummation of the Atonement, the Fathers of
the Church and the later defendants of the faith,
Tertullian, Justin Martyr, Jerome, Origen, Jacobus
de Voragine, and Hrabanus Maurus, imagined they
discovered cruciform and cruciferous phenomena
everywhere in animate and inanimate nature, and
laid great stress upon this fancy as an incontestable
proof of the divine origin of Christianity. Further-
more, as the Jewish people was the special channel
through which this salvation was to be received,
the literary and historical records of the Jews were
assumed to be full of allusions to the cross, and
their religious rites were interpreted as having no
purpose or validity except as prophecies and pre-
figurations of it. We are told that man was created
in the form of a cross, a curious and characteristic
example of what logicians call hysteron-proteron,

248 Animal Symbolism

or what in common parlance is said to be putting
the cart before the horse, since the cross took this
shape because, as an instrument of human punislw
ment and torture, it was made to fit the man.
Again, as a primitive phy si co-psychology resolved
man into seven elements, four of the body and
three of the soul, so the cross is composed of font
notches and three pieces of wood. Three multiplied
by four makes twelve, and this number corresponds
to the sum of the commandments of the Old (ten)
and New (two) Testaments. Four and three fonO
respectively the basis of the quadrivium and t
trivium, which together constitute the seven Ubera
arts, and comprise the whole cycle of humaS
knowledge. The cross was made of wood, becauSft
it was through a tree that man fell, and by a t
he must be raised up and redeemed. Indeed some
typologists are sufficiently strenuous to maintaift
that the cross was originally a tree in the Garden
of Eden, where it grew in the form of the Hebrew
ktter Tau (T), that Adam and Eve hid themselve*
behind it, after they had sinned and when they
heard the voice of God, and that the blood of th«
murdered Abel cried out from under it, thu*
prefiguring the expiatory blood of Christ, It wa*
a branch of this tree that Moses cast into thft
waters of Marah to make them sweet, and the grei^
lawgiver's wonder-working wand was a piece of
the same wood. The world itself is constructed id
the shape of a cross, whose four points correspond
to the four cardinal points or intersections of ths

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 249

horizon with the meridian. Birds cannot rise in
the air and fly unless their wings are extended in
the form of a cross ; men assume this attitude in
prayer and in swimming ; a ship cannot sail with-
out making the sign of the cross with the mast
and the yard-arms ; and the spade with which man
tills the ground, toiling in the sweat of his brow as
the penalty of his transgression, is cruciform. A
poet and divine of the seventeenth century has put
these forced conceits into a verse quite worthy of
the theme —

" Who can blot out the cross, which Ih' instrument
Of God dewed on me in the sacrament ?
Who can deny me power and liberty
To stretch mine arms, and mine own cross to be P
Swim, and at every stroke thou art thy cross I
The mast and yard make one when seas do toss.
Look down, thou sp/st ever crosses in small things;
Look up, thou scest birds raised on crossed wings.
All the globe's frame and sphere is nothing else
But the meridian's crossing parallels."

In the twelfth chapter of the Epistle of Barnabas,
the act of Moses in stretching out his hands, in
order that Israel might overcome Amalek in battle,
is said to signify the power of the cross. The
same interpretation is given to the words of Isaiah ;
" I have spread out my hands all the day unto
a rebellious people," which mystic christology
explains as the rejection of the crucified Saviour
by the Jews. The youthful David prevailed over
Goliath because he had a cross-shaped staff in his
hand, to which alone he owed his victory. The

250 Animal Symbolism

two sticks which the widow of Zarephath gathered
to cook a cake with, she held in the form of S
cross, and it was the wonder-working virtue of this
sign that caused the barrel of meal to waste no^
and the cruse of oil not to fail ; afterwards t
prophet Elijah restored her son to life by stretching
himself three times upon the child in the form
a cross and in adoration of the Trinity,
faggot which Isaac bore on his shoulder? to th(j
place of sacrifice took the same shape, and it v
for this reason that God sent an angel to arresfe
the hand of Abraham, and accepted a ram for a
burnt-offering instead of his son. That the brazen
serpent which Moses put upon a pole prefigured
the Crucifixion is not a matter of the slightea
doubt, even to the most enlightened crthodox
hermeneutician of the present day. St. Jerome
was so sure of this that he did not scruple to
translate "in cruce" the phrase which meana
simply "upon a pole," and is so rendered in tho
Septuagint (h 8ok£); and an eminent Americas
divine recently declared that the efficacy of tlM
brazen serpent in healing the children of Israel
was due solely to its typical connection with tho
atoning death of Christ The fact that Tau, ths
imaginary symbol of the cross, is the last letter o
the Hebrew alphabet, was adduced as conclusive!
proof that Judaism, in reality the most intensely
tribal of all religions, and reflecting more fully
than any other the life and character of the race
that originated it, existed merely as a system (

shadowy types, having for its whole end and aim
the gospel of the cross.^ The same sort of reason-
ing has discovered a profound significance in the
accidental resemblance of the Roman numeral X
to St Andrew's cross (trux dt-cussata), which must
therefore bear some mystic relation to the decalogue.
The pascha, according to Justin Martyr, was a
symbolic adumbration of the Crucifixion. " For
the lamb which was roasted was so placed as to
resemble the figure of a cross ; with one spit it
was pierced longitudinally, from the tail to the
head ; with another it was transfixed through the
shoulders, so that the fore legs became extended."
However natural it may have been for Paul, as a
Jew, to speak of Christ metaphorically as " our
Passover," it is little creditable to the critical
acumen and logical perception of later theologians
that they should have taken this figure of speech
literally, and reared an imposing christological
superstructure on the unsubstantial basis of a
trope. The smearing of the door-posts with blood
in the celebration of the Jewish feast, says Justin
Martyr, has direct reference to the death of the
Redeemer, " because the Greek word to smear,
■XftCcrOai, and the word Christ are the same," As
smearing is only another term for anointing, and
Christ means anointed, and is the Greek synonym

' " Unde non in conveni enter reor quod sicut omnium
elementorum finis est, ita totidem librorum veteris Testa-
menti finis est crux."— Paschasius Radbert, /» Lam. Jer,
BibL Patrutn, xiv. 773.

of the Hebrew Messiah (vidsAia/t), there is nothing
very startling in such an etymological coincidence.

Before the twelfth century Christ was represented
as fastened to the cross with four nails, one in each
hand and foot ; but out of deference to the doctrine
of the Trinity it was deemed necessary to use only
three nails ; the feet were therefore made to rest
upon a wooden support, held to the upright beam
by a single nail. Soon afterwards the simpler
method was devised of placing one foot upon the
other with a spike driven through both of them.
Cimabue was the first to adopt this mode of
arranging the feet in painting ; and it was in
twentieth year of his age that the celebration of
the Feast of the Holy Trinity in the Romish
Church was authorized and enjoined by the Synod
of Aries (1260). This is but one example of the
far-reaching and permanent influence of ecclesi-
astical decrees and the promulgation of dogmas
upon art.

The legends of the Holy Rood surpass in ex-
travagance and absurdity all that pagan Germans
ever fabled of the sacred ash Yggdrasil, or Brah-
mans of their sacrificial post, the Yupa, or Buddhists
of the B6dhitree. With what persistence and
apparent pleasure the theological mind still continues
to run in this old and abandoned rut, is startUngly
and depressingly revealed in a paper on " Vestiges
of the Blessed Trinity in the Material Creation,"
published in T/t£ Dud/in Review for January 1893
by the Rev. John S. Vaughan, who finds traces of

L

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 253

this doctrine " written large across the whole face
of nature," and everywhere suggested by "such
familiar things as rocks, mountains, seas, and
lakes." He discovers " the mystery of the Trinity "
in the fact that every object has three dimensions,
that a plant is composed of seed, stalk, and flower ;
that life is " vegetative, sensitive, and rational " ;
that matter is solid, fluid, and gaseous ; that time is
past, present, and future ; and above all, that there
are " three fundamental colours," which " dissolve
in the unity of white light." Red, he says, is the
caloric ray, and corresponds to the Father, the
source of vital warmth and energy ; the yellow is
the luminous ray, and corresponds to the Son,
" the Light of the world " ; the blue is the chemical
or actinic ray, and corresponds to the Holy Spirit,
If cucumbers or melons, he adds, be placed under
glass absorbing the blue ray, they will grow rapidly
and put forth luxuriant blossoms, but soon fade
away without bearing fruit, and this phenomenon
he calls " a physical reflection of the Christian
precept, 'Quench not the Spirit.'" Only an in-
tellect that had been wont to feed upon the husks
of hermeneutic theology, to the exclusion of all
whole somer nutriment, could conceive of such
twaddle, and offer it to an enhghtened public as
an argument from analogy. The wonder is that
he did not go more deeply into the exact and
natural sciences, and make the triangle, the trefoil,
and the trilobite a three-fold confirmation of Trini-
tarianism. The investigator who puts Nature to

254 Animal Symbolism

the rack, and questions her like an inquisitor with
the boot and the thumbkin, can easily extort froiii
her a confession of the truth of any whimsey ho
may choose to entertain.

William Durand, in his Rationale Divinorwm
Officionim, printed in 1459 by Gutenberg and Fust
at Mayence, makes every portion of the church
edifice full of symbolic significance. The erudite
and ingenious ecclesiologist gives free rein to his
fancy, and discovers mystic meanings in the struc-
ture, of which the architect had not the faintest
presentiment. The latter seems, therefore, to have
"builded better than he knew," and to have put
unconsciously into his work more things than he
ever dreamed of in draughting his designs, just as
the great poets, Dante, Shakespeare, and Goethe,
have embodied in their writings many deep
thoughts of which they themselves were utterly
ignorant, and which would have been wholly lost to
the world if some learned and acute commentator
had not taken pains to point them out. Thus,
according to Durand, the stones represent the
faithful ; the lime, which binds the stones together,
is fervent love and charity; its mixture with sand
refers to " actions performed for the temporal good
of our brethren"; the water, that serves to mix the
lime and sand, is an emblem of the Holy Spirit;
and "as stones cannot adhere without mortar, so
man without charity cannot enter as an element
into the construction of the heavenly Jerusalem."

Also bells, being made of brass, are shriller and

louder than the trumpets of the law, and denote
that GcKi, who under the old dispensation was
known only to the Jews, is now proclaimed to the
whole world ; the durable material out of which
they are formed indicates that the truths of the
Gospel are not to be superseded, but will endure
to the end of time; the hardness of this material
signifies the fortitude of the Christian apostle, to
whom it is said: "I have given thee a forehead
more hard than their forehead." Paul's assertion:
" I am become as sounding brass," proves that the
bell typifies the mouth of the preacher, whose
tongue, like that of the bell, strikes both sides,
expounding and proclaiming both Testaments ; it
shows aiso that the preacher should, on one side,
correct vice in himself, and, on the other side, re-
prove it in his hearers. The wooden frame on
which the bell is suspended stands for the cross ;
the iron fastening it to the wood is the binding
force of moral duty, which is inseparable from the
cross. The wheel by which the bell is rung is the
preacher's mind, through which the knowledge of
the divine law passes into the understanding of the
people ; and the three cords or strands of the bell-
rope denote the threefold character of Scripture,
consisting of history, allegory, and morality. As
the rope descends from the wooden trestle to the
hand, so the mystery of the cross descends to the
hand and produces good works ; while the upward
and downward motion of the rope shows that
Scripture speaks of high things and low things, or,

256

Animal Symbolism

in other words, is to be interpreted literally and

mystically.

Curiously enough, there are still educated persons
who earnestly pursue researches and fondly indulge
in speculations of this sort, and seem to be edified
thereby. In a book on Symbolisms in the Churchit
of the Middle Ages, written by J. Mason Neablft
and Benjamin Webb, and translated into Frendl'
with an introduction by the Abbe Bourasste
(Tours, 1857), the authors, as staunch Catholics,
gard the use of the ogive in Protestant churches aA
a desecration of this symbol of the Holy Trinity,
No Catholic architect, they declare, should design
a triple window for a dissenting or heretical sect
(including the Established Church of England), ot
introduce the trefoil into such building, since this
use of them would be a " sacrilegious prostitution
of sacred architecture, which is the voice of the
Church." The only wonder is, from this point of
view, that the Creator should permit clover and
other trifoliate plants to grow in Protestant ceme-
teries or tricuspid molars in a heretic's mouth, and
that an angry and outraged Deity does not strike
the impious Unitarian dead who dares to sit on
a three-legged stool, or presumes to steep his tea on
a tripsd.

Touching the signification of orientation in ec-
clesiastical architecture, Gregory the Great, in his
exposition of Ezekiel xl. 6, says the east gate of
the temple in the prophet's vision designates Jesus
Christ. " Who else can be meant by this gate

\l

but our Lord and Redeemer, who is to us the gate
of heaven, as it is written, ' No man cometh unto
the Father but by Me ' ; and again, ' He that
entereth not in by the door . . , the same is a
tbief and a robber ' ; and then soon afterwards, ' I
am the door.' He it is of whom Zechariah said,
Behold the man, whose name is the East.' • The
gate looking toward the East refers, therefore,
to Him who has shown us the way to the source of
light" One cannot but admire the cogency of the
illustrious pope's reasoning, and the peculiar perti-
nence of his scriptural citations.

According to the Talmud, the manifestations of
God are revealed in the West in distinction from
the East, toward which the heathen and the heretics
(Essenes) turn their faces in their devotions.
Patristic superstition, on the contrary, looked upon
the West as the seat of darkness, and the abode of
demons ; for this reason, the rose-window was
placed high up in the western wall of the church,
as the light of the Gospel that is thus made visible
to those sitting in darkness, and "turneth the
shadow of death into the morning."^ The towers
at the western end of the edifice, with their
bells, were intended to terrify and discomfit the
demons, and, at the same time, to summon the

The passage (Zech. v'u ra) reads in the Vulgate : " Ecce
oriens comen ejus." In the original, the word here
islated "oriens" means "springing up," and in our
English version is rendered "the Branch."

* Cf. Lactantius, Divin, Inslit., ii. lo ; Hieron^, In Amos
and In Ezeck.

258

Animal Symbolism

nations to Christ, who in the earliest churche^a
was seated over the western entrance to receives
them. After the twelfth century, when the dreadj
of the last judgment, which it was suppose
would take place at the end of the elevenlM
century and introduce the millennium, had com
pletely passed away, the space above the door-J
way was usually occupied by the image of the.a
saint to whom the church was dedicated, thusfl
marking a transition from christolatry to hagl*^
olatry. The sculptures of the doorway plan^fl
and the paintings of the Catharine-wheel windows,
very frequently represented the revolt of the
angels, as may be seen in Freiburg Minster, and
in the cathedral of SL John in Lyons. The
North is the region of meteorological devils^sl
which, under the dominion and leadership of thsf
" Prince of the power of the air," produce stormsj
and convulsions in nature, and foster unrulj^l
passions and deeds of violence in man. The evi
principle, as embodied in unclean beasts and.l
exhibited in obscene and lascivious actions, wa^l
properly portrayed in the sculptures and paintingsij
on the north side of the church, which was assigned
to Satan and his satellites, and known as '
black side." On the other hand, the South shared!
the sacred character of the East, and was con-4~
secrated to saints and martyrs and the famonS'l
doctors of theology and sturdy defenders of the!
faith. On the walls and in the windows toward!
the south are depicted the triumphs of Christianity,- J

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 259

the millennial reign of Christ, the worship of the
Lamb, and similar scenes. Does not the prophet
Habakkuk say that God came from Teman, and
idoes not Teman mean South ? What more con-
«]usive proof could any rational and not utterly-
carnal mind desire ?

In the first half of the fifth century, Eucherius,
.Bishop of Lyons, wrote a book of formulas of
spiritual \inovj\eAge {Liber Fortimlarum Spirilualis
JnteUigentite), modelled after the Claids of Melito,
in which this symbolism of the points of the com-
-pass is elaborately amplified and explained. The
.south signifies the " fervour of faith "; " the
streams in the south," spoken of by the Psalmist
.(cxjivi. 4), refer to the effluence of the Holy Spirit ;
the ardently erotic and highly poetic passage in
Solomon's Song (iv. 16), "Awake, O north wind;
.and come, thou south," is interpreted as equivalent
to the words, "Get thee behind me, Satan; and
-draw near to me, O divine Spirit."

Durand finds some esoteric meaning, known
only to ecclesLologists, in every part and proportion
of the sacred structure. " Its length indicates
long-suffering, which patiently endures adversity
.and affliction, waiting to reach the heavenly home.
Its breadth is the largeness of Christian charity,
which embraces friends and foes. Its height is
-the measure of the lofty hope of eternal happiness."
Every Joist and buttress, every stone and timber
from the crypt to the corona of the cornice, every
arch and pinnacle, the lantern of the dome, and the

26o

Animal Symbolism

weatlier-cock on the steeple, is made to yield s
mystic quality, or convey some moral lesso
" The panes of the windows," according to (
Villette {Raisons de I'Office, Paris, 1601), "are t
Scriptures, which communicate the light of t
coming from above and ward off the wind, si
and hail of heresies, false doctrines, and schism
sent by the father of lies. The frames, in wl
the panes of glass are firmly set, signify
CEcumenical Councils by which the Scriptures a
interpreted and upheld, and the doctrines I
teach made manifest. The size of the windows^
shows the depth and magnitude of Holy Writ,
incomprehensible to the natural man ; their circular
form denotes that the Church is complete in herself,
and consistent in all her doctrines."

Such are a few specimens of the subtilties i
trivialities of medi;eval and modem symbologistSi
which suffice to illustrate the general tendency
their speculations, and the excess of abstrusi^
and absurdity to which they carried their i
conceits.

Hebrew literature has only a very
mythology, compared with the literature of I
or Greece or any ancient people of Aryan blood,*
The jealously vindictive and supreme ascendencyJ
of the Jewish tribal god did not favour the growtkj
and exercise of the mythopceic faculty, but madeS
every attempt to foster it fatal alike to the safe^l
and comfort of the individual, and to the consoli-l
dation and continuity of the national life. But th&l

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 261

Hebrew imagination, although debarred from the
populous regions of Olympus and Tartarus by the
stem command of Jehovah, " Thou shalt have no
other gods before Me," would not be cheated of its
rights, and mythologized in less inviting but un-
forbidden directions, grazing and ruminating on
the stubbled fields of scholia, and getting what
nutriment could be extracted from such dry and
sapless fodder. In this wise, the Rabbis succeeded
in evolving a whole system of myths and fables
out of their sacred books and ceremonial institu-
tions. Noah's dove, which returned to the ark
with an olive branch, had received it, according to
the Talmudists, from the hand of God ; and out of
this assumption was developed a most luxuriant
and wide-spreading banyan forest of allegory.
The Sabbath was also personified and made to
appear before the seat of God, like Schiller's poet
I before the throne of Zeus, and to complain of its
[ isolation in being set apart as a holy day. Jehovah
regretted that he could not change this condition
of things without destroying the consecrated cha-
racter of the seventh day, but he conferred upon it,
in compensation for its loneliness, the privilege of
being for ever united with the chosen people in
nuptial ties, and of fostering as the fruit of this
L union the so-called Sabbath-soul of Israel. And
I the Lord blessed this marriage, and declared it to
I be sacred and indissoluble, and absolutely essential
I to the happiness and prosperity of the Jewish
I nation. When the Roman government forbade

262 Animal Symbolism

the observance of the Sabbath by severe penalti©
Rabbi Simon Ben Jochai went to Rome and sue
ceeded in having the prohibition removed, i
this fable in his interview with the emperor i
order to enforce the claims of the Sabbath as t
divine institution, indispensable to the welfare (
Israel. There is an apologue by Rabbt Jehudi
Bar Shalom, in which the rite of circumcision is tbi
chief actor, and the Sabbath plays a subordinaft
and less commendable part, being too much give
up to convivial pleasures.

The Rabbis mythologized even with the lettersa
the alphabet, all of which, from Aleph to '
appear in person before Jehovah to present t
respective claims to consideration, and indulgi
in the most wearisome and nonsensical harangue
This sort of apologue arose from the peculiai
sacredness attached to the text of the law orThor^
which was identified with the wisdom personified
in the eighth chapter of Proverbs, and with t
uncreated Word, which was with God before 1
creation of the world, and afterwards became t
incarnate Logos of the Gnostics and the synonym
of Christ.'

This superstitious reverence for the letter of tin
law was transmitted to the early Christians, wha
naturally applied it to their own sacred records
declaring them to be theopneustic, or " given t^

' Cf. Dif FaM iin Talmud u>td M!drasch,\o'a Dr. Samue
Back, ih Monatsschri/t fiir Geschickte und Wissensckaft din
Judenthums, Krotoschin, i83o-8j.

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 263

inspiration of God." Out of this feeling, dogmatic
theology easily developed the doctrine of plenary
inspiration, which the Reformers and later Pro-
testants used as an effective weapon, opposing the
infallible authority of Holy Writ to the infallible
authority of the Holy See, and which was finally
carried to that extreme of fetichistic bibliolatry
that has been such a serious obstacle to the spread
of knowledge and to the progress of the race, and
is now just beginning to be set aside by scientific
research and sound criticism.

At the beginning of the Christian era the theatre
had fallen into decay, and hardly anything re-
mained of it except the brutal butcheries of the
amphitheatre, and the noisy and turbulent diver-
sions of the circus. It was natural enough that
the early Christians should have detested and de-
nounced such performances. Actors as a class were
anathematized and declared accursed by ecclesi-
astical authorities. A capitulary of Charlemagne,
inspired and dictated by the Church, declared all
players (Jiislriones) to be infamous and incompetent
to testify in courts of justice. The Provincial
Councils of Mayence, Tours, and Chalons in 813
decreed the histrionic profession ignominious, and
excommunicated all clergymen who countenanced
theatrical representations. In 1186, Philippe
Auguste issued an edict banishing actors from bis
realm.

But the passion for the theatre is too deeply
rooted in human nature to be easily eradicated;

264 Animal Symbolis

and the Church, finding all efforts to suppress i
unavailing, determined to direct and utilize it
Accordingly theatrical elements were introduced
into the celebration of Christian festivals, which
were mostly of pagan origin. The old Roman
L-upercalia became the feast of the Purification j
the Saturnalia- survived in the Carnival; the Robi-
galia, consisting of offerings in the fields to tht
god Robigus (or according to Ovid, Fast., iv. 905-35^
the goddess Robigo) to avert mildew, gave rise t
the processions of Rogation week ; the pagan feast
of the dead is celebrated as AH Souls' Day ; and
St, John's Day and Christmas are relics of sol-
stitial worship and fulfilments of the Baptist's
prophecy : " He must increase, but I must decrease."
At a very early period the Church began ta
invest her solemn rites with a theatrical character.
At Christmas, children robed as angels sang songs
in differents parts of the sacred edifice above the
choir, a group of shepherds passed through the
transept towards a stable built behind the altar,
and were met by two priests costumed as midwive^
who inquired : " What seek ye ? " The shepherds
replied: "Our Saviour, the Christ." "The child
is here," was the response, and al! knelt before the
crib in the presence of the mother, and chanted the
Salve Virgo. On the feast of the Epiphany the
three kings entered through the chief portal and
advanced in gorgeous array to the place where the
infant lay and worshipped Him, presenting their
gifts. They then went out through the door aS

the transept in accordance with the statement that
the wise men "departed into their own country
another way." Priests in albs mounted up on
towers to represent the Ascension ; and at Pentecost
a dove descended from the arched ceiling of the
church to denote the Holy Spirit coming down
from heaven. On Palm Sunday an immense crowd
of people approached the city from the country,
strewing branches in the way of a man riding on
an ass; as the procession drew near, the priests
and choristers sang : " Lift up your heads, O ye
gates."

Such are a few examples of the childish and
clumsy manner in which the Church sought to
render her ceremonies more vivid and impressive
as well as more entertaining. This rude dramatiz-
ation of the principal incidents of the Gospel story
was gradually extended to religious legends, thus
giving rise to semi-liturgic mysteries, miracle-plays,
and moralities, and leading to a revival of the
secular drama. The clergy encouraged hilarity
and gaiety, -because they wished to attract the
vulgar throng, and to keep their hold on the
masses by providing for their amusement. In this
desire originated such festivals as the Feast of
Fools and of Innocents, and the Ass's Feast.

At Rouen at Christmas, twelve of the clergy,
dressed to represent six Jews and six Gentiles,
were placed respectively on the right and the left
of a pyre burning in the centre of the choir. Two
young priests then call upon them to recognize and

revere the mystery of the divine Incarnation. They I
refuse to do so, and in order to convince them of.|
the truth, the principal personages of the Bible a
made to appear : Moses with long beard and horTi3,
the greater and lesser prophets, Balaam on his ass
with the messengers of Balak and the angel stand-
ing in the way, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
in the fiery furnace, apostles, sibyls, and Vergil,
who had foretold the advent of Christ, and many
other witnesses of the true God. This overwhelm- ,
ing testimony admits of no contradiction, and the I
stubborn Jews and ignorant Gentiles are converted '
from the error of their ways. Whether the burning
pyre was reserved as an ultima ratio in case of
final obduracy is not stated, but would seem to be
suggested. These spectacles were first given in i
the nave of the church, but, as the throng increased, 1
they were transferred to the open air, and acaffoid- J
ings were erected for the purpose in front of thql
cathedral.

In I2I2, the Council of Paris forbade the nuruil
to celebrate the Feast of Fools, on account of the I
excesses and scandals which it occasioned. In I
1245, Archbishop Odon found it necessary tol
suppress the licentious amusements of the nuns in I
the convents of Rouen, and mentions especially 1
their accustomed dissolute sports (" ludibria con- I
sueta "), and their dances either among themselves J
or with secular priests ("aut inter vos seu cum 1
secularibus choreas ducendo "). These dances, which |
were performed on the great ecclesiastical feast- ^

In Ecclesiastical Architecture

days, were accompanied by comical and scurrilous
songs and other unseemly exhibitions. The chapter
of the cathedral of Senlis issued in 1497 an order
permitting the lower clergy to "enjoy their diver-
sions before the principal portal of the church on
the eve of the Epiphany, provided they do not sing
infamous songs, with ribald and obscene words, or
dance in a lewd manner, all of which things," they
add, "took place on last Innocents' Day." In an
old collection of forty sermons on the destruction
of Nineveh {Sermones quadraginta de destructione
Ninev<E, Paris, 1525), the author asserts that priests
and monks were wont to visit nunneries both by
night and by day, and to perform indecent dances
with the inmates ; "as to the rest," he concludes,
" I keep silent, lest perchance I may offend pious
ears."

Even within the memory of persons still living,
the midnight masses, especially in France, were
attended by all sorts of rude horse-play, such as
strewing the pavement of the church with " fulmi-
nating peas," which exploded when trodden upon,
barricading the aisles with chairs or cords, filling
the stoups with ink, and embracing young girls in
"the dim religious light" of the chapels,

A very queer notion was entertained and in-
culcated in the middle ages, and seems still to
prevail in some less enlightened portions of
Christendom, that there is a mysterious and far-
reaching analogy between the anatomy of an
ass and the architecture of a cathedral. Thus

268 Animal Symbolism

M, J^r6me Bugeau, in his Chansons Populaires deS
Provinces de COuest (Niort, 1866), gives the follow*
ing catechism taken down from the lips of children^
in Angoumois (now in the department of Charente^j
and evidently forming an important part of thettt
religious instruction —

" Priest. What do the two ears of the ass signify ?"
" Children. The two ears of the ass signify the two-
great patron saints of our city.
" Priest. What does the head of the ass signify ?
" Children. The head of the ass signifies the great
bell, and the rein is the clapper of the great
bell in the tower of the cathedral dedicated-
to the patron saints of our city.
" Priest What does the throat of the ass signify ?'
" Children. The throat of the ass signifies tiie
chief portal of the cathedral dedicated to thfr
patron saints of our city.
"Priest. What does the body of the ass signify?'
" Children. The body of the ass signifies the whole
structure of the cathedral dedicated to the
patron saints of our city."
In this style the catechism goes on, showing the
analogies or rather the homologies between the
animal and the edifice ; the four legs of the as3
are the four principal pillars of the building; the
heart, liver, kidneys, and other internal organs
are the lamps; the paunch is the poor-box, in
which the pious put their offerings ; the skin is the
cope worn by the clergy during divine service;
the tail is the aspergill for sprinkling holy water

on the people; even the buttocks are not omitted,
but stand for " the beautiful stoup, which holds the
holy water in the cathedral dedicated to the patron
saints of our city."

The Angoumois catechism offers a fair specimen
of the weak and vapid pap with which the youth-
ful mind is usually fed in clerical schools, and
especially in those conducted by the Jesuits. The
late Dr. DoUinger of Munich relates his experience
with a student, who had received his preparatory
training at such an institute. In answer to the
question, " What is that branch of knowledge which
we call theology ? " the candidate for holy orders
replied with the perfunctory promptness of a
parrot : " Theology is that branch of knowledge
which has St. Catherine for its patroness." "But
what is the branch of knowledge of which St.
Catherine is the patroness ? " asked the doctor, and
received the ready response ; " St. Catherine is the
patroness of theology ; " and no ingenuity of in-
terrogation availed to get the young man out of
this vicious hagiological circle. It is by the stupe-
fying effects of such teaching that the supreme
goal of Jesuitical discipline, namely, the sacrifice
of the intellect (" ii sacrificio dell' intelletto "), can be
most perfectly attained.

It may seem strange that the ass should have
been chosen as the homologue of the cathedral ;
but it must be remembered that in the Orient this
animal is noted for its beauty, strength, and in-
telligence, and that our domestic donkey is the

2/0

Animal Symbolism

degenerate scion of a noble stock. There is also
reason to believe that this creature was an object
of peculiar reverence to the early Christians, owing
probably to the fact that Christ made His triumphal
entry into Jerusalem sitting upon an ass. and that
the animal still bears the sign of the cross formed
by a black bar across the shoulders intersecting the
line of the back, Plutarch {Sympos., lib. iv. j)
and Tacitus {Hist., lib. v.) assert that the ass was
adored by the Jews because it discovered spring
of water in the desert during the exodus, and this
tradition might have easily been accepted by the
Christians as typical of the Saviour, the well-spring
of eternal life. Tertullian says : " There are somf
who imagine that our God has the head of an ass,'
and indignantly denies the truth of this statement
which, nevertheless, seems to have been quite
generally entertained. Indeed, this ardent and,
eloquent apologist himself declares that the enemiea
of the Gospel exposed publicly a picture repre-
senting a person with a book in his hand and
wearing a long robe, but with the ears and legs of
an ass, and under it the inscription : " The Christian
God with the ass's hoof." Again, Cecilius Felix
remarks in the Dialogue of Minutius Felix: "I
hear that this basest of creatures is worshipped by
the Christians, though I know not upon what
inane persuasion." In a rude drawing scrawled on
the walls of the barracks or guard-room on the
Palatine, is a man kneeling before a crucifix, on
which is a human being with an ass's head, and a

In Ecclesiastical Architecture t

7'

legend informs us that this person is " Anaxomenos
worshipping his God." Epiphanius affirms that the
Gnostics believed that the Lord of Sabaoth had an
ass's head.^

In the church of Saint-Esprit, a suburb of
Bayonne, is the wooden effigy of an ass bearing the
Virgin and the infant Jesus ; the latter is holding a
bird in His hand. It was originally in the convent
of St. Bernard, built in the thirteenth century and
now demolished, and is still known as the ass of St.
Bernard. One belonged to each of the cathedrals
of Rheims and Paris ; there is one in Santa Maria
in Organo at Verona, and formerly nearly every
church was provided with such an image, of which
a good specimen is now preserved in the Germanic
Museum at Nuremberg. It was not an object of
worship, but was used sometimes instead of the
living animal in celebrating the Feast of the Ass,
which took place at Christmas in honour of Christ's
entry into Jerusalem, and likewise on the fourteenth
of January, as a memorial of the flight into Egypt,
and was one of the most popular of Church festivals.

There is an old tradition that the ass on which
Christ made His entry into Jerusalem left Judea
immediately after the Crucifixion, and passing over
the sea dry-shod to Rhodes, Cyprus, Malta, Sicily,
and Aquileia, finally reached Verona, where it lived
to a very old age. After its death its bones were
collected and deposited in the belly of the wooden
ass of Santa Maria in Organo, which was made as
' Cf. Annales Archiologiques, xv. p. 383.

a memorial of it and in its exact image. It w
once a popular beSief, which may yet linger amoi
the lower class of Veronese, that all the asses
that region are scions of this sacred stock ; but their
supposed origin docs not appear to insure them
less cruel treatment than low-born donkeys are suhw
jected to in all parts of Italy.

An ass caparisoned with a cope and other saceF<

dotal apparel, and sometimes ridden by a young

girl with an infant in her arms, was met at the

principal entrance of the church by the canons an(i

other clergy, and conducted up the nave into th«

L chancel The officiating priests held in their hands

I urns or pitchers full of wine, and goblets of glass

I or pewter. The censer contained, instead of the

I usual fragrant gums and spices, fat black-pudding

B and sausage, which in burning exhaled anything

I but a pleasant perfume. The Introit, the Kyrie, the

I Gloria, and the Credo were sung in a harsh braying

B tone, after which the following ass's litany in Latin

I was chanted, the whole body of the clergy and the

I congregation joining vociferously as a chorus in the

I refrain, which was French —

L " OrienCis j^artibus

I

Pulcher et fortissimus,

Sarcinis aptissimus.

Hez, sire asne, car chantei
Belle bouche rA:hig'nei
Vous aurez de foin assei,
Et de I'avoine k plants.

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 2'

73

" Ecce magris auribus,
Subjugalis filius,
Asinus egregius,
Asinonim dominus.
Htz, sire asne, etc.

" Hie, in coUibus Sichem
Enutritus sub Rubem
Trans lit per Jordanem,
S^Lliit in Bethlehem.

" Saltu vincit hinnulos,
Dagmas et capreolos,
Super dromedarios
Velox madianeos.

" Aumm de Arabia
Thus et myrrham dc Saba,
Tulit in ecclesia
Virtus a'
He;, s

" Dum trahit vehicula,
Multa cum sarc inula
lUius mandJbula
Dura terit pabula.
He/, sire asne, etc.

" Cum aristis hordeum
Com edit et carduum
Trill cum a palea
Segregant in area.
Hei, sire asne, etc.

"Amen dicas, asine,
Jam satur ex graiiiine,

Aspernare Vetera.
Hei sire a.ne, etc."

274 Animal Symbolism

This remarkable hymn may be rendered intol
English as follows —

" From the regions of the East
Came the ass, the worthy beast.
Strong and fair beyond compare.
Heavy burdens fit to bear.

Huzza, Sir Ass, because you chant.

Fair mouth, because you bray,

You shall have enough of hay,

And also oats to plant.

" Slow of foot the beast would fare,

Should the staff you on him spare,

Or should fail with many a (hump

To goad him on and prod his rump.

Huzza, Sir Ass, etc

" Lo, with what enormous ears

This subjugal son appears,

Most egregious ass, we see

Lord of asses all in thee.

Huzza, Sir Ass, etc

' ' He in Sichem's hills was bred,
Under Reuben's care was fed.
Passed through Jordan's sacred stre;
Skipped about in Bethlehem.
Huzza, Sir Ass, etc.

" Leaping he outruns the hind,
Hart and he-goal leaves behind.
Dromedaries dolh surpass
This our swift and sturdy ass.
Hazza., Sir Ass, etc.

" Gold from Araby the blest.
Frankincense that's much in quest,
To the church a precious fraught
Asinary strength hath brought.
Huzxa, Sir Ass, etc.

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 275

" As he draws along the cart
Heavy-laden to the mart,
He his jaws doth ever ply,
Grinding fodder hard and dry.
Hiuza, Sir Ass, etc.

" Barley with the awn he eats.
And himself to thistles treats;
While on threshing-floors are beat
From the chaff the grains of wheat.
Huua, Sir Ass, etc.

"Ajiien thou now mayst bray, ass,
Satiate with com and grass ;
Amen repeat, amen reply.
And antiquity defy.

Huiza, Sir Ass, etc."

Sometimes the refrain was simply " Hez, sire
ass, hez " ; in fact, the service as well as the song
varied slightly in different places, and was modified
somewhat by circumstances, but the essential cha-
racter of the performance remained everywhere the
same. The music of this chant, which was of a
grave and solemn character, befitting a religious
service, has been published by M. F^lix Clement
in his Choix des prtncipales Sequences des Moyen
Age tiries des Manuscrits. With a courage bom
of enthusiasm, M. Clement had this music of the
thirteenth century actually performed at the Col-
lege Stanislas, April 29, 1847, before a select audi-
encCj composed chiefly of musicians of the Opera
and Conservatoire of Paris, who are said to have
received it with applause.^

1 Cf. Didron, An. Arch., vii. et al.

276 Animal Symbolism

Not unfrequently this festival began in tlie
morning, and continued without interruption ail
night till the evening of the following day. The
singing of the anthem, ConducCus ad Poculum
(" Brought to the Cup "), was the signal for the dis-
tribution of wine among the choristers, who drank
very freely, and often got fuddled. While they
were thus refreshing themselves with bottles of
wine, the ass was regaled with what the trans-
mogrified Bottom so greatly desired, "a bottle of
hay " and a bucket of water. With the intonation
of the second anthem, Conductus ad Ludos ("Brought
to the Sports "), the ass was led into the nave of the
church, and danced round by the priests and the
people, who imitated its bray. After the dance
the ass was reconducted into the chancel and pro-
vided with fresh rations of provender. The feast
ended with the anthem, Conductus ad Prandium
("Brought to the Banquet"), which was sung after
vespers on the second day, and was an invitation
to the final repast.^ At the close of the service the
priest, instead of uttering the usual formula of dis-
missal, " Ite, missa est," broke forth into a loud
" Hee-haw," which he repeated three times as a
parting benediction to the worshippers, and a trinal
tribute to the animal which formed the centre of
interest and of homage in this strange religious
ceremony.

There was also a preparatory meeting or con-

' Cf. William Hone, Ancient Mysteries, p. 165 ; London,
1823,

J

vocation held on the eve of the feast, when the
clergy in full canonicals went in procession to
meet the ass at the door of the cathedral, accom-
panied by two choristers, who chanted the following
invocation —

" Lux hodie, lux letitix me judice tristis
Quisquis erit, removendus erit, solemnibus istis,
Sicut hodie, procul invidia, procul omnia raoesta,
Lsta volunt, quiscumque celebret asinaria festa."

" O light lo-day, O light of joy, I banish every sorrow ;
Wherever found, be it expelled from our solemnities to-

Away with strife and grief and care from every anxious
And all be filled with mirth who in the Ass's Feast take

The ass was then conducted to a table, usually in
the vestry, at which the dean sat with two pre-
bendaries, who read the order of proceedings as
arranged for the following day, and the names and
offices of the participants. The ass, offering no
objections, was supposed to give silent consent to
the programme, which was accordingly approved.

M. Pierre Louvret, in his Histoire du Diocese de
Beauvais, published in 1635, gives an account of
the manner in which this feast was celebrated in
the cathedral of that city, whose bishops bore the
rank and title of princes, and held the highest place
among the civil and ecclesiastical dignitaries of the
realm. The ass in a cope, sculptured on an archi-
volt in St. Peter's Church in Aulnay, and dating
from the twelfth century, is a survival of the festive

observance just described ; indeed, the ass in sacer-
dotal vestments, painted in fresco, or more fre-
quently carved in relief, may be seen in many
sacred edifices.

In an essay entitled L'Ane au Moyen-A^x, printed
in Didron's AnncUes Arcli^ologlques (vols, viL, xv,
and xvi.), M. F^lix Clement interprets the ass as
a symbol of the Saviour, and thus comments on
the first verse of the ass's litany : " It is from
the Orient that the light comes to us; the Orient
is the cradle of the human race ; from the Orient
came the wise men, the Magi, with whose gifts
the ass was laden ; in the Orient appeared the
star which guided them to Bethlehem," He also
quotes St. Bernard, who calls Jesus Christ Oriens
in vespere. Pulcher refers to the moral beauty
of Christ, fortissimus to His strength in over-
coming the great adversary, the prince of dark-
ness, and in conquering death and hell, and sarcinh
aptissimus to His fitness to bear the burden of a
sinful world, symbolized by the heavy weight of
the Cross. In the fourth verse Sichem is mentioned
because it was the ancient capital of Israel and
the chief place of worship of the Samaritans, and
Bethlehem because Christianity began there. The
superiority of the ass to the other animals enumer-
ated in the fifth verse signifies that Christ surpassed
in excellence all the Hebrew prophets. The eighth
verse Indicates the office of Christ as winnower,
■who with His fan in His hand will purge the floor,
gathering the wheat into the garner, but burning

ling ■

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 279

the chaff with unquenchable fire. Asfemare veiera
implies that old things have passed away, and that
the Synagogue has been supplanted by the Church.
Even the refrain of the hymn, "Hez, sire asne," is
interpreted as an abbreviation of " Hatez vos pas,
divin Messie," and an earnest injunction to the
Lord Jesus to come quickly and complete the work
of human redemption. Nevertheless, M. Clement
does not seem to have full confidence in the cor-
rectness of this explanation, since he afterwards
proposes another theory, by which the ass from
the East, so full of strength and courage, becomes
a type of the Jewish people, the "depositary and
transmitter of the belief in the true God."

But whatever symbolism there may have been
originally, or is still discernible to the ecclesio-
logical eye in this feast, was soon swallowed up
and lost sight of in gross buffoonery, and the
religious service degenerated into a sort of Satuma-
lian amusement, which suited the coarse tastes of
the time, and is not to be judged by our modem
sense of the sacredness of things, or by the standards
of delicate and even fastidious feeling developed by
centuries of intellectual culture and inherited refine-
ment. The age of faith, as it is called, was not

•at all squeamish, and did not suffer itself to be
shocked in the slightest degree by grotesque and
farcical exhibitions in sacred places. Mediaeval

• monks and ecclesiastics were neither thin-skinned
nor dainty-minded, and, like the lower classes of
the people, from which the great majority of them

sprung, they indulged in the coarsest jokes, appre-
ciating and enjoying them ail the more when they
were at the expense of iheir cloth. The Churcli
aimed to take everything under her control, and
to direct the pleasures as well as to dictate the
penances of the masses. The bishops, as Viollet-le-
Duc observes, preferred to throw open their cathe-
drals to the crowd, and to permit such jollities
within the consecrated walls, rather than to run the
risk of dangerous fermentations of popular ideas
outside. It was especially necessary to maintaiil'
ecclesiastical jurisdiction and supremacy, and not
let men get the fatal notion into their heads that
they could even indulge in merrimakes and pas-
times otherwise than under the auspices of the in-
dulgent Mother Church. Such a presumption and
precedent would have been as perilous to hierarch-
ical authority as it would be prejudicial to medical
prestige to let a man die without the prescriptiofl
of a doctor. Whatever concerned the moral or
material interests of the community, whether it
was to rebuke the vicious habits of mendicant
monks and wandering minstrels, or to exterminate
locusts, weevils, and other destructive vermin by
anathematisms, the Church did not deem it aliefl
to her office or injurious to her sanctity to draw
within her pale, and to make contributory to her
power and glory.

The capitals of the columns on the doorway
leading to the south aisle of St. Sebald's Church in
Nuremberg are adorned with quaint forms of

In Ecclesiastical Architecture z8i

beasts which are to be interpreted in part as
ministering spirits outside of the precincts of the
sanctuary, and in part as types of human weakness
under temptation, and especially of priestly frailties.
Guy de Munois, Abbot of St. Germain d'Auxerre
(1385 — 1309), had for his official seal the figure ofa
cowled ape with an abbot's staff in its hand, and the
legend, " Ahh6 de singe air main d'os serre." The
seal of the Bishop of Pinon in Picardie was an ape
in episcopal robes, with crosier and mitre. Ecclesi-
astical dignitaries, who took delight in satirizing
the infirmities of their order and in caricaturing
themselves and their sacred office, would not find
anything offensive in celebrating the Feast of the
Ass, and would not scruple to permit animals in
copes and stoles to be carved on the stalls and
portals of consecrated edifices, or to be represented
in painting and sculpture in the act of burlesquing
the holy Mass and the burial service.

Sincere and even ardent Catholics did not hesitate
to ridicule many practices which were authorized
and encouraged by the see of Rome. Such was
the sale of relics, a scandalous abuse sanctioned by
the Church, but satirized by John Heywood, a
graduate of Oxford and favourite of the bigoted
Queen Mary, a zealous papist, whom the accession
of Elizabeth in 1558 forced to take refuge on the
Continent at Mechlin, where he died towards the
close of the sixteenth century. In a play called
"The Four P.P., a very merry Enterlude of a
Palmer, a Pardoner, a Pothecary, and a Pedler,"

this sturdy and scholarly Romanist exposes the
frauds perpetrated by preaching friars as itinerant
vendors of saints' bones. Pardoner exhibits and
extols the wonder-working virtues of his wares, and
bids his hearers kiss with devotion

" Of All-Hallows the blessed jaw-bone."

Pothecary, who claims to be an expert in antiquities-
of this sort, declares that the relic is in bad odour,
and enough to turn the strongest stomach —

Pardoner replies that Pothecary must have caughi
a sniff of his own foul breath, and proceeds to cry
his merchandise with the impudence and volubility
of a mountebank —

" Nay, sirs, behold, here may ye see
The great toe of the Trinitie.
Who to this toe any money vowth,
And once may role it in his mouth,
All his life after, I undertake,
He shall never be vext with toothake."

To this assurance Pothecary retorts sarcastically-

" I pray you turn that relique about :
Either the Trinity had the gout,
Or else, because it is three toes in one,
God made it as much as three toes alone."

W Pardoner, who has a large assortment of " holy

I particles," and is not to be bluffed by having

I seeming blurca.st upon any one of them, brings ou

H another specimen and says-

"Well, let that pass, and look at this.
Here is a relique that doth not miss
To help the least as well as the most;
This is a buttock-bone of Pentecost."

He has also "a slipper of one of the seven sleepers,"
" an eye-tooth of the Great Turk," and

" a box full of the bumblebees
That stang Eve as she sat on her knees,
Tasting the fruit to her forbidden."

Again, in The Pardoner and the Friar a similar
assortment of relics is exposed for sale : " the great
toe of the Trinity"; "All- Hallows' jaw-bone," an in-
fallible antidote for poisons ; " of Saint Michael eke
the brain-pan," commended as a specific for head-
ache ; the "bongrace of our gracious lady, which
she wore with her French hood when she went out
as a protection gainst sun-burning"; "a holy Jew's
hip-bone," which, if cooked in the pottage, will cure
a man of jealousy, and inspire him with perfect
confidence in the virtue of his wife, even "had she
been taken with friars two or three." As the par-
doner is about to show the pope's bull and other
credentials from Rome, the friar begins his sermon,
and the preaching and peddling go on simultan-
eously, until the two competitors for popular favour
fall to blackguarding each other, and finally come
to blows. The village parson, with the help of
"neighbour Prat," who acts as constable, tries to
separate them ; but his reverence is no match for
the burly friar, and soon finds, to use his own ex-
pression, that he has more tow on his distaff than he

Animal Symbolism

can spin, while the pardoner, who proves to be as
adroit in pugilism as in pious mendacity, quickly
"punishes" the ofScious Prat.

The authors of coarse satires like these were not
heretics or infidels, but staunch adherents of the
Romish Church, who were ready to endure exile
or to suffer death for the faith that was in them.
That their descriptions of this traffic are scarcely
exaggerated is proved by the kind and quantity of
relics still preserved and exposed to adoration in
Catholic churches. In the middle ages, when such
articles were in great request, and the bones of
saints, in the jargon of the exchange, were " lively
and often became "excited," the economical law of
demand and supply, which is as universal and un-
escapablc as that of gravitation, worked in a marvel-
lous and quite miraculous way, and produced some
astounding results.

Some years ago a distinguished anatomist, who
visited an old church on the Hradshin in Prague,
observed that a skeleton in one of the shrines had
two right thigh-bones. It was suggested that this
idiosyncrasy might be due to the transforming effect
of canonization, and some devotees were inclined to
regard it as a sign of peculiar sanctity ; but only
the most credulous of the faithful accepted this view
as an adequate explanation of the phenomenon.
It was generally admitted that such abnormiti

' Cf. Dodsley's Old Plays, i. 88, loi, etc.; William Hone's
Ancient Mysteries, 87-8S ; Hazlitc's edilion oi The Four PJ'.^
with modemiied orthography. London, 1874,

of structure were unbecoming in persons whom
the public had been taught to revere as patterns of
piety, and to imitate as models of perfection ; and
although they may have despised the vanities and
seductions of the flesh during their lives, they ought
not to give offence or occasion for scoffing by any
conspicuous irregularity in the arrangement of their
bones after death. Accordingly an inquest was
held ; the worshipful relics were " sat upon " by a
jury of experts, who, as the result of their investi-
gations, recommended a general overhauling and
reparation of the remains of the saints kept in the
churches of the Bohemian capital. The celebrated
anatomist, Professor Joseph HyrtI, was induced to
undertake the task, which had to be performed with
the greatest secrecy and circumspection, and he
finally succeeded in ridding the enshrined skeletons
of their most obtrusive deviations from the organism
of the natural man, and establishing a certain
degree of harmony between the provinces of sacred
and scientific osteology.

It must not be inferred, however, that the saints
of Prague were exceptional in their variations from
the common sinful human type. The critical
examination of all the treasuries of relics in Christ-
endom would disclose the remains of holy men
and of godly women not a few, who seem to have
had as many arms as Briareus, and as many icgs
as a centipede. It is well known that St. Anna
had three arms, only one less than Vishnu ; and
this tribrachial characteristic appears to have been

Animal Symbolism

hereditary in her family, otherwise it would be
difficult to account for the fact that one arm of
the Virgin Mary is revered in Rome, another in
Nuremberg, and a third in Cologne. SL Vitus
was unquestionably quadrumanous ; one of his
hands is in Sienna and another in Bamberg, whilst
his entire skeleton, including both hands, is shown
in the cathedral at Prague. Perhaps the anthro-
pologist, who has hitherto searched for "the
missing link" among chimpanzees, orang-outangs,
and other simian tribes, wili at last come upon the
object of his quest in the voluminous and won-
drous annals of hagiology. Some saints were
evidently in the habit of shedding their skulls at
different periods of their growth, just as stags
throw off their antlers and serpents cast their skins.
This was the case with St. Peter, whose skull as a
child may be seen in one shrine, while his fully-
developed cranium as an adult is kept in another.
As a matter of convenience for future collectors,
and kind consideration for a devout posterity,
such forethought is most remarkable, and cannot
be too highly praised. When the abbot MaroUes
of Amiens was shown a head of John the Baptist,
he exclaimed : " Glory be to God, that is the sixth
head of the Redeemer's forerunner I have had the
good fortune to adore ! "

The miraculous power of self- multiplication with
which the " particles " of the saints are endowed
extends also to their personal effects. There are
now in existence about a dozen equally well

authenticated originals of the seamless vesture,
npon which the Roman soldiers cast lots. The
most celebrated specimen of this garment is the
holy coat " in the cathedral of Trier, where it
has been repeatedly exhibited as an object of
worship and a source of revenue, and even as
recently as 1891 attracted crowds of fetichistic
pilgrims. Its history, as recorded in a German
poem of the twelfth century entitled Orendel,
surpasses in extravagance the wildest inventions
of classical and Oriental mythology. Scores of
churches possess pieces of the true cross, which
nevertheless may be seen intact in Paris ; the same
is the case with Aaron's rod, a portion of which is
at Bamberg, although the whole is in an excellent
state of preservation at Milan.

The superstitious fondness for sacred relics in
the middle ages, like the modem enthusiasm for
antiques and masterpieces of the Renaissance,
incited the dealers in such wares to wholesale
perpetrations of fraud. The skeleton of many a
malefactor, whose head was deservedly severed
from his body by the executioner's axe, is now
revered as the remains of a blessed martyr ; and
countless bones, set with jewels and deposited in
costly shrines, were originally taken from the
gallows-pit. That the author of The Four P.P.
gave a true picture of the extent to which this
fraudulent traffic was carried on, can be clearly
shown, as we have already suggested, by examining
the lists of relics in the older Catholic churches.

Animal Symbolism

Thus, for example, in Santa Prassede at Rome
among other queer things of this kind, are a tootj
of St. Peter and one of St. Paul, as well as bifc
of their respective skulls, a scrap of the Virgii^
chemise, a bottle of her milk, and a piece of ha
sepulchre, fragments of the Saviour's girdle and o
His swaddling-clout, the pillar at which He i
scourged, some of the earth on which He kneeloj
in prayer before the Passion, the reed and sponp
with which He was given vinegar to drink on th(
cross, parts of His vesture for which the Romai
soldiers cast lots, and three thorns from the c
of thorns ; near by, in Santa Croce in Gerusalemm^
are the superscription which Pilate put on the
cross, one of the thirty pieces of silver pa
Judas, and the finger with which the doubtir^E
Thomas was told to touch the print of the nails
in the hands of the risen Lord ; in the cloistef
of St Barbara in Coblence is the fore-skin of thft
infant Jesus, which in the last century is said t
have wrought a startling and somewhat unseeml)f
miracle on one of the nuns. Before the Reform-J
ation, Schaffhausen was proud of possessing some
of the breath of St. Joseph enclosed in one (
the gloves of Nicodemus; Halle boasted of havinj
fragments of Noah's ark, and of the chemise
worn by the Virgin during her confinement; and I
the church of Notre-Dame-en-Vaux at Chalons
guarded as a rare treasure the navel of Jesiw
Christ until 1707, when the rationalistic bishop
Noailles had it removed. An additional and

exceedingly strong evidence of the extent to which
this utterly absurd " fad " prevailed, and duped
with vile counterfeits even the shrewdest and most
sensible men, is the fact that Duke Frederic III.,
sumamed the Wise, the Elector of Saxony and
the protector of Luther, had a collection of nearly
four thousand relics, among which were such
choice specimens as milk of the Virgin, yam which
she spun — the yarn we suspect was of the nautical
sort, and spun at a much Jater period — remains of
the children slain in Bethlehem, straw and hay
from the manger in which Jesus was bom, teeth
and hair of Christ, and portions of His raiment,
Boccaccio, in the Decatneron (Giom. vi., Nov, lo),
gives some specimens of Fra Cipolla's sacred col-
lection : the jaw-bone of Lazarus, a feather of the
angel Gabriel, the hood of the seraph which ap-
peared to St. Francis, the toe-nail of a cherub,
some vestments of the Holy Catholic Faith, a finger
of the Holy Ghost, a few rays of the star of Bethle-
hem, and a vial containing tones of the bells of
Solomon's temple. Curiously enough, the scoffing
poet took a religious turn in the fiftieth year of his
age, and became himself a diligent and devout
collector of religious relics.

Coarse caricatures and obscene characterizations
of the Jews are quite common in Christian
churches. Thus on the north-east comer of the
lofty choir near the roof in the parish church at
Wittenberg is a rude high-relief, hewn in stone, of
a sow with a litter of pigs, and among them a lot

Animal Symbolism

of Jews, who are assiduously sucking her dugs to
the dispossession and great discomfort of her own
young. Behind the
sow stands a rablH,'
who, lifting her right
leg with one handv
and holding her by
the tat! with the.
other, earnestly en-»
deavours to peer intfl
her insides, as thou^
he saw something
there worthy of his closest and keenest scrutinyj
According to Luther's interpretation of this
markable work of art, the Jewish doctor of the laM
is engaged in searching into the mysteries of tb(i
Talmud.^

Above this sculpture stood originally a semj-
Hebrew inscription in Latin characters; "RabiiKl
Schemhamphoras," which seems to have accidentally
disappeared or been purposely removed during t
restoration of the church in ig/o. Schemham-
phoras is the hidden name of God, which, if spokeq
or written, works magically and is used for con.«

' " Es ist hie xu Wittemberg an vnser Pfarrkirehen eini
Saw in Stein gehawen, da ligen junge Ferckel vnnd Jiidel
vnter, die saugen. Hinder der Saw stehet eyn Rabin, do
hebt der Saw das recbte bein empor, und mit seiner lincken
hand zeucht er den pirtzel vber sich, biickt vnnd kuckt mh
grossem vleis der Saw unter dem pirtzel inn den ThaJmud
hinein, als wolt er elwas scharffes vnd sonderliches lessen-
und ersehen." — Dr. Mar. Luther, yon Schemhamphoras vtaii
Cescklechi Chnsli. Wittenberg, 1543, 410.

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 291

juration. Also the passage describing the miracle
of the pillar of the cloud and the division of the
waters (Ex. xiv, 19-21) consists in the original of
two hundred and sixteen letters, out of which the
cabalists form seventy-two words of three letters
each. They pronounce these words as numbers,
and understand by them the names of seventy-two
angels, which correspond to as many special
powers and attributes of God, and are exceedingly
potent as charms.^

rhymed chronicle preserved in the city
archives of Wittenberg states that the aforesaid
relief was intended to deride and vex the Jews,
who, by their chafferings and bickerings on Sunday
near the sanctuary, disturbed and scandalized all
good Christians. After due deliberation, it was
resolved to have this work made in order to heap
contempt upon the Jews, and to compel them to
seek some other place of barter. The ingenious
plan, the chronicler informs us, was crowned with
complete success, and the Hebrew traffickers felt
so insulted that they not only ceased to transact
their business in the vicinity of the church, but
gradually withdrew wholly from the city.

This explanation is a mere afterthought and
pure invention, and is not sustained by any his-
torical records, nor is it at all probable that the
Christians of Wittenberg would have been obliged
to resort to such indirect means of suppressing

' Cf. Zeitschrift Jiir deutsche KuliurgesMchti, i. 463 sqg.

292 Animal Symbolism

the alleged abuse. In cases of thb kind,
were not wont to deal in innuendoes, but to tak^
more summary measures. Besides, similar repre-^
sentations exist elsewhere. Thus, on one of the
buttresses on the north side of the church of Sl
Nicholas in Zerbst, the former capital of the
principality of Anhalt, is the relief of a sow witb
two Jews sucking her teats, while two others a
holding her fast by the head and tail. It was
carved there as a memorial of the banishment o
the Jews from that city, as can be proved by
existing documents ; and the Wittenberg sculpture
had undoubtedly the same origin, and was intended
to satirize Jewish extortion and greed of gaiiji
It is well known that a pretty general persecution
and banishment of the Jews took place in 1348^
and 1 349 under divers pretexts ; among othefi
accusations was that of producing pestilence by
poisoning the wells, the pollution of the water caused
by the common filthiness of the inhabitants bein£
ascribed to the wickedness of one class of t
population.

There is no doubt that the position to whidj
Christian intolerance condemned the Jew
many centuries, closing to them all branches (
industry except usury, developed in them a peculiai
talent for finance, together with certain hard and
offensive traits of character naturally growing out
of money brokerage, and finally becoming almost
innate and hereditary. In the middle ages they
were made to serve as sponges to suck up the

people's substance in order that it might be
squeezed out of them at the convenience of the
rulers. King John II., sumamed the Good, issued
in 1360 a decree permitting the Jews in his realm
to take, as a compensation for loaning money,
"quatre deniens par livre par semaine," equivalent
to ninety per cent, per annum, not from any feeling
of favouritism for the Israelites, but, as he ex-
pressly stated, because " the greater the privileges
enjoyed by the Jews in this respect, the better
they will be able to pay the taxes levied on them
by the king," This "good " monarch was wont to
confiscate periodically a large portion of the pillage
thus obtained, in order to replenish his exhausted
exchequer, and was actually praised by his deluded
subjects for punishing Jewish rapacity. !t was a
crafty system of indirect taxation worthy of modem
tariff legislators. Also in the early part of the
thirteenth century, Frederic II., the Hohenstaufe,
ordained that the Jews should be permitted to
dwell in Nuremberg and to lend money on interest,
stating that, " inasmuch as this sinful business is
essential to trade and to the commerical prosperity
of the city, it would be a lesser evil to let the Jews
carry it on, than that Christians should imperil the
salvation of their souls by such iniquitous practices,
since the former, owing to their notorious obduracy,
will doubtless persist in their religious perversity
and be damned anyhow." If the children of Israel
now " take a breed of barren metal," as naturally
as a pointer takes to pointing, or a hound to the

294- Animal Symbolism

trail of a fox, this tendency is due in part at leas
to circumstances which they did not create ;
could not control. The chief accusation brougl
against the modern representatives of this race by
Anti-Semitic agitators, is that they are unwilling
to follow industrial and especially agricultural
pursuits, in utter forgetfulness of the fact that, until,
a comparatively recent date, they were forbidden
by Christian legislation either to engage in me-
chanical occupations or to own land, a condition o
things still existing in portions of Russia and other
half-civilized countries.

The gross method of outraging the feelings just
described had not even the merit of being original'
with those who employed it. The Emperor Hadria%
after having suppressed the revolt of Bar-Cochb»
and recaptured Jerusalem, A.D. 135, caused images
of swine to be sculptured over the gates of the city
as. a sign of the exclusion of the Jews, who were
forbidden to dwell within the walls. He then re-
stored it as a Roman city under the name of JEiia
Capitolina, and converted the tabernacle of Jehovallj
into a temple dedicated to Jupiter.*

On the synagogue in Heidingsfeld is an armorial
shield, on which are emblazoned two swine. It i:
the escutcheon of the Prince Bishop of Wiirzburg,
Adam Friedrich von Seinsheim, who had it placed
there instead of the arms of Heidingsfeld, whidi
the Jews wished to adorn their sanctuary with, I

' Cf. Adrichomius, Descriptio urbis HierosolymorMin.

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 295

were forbidden by the magistracy to use for this
purpose. The Rabbis were obliged to accept these
heraldic porkers as gosh or ceremonially clean in
consecrating the edifice.

A painting formerly on the lower part of the

I tower of the bridge across the Main in Frankfort
represented an old Jew with spectacles on his nose
sitting backwards on an enormous sow, and holding
her tail in his right hand. A young Jew is lying
on his back under the sow and eagerly sucking her

296 Animal Symbolism

dugs ; another old Jew is kneeling on the grouis
and receiving the sow's excrement into his moutl^
while Satan with hoofs and horns steals up behinc
him and seizes him by the shoulder. Standing i
little to one side is a Jewess arrayed in fine attlr^
holding a goat (the symbol of lechery) by th(
horns and looking the devil boldly in the face;
underneath the picture is the following verse :

" Sauf du die Milch, frias du den Dreck,
Das ist doch euer bestes Geschleck."

" Drink the milk and eat the dung,
That's a dainty for your tongue."

Above is the naked and scarred body of a Chris
tian child, reputed to be the victim of a ritual
murder committed by the Jews in the year 1275.
This is the description of the painting in its original
form. Other accounts differ somewhat from this
one, probably owing to the disappearance of por-
lions of it in the lapse of time, and to the intro-
duction of slight changes by later renovators.
The Jews of Frankfort offered large sums of money
to have it removed, but in vain ; only a finer sense
of propriety, and a higher standard of public decency,
resulting from the progress of civilization, availed
to do away with the scandalous libel.*

' Engravings of this painling are published in
Antiguarius lies Neckar- Main- Lalm- u?td Mosehtroms,
Frankfurt a. M., 1740, p. 342; and in Scheible's ScAaltjaAr,
iii. p. 213. The former corresponds to the description just
given ; in the iatler a tree stands in the place of the
Jewess. Cf. also %chm\&.t, /udischt MeriwiidigkeiUn, 174:'
li. 256 sgg.

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 2

97

A sow with two Jews as sucklings is carved
on one of the stalls of the choir in Bale Minster ;
and in the cathedral of Magdeburg a chapel
dedicated to the Virgin Mary contains a similar
representation, dating from the fifteenth century.
It is a strange irony of fate that the Jewish race
should be thus held up to derision in a place
especially devoted to the worship of a Jewish
maiden. Among the gargoyles on the collegiate
church (Stiftskirche) of Wimpfen im Thai, a fine
Gothic edifice of the thirteenth century, is the figure
of a Jew sucking a sow and pushing aside a little
pig, which is anxious to have its turn at the
maternal breast. Sculptures of a like character
are found on the city hall (Rathhaus) of Salzburg,
on the chapel of St, Anna in Heiligenstadt on the
Leine, and among the grotesque carvings with
which a monk adorned the high altar and the stalls
of the chancel in the church at Heilbrunn, founded
in 1132, and once famous as a place of pilgrimage.

The Jew suckled by a sow seems to have been
the one great Anti-Semitic joke of the middle ages,
and, judging from its frequent repetition and wide
jjiffusion, must have been regarded as a wonder-
fully clever and altogether matchless stroke of
Christian wit and satire. It was chiselled on the
cathedral of Ratisbon, probably at the time of the
expulsion of the Jews from that city in 1519, an
event of sufficient importance to be deemed worthy
of commemoration by an inscription on an apothe-
cary's shop in Kelheim : "Anno Dom. 1519 jar

Animal Symbolism

wurden die juden zu Rengsburg ausgeschafft." II
occurs again in the cathedral of Freising on the
Isar with the following distich, which takes a
discouraging view of the missionary work under-
taken by the Society for the Propagation of
Gospel among the Jews —

" So wahr die Maus die Katz nit frisst,

Wird der Jud kein wahrer Christ."
" Sure as the mouse the cat won't chew,

No Jew 'i! become a. Christian true."

The promoters of such proselytism may derive
some consolation from the fact that the ambiguiQpt
caused by the feminine gender of "Maus"
"Katz," either of which may be the subject or the
object of the verb, render it possible for this rath^i
clumsy verse to be so construed as to express tha
very opposite of the sentiment intended by the
rhymster.

Jews formerly complained of being obliged 1
take an oath standing on a swine's skin, but thii
method of swearing may have been a survival
the old German custom of solemnly affirming the
truth of any statement by the golden-bristled boaii
Gullinbursti, sacred to the sun-god Freyr, whitj
the Jews would naturally look upon as a parti-
cular grievance and intentional persecution. Th<
Romans sacrificed a swine in forming treaties and
making alliances, and the animal was also in thi
case a symbol of the sun, the great revealer (
secrets and detecter of falsehood. In the Bumenid^

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 299

of ^schylus, Apollo the purger ('Airo'XA.a(ii KaOdpuLos)
cleanses Orestes from the stains of matricidal pol-
lution with swine's blood, and Circe purifies the
Argonauts, the abettors of the murder of Absyrtus,
in the same manner.

It would be foreign to the purpose of the pre-
sent work to describe the various means devised to
throw derision upon the Jews ; only such satirical
delineations as are conspicuously connected with
ecclesiastical architecture come within its scope.'
It would be unjust, however, not to mention the
heroic spirit of self-sacrifice which such trials tended
to develop, and of which the following is a note-
worthy instance. During a religious procession in
Worms, a report was spread abroad that a crucifix
had been mutilated. Of course the jews, who served
as scapegoats for all such offences, were accused of
the sacrilege, and a mob of Christian zealots, hasten-
ing to the Jews' quarter, demanded with loud cries
the surrender of the culprits, and threatened, in case
of refusal, to wreak vengeance on the whole Jewish
population, A three days' respite was granted in
order to discover the persons who had committed the
outrage. Towards evening two Hebrew strangers
appeared at the closed entrance to the Jewry and

' The reader who is interested in the general subject is
referred to F. L. Bosigk's essay" Ueber diejudenspottbilder
des Mittelalters " in ZeiUckrifi fiir deuiscke Kultur^e-
sMeAteyi. Adi-^bg; and to Slrobel's GeistUches deutschts Kar-
Unipiely published in 1691 at Sulzbach, and containing an
account of Schellensau, a game of cards designed to ridicule
the Jews.

300 Animal Symbolism

begged for admittance. They were informed (
the terrible fate impending over the whole Israeliti^
community, but insisted in sharing the lot of thai
brethren, whatever it might be. At the expiration
of the three days' grace the infuriated and fanatical
rabble assembled again at the gate of the ghetto and
clamoured for the punishment of the sacrilegists,
Then the two stranger guests gave themselves ujf
as the guilty ones, and were put to death. In the
old synagogue at Worms are two ever- burn ir^
lamps, which, as a Hebrew inscription informs us,,
were lighted in memory of two unknown mei^
who innocently suffered a cruel death for the sak(
of their brethren.

Classical mythology was another source from
which Christian symbolism derived many concep-
tions and forms subsequently embodied in ecclesi-
astical architecture. It could hardly be expected
that the first Gentile converts, however sincei
their profession of the new faith, would be able to
break away entirely from the teachings and tradi-
tions of their early life and education. They were
also told that the pagan religions were not merely
old wives' fables, but had a certain heavenly-
origin and historical justification as preparatory to
Christianity, which they foreshadowed. The real.
significance and raison d'etre of the deities of
Olympus were to be sought in their prototypical
relation to the expiatory sacrifice on Mount Cal-
vary. Hermes, who was represented in heathen
works of art as the protector of the herds, the

conductor of souls, and the reviver of the dead,
would be readily accepted as prefigurative of the
Saviour of mankind, and Perseus rescuing Andro-
meda as signifying Christ redeeming the human
soul. On a sarcophagus in the Museo Pio-CIemen-
tino at Rome is the relief of a satyr bearing a
Iamb, and having features strongly resembling those
of the traditional good shepherd. There is no
doubt, too, that the fear of persecution led the
Christians of the first century to make this sym-
bolical use of the old mythology ; and it may have
been the same dictate of prudence that prevented
them from encircling the head of Christ w^ith a
nimbus, the earliest example of which, in the
catacomb of SL Domitilla, belongs to the beginning
of the second century.

Some of the Fathers held the views still enter-
tained by Mr, Gladstone, that all mythologies are
corruptions and distortions of a primitive revela-
tion supernaturally communicated to "the chosen
people," The applications of this theory are some-
times very odd. Thus it was affirmed that the
ass's colt bound to the vine mentioned by the
patriarch Jacob in blessing Judah (Gen. xlix. ii)
is not only a prefiguration of Christ's entry into
Jerusalem, but also the original source of the myths
of Bacchus, Bellerophon, and Pegasus, The asiri-
inity of many a one who essays to bestride the
winged horse of the Muses is lamentably true ; but
that the fiery steed itself is the foal of Shiloh's ass
may be reasonably questioned, Isaiah prophesies

302 Animal Symbolism

that a virgin shall conceive and bear a son ;
nothing is more comnion than for Orientals U
speak of the first-born as the child of a virgin ; bi^
the patristic exegetlst maintains that this passage
besides being a prediction of the birth of Chris^
suggested to the Greeks the legend of Danae, tiW
mother of Perseus, In like manner the labours
and wanderings of Hercules are based upon the
Psalmist's description of the bridegroom, who
rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race, and whose
going forth is from the end of the heaven. Whim-
seys of this kind have been long since relegated toi
the waste-garret of mythological curiosities;
they are not a whit more extravagant than many
hermeneutical expositions still in vogue.

The magic power ascribed to the musi
Orpheus, which tamed wild beasts and even moved'
trees and stones, was applied to the miraculous
power of Christ, who declared, on His entry into
Jerusalem, in reply to the protests of the Pharisees
against the noisy enthusiasm of the people, that, if
the multitude should hold their peace, the stoned
would immediately cry out. The descent of the
mythical Greek poet and minstrel into the loweC
world, and his success in rescuing his spouse
Eurydice from the dominion of Pluto, rendered the
analogy more complete, and may have given risC'
to the legend of Christ's descent into hell for the
purpose of delivering the imprisoned spirits.
Orpheus thus became a prototype of the Saviour;
and as such found a place in the Christian pantheon'

at a very early pericd. In the centre of the ceiling
of a cubiculum in the catacomb of St. Domitiila near
Rome, we see him seated on a rock and playing on
his lyre, surrounded by beasts and birds, which his
music has attracted to the spot. He figures
frequently on Christian sarcophagi and in the
frescoes of old churches.

The Bacchanal scenes which adorned the temples
of the son of Semele were copied or imitated by
the early Christians in order to illustrate the con-
ception of the Church as a vineyard, which is
expressed in the parables of the householder and
his husbandmen, and of the labourers. An interest-
ing example of this adaptation is seen in the
mosaics of the fourth century in the cupola of
St. Costanza in Rome, representing the genii of
the vintage.

In the Gothic choir of the minster at Aix-Ia-
Chapelle is an ambo, dating from the early part of
the eleventh century, with ivory reliefs of a similar
but still more elaborate character ; Bacchus with
the symbols of his cult, the vine, the lion, the
panther, and the dog. Pan and the satyrs, the
triumph of Galatea, centaurs, sirens, tritons, nereids,
dolphins, the sea-bom Venus, Cupids blowing shells
as trumpets, and the myths of Demeter and Isis
and Horus in their assumed prefigurative relation
to the Virgin Mary,

Scenes from the pagan poets were occasionally
portrayed, as, for example, in the curious sculptures
of the twelfth century on a column in the choir of

304

Animal Symbolism

the cathedral church of Bale, giving in four relict
the old Babylonian tale of the tragic fate of '
pair of star-crossed lovers," Pyramus and ThisM
as related by Ovid in the fourth book of I
MetamorpJwses. In the first scene Thisbe ]
taken refuge in a tree, at the foot of which a 1
is rending her mantle, while Pyramus approache
with an uplifted sword to slay the lion, which \
a bit of Thisbe's mantle in its mouth, [n

k

ICilkcdratofBilt.')

second scene Pyramus is smiting the lion.
then goes in search of Thisbe, but, not finding her^B
is convinced that she has been devoured by thai
savage beast, and in a fit of despair falls on hisf
own sword. Thisbe now returns to the place i
rendezvous, and seeing her lover dead throws her-l
self upon his sword. The final relief shows them \
both pierced through by the same weapon. This 1
story of youthful passion thwarted by cruel parents J
was exceedingly popular in the middle ages, and-l

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 305

was therefore fitly chosen by Shakespeare to be
theatrically caricatured by Nick Bottom the weaver,
Peter Quince the carpenter, and other " rude
mechanicals," as an episode of A Midsummer-
Nigkts Dream, ixom. which it was taken by Andreas
Gryphius in his Absurda Comica oder Herr Peter

K^lkidfaJ of Bale.)

Squens. What religious significance the reliefs in
Brlle Minster may have it would be dilficult to
determine. The lion which disturbs the meeting
of the lovers, and eventually causes them to commit
suicide, probably denotes the snares and terrors of
Satan.

After the conversion and accession of Constan-
tine, it was the settled policy of the Christians to
erect their churches on the sites of demolished
pagan temples, in order that the people might
the more readily assemble for the worship of the
true God in the places where they had been wont

3o6

Animal Symbolism

to pay their devotions to idols, Gregory the Gre
towards the end of the sixth century, wrote a I
of instructions to the missionaries to the Ar
Saxons directing them to pursue this plan. Some-
times the ancient edifice was simply transformed
and reconsecrated to the new cult, in which case ^
the statues and symbols of the heathen deltie
remained and received a Christian signification a:
objects of worship. Thus the Florentine Baptisteij
superseded a temple dedicated to Mars, and Johl
the Baptist succeeded the Roman god of war ai
the patron and protector of the city. The statut
of Mars, which once adorned the temple,
placed on a tower, but was taken down when
Attila sacked the city in 452, and thrown into tl«
Amo, from which it was subsequently recovered
and set up on a bridge, where it was still standinj
in the fourteenth century, as is evident from tb
references to it by Dante.'

In the gallery of the Vatican are two portral
statues of the Greek comic poets, Posidippus ant
Menander, made of Pentelican marble probably b
Kephisodotos, the son of Praxiteles, for the theatre
at Athens. After their discovery in Panepema
towards the end of the sixteenth century they v
for a long time adored as saints. Under ■
church of S. Clemente in Rome is a temple dedj
cated to the worship of Mithras, with the ancietti
altar still standing. In a village church on tlU

' Ct /»/, xiii. i43-'So ; ^'"■■i Tvi. 49, 14s.

In Ecclesiastical Architecture

Danube, not far from Linz, is a statue of Isis made
of black basalt, to which pious Catholics pay their
devotions, regarding it as an image of the Virgin
Mary. A statue of the same goddess was wor-
shipped in the church of St. Germain des Pr^s in
Paris for nearly ten centuries. This church was
originally built by Childebert I. about the middle of
the sixth century on the ruins of a temple of Isis,
whose image was transferred to the new edifice,
where it was an object of adoration till 15 14, when
it was destroyed. Three gilded bronze statues of
Alemannic gods were revered in the chapel of St.
Aurelia at Brcgenz, until St. Gallus in his prose-
lytic zeal broke them in pieces and threw them
into the lake in order to put an end to this idolatry.
Underneath the church of the Benedictine cloister
of St. Martin near Trier was found, at the time of
its demolition in 1802, an altar with reliefs of
Bellona, Minerva, Mercury, and Hercules. As late
as the sixteenth century a marble statue of
Hercules slaying the Nemean lion stood in the
vestibule of St. Ambrosius in Milan ; and in St
Pietro in Cora the marble altar of a temple of
Hercules served as a font, on the front of which
was carved the head of Apollo encircled with a
halo as a solar deify. Antique sarcophagi and
cinerary urns were often used as Christian fonts
and stoups, This origin accounts for the reliefs
representing the myth of Hippolytus on the font,
or what was formerly the font, in the. cathedral of
Girgenti, and for the scenes from the infancy of

308 Animal Symbolism

Bacchus on a vessel which once served as a
baptismal ewer in the cathedral of Gaeta, but is
now in the Neapolitan Museum.

Cameos and other carved stones representing
mythological personages or narrations were prized
merely as jewels, and set as ornaments in crosiers,
crosses, and the shrines of saints, without regard
to the subjects engraved upon them. In the so-
called cross of Lothair in the minster of Aix-la-
Chapelte is an amethyst, on which the three Graces
are carved in relief; the story of Leda and the
swan is cut on a canonical seal of the twelfth
century; and an ivory reliquary in the Schloss-
kirche of Quedlinburg is studded with precious
stones, among which is an amethyst wrought into
the head of Bacchus.^

The earliest Christian art was purely symbolical,
rudely indicating instead of fully expressing the
idea it was intended to convey. Thus a simple
cross symbolized the doctrine of the Atonement,
and it was not until a later period that the figure
of Christ was affixed to the cross, which thus
became a crucifix, and gradually acquired an
artistic character. So, too, the cross-bearing lamb
or Agnus Dei, the Good Shepherd, and similar
emblems, have no claim to be regarded as works of
art, but were nothing more than hieroglyphics or
monograms. This was due not so much to the
inwardness or spirituality of the new religion

' Cf. Piper, Myth, der christl. ffumt, i. 59-63, for numerons
examples of diis kind.

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 309

IdoctrinaJly, as to its crudeness and incapacity
Tartistically, The best productions of early Chris-
Ttian art are copies or close imitations of contem-
porary pagan art, such as tutelar genii, victories,
Amor and Psyche taken as emblems of the love of
God and the human soul, the golden apples guarded
by a dragon in the garden of the Hesperides inter-
preted as a tradition of the tree of knowledge and
the subtle serpent in the garden of Eden, Apollo
on the chariot of the sun transformed into Eltas
borne to heaven on a fiery chariot, and Mercury or
Hermes with a ram on his shoulder expressive of
the Christian conception of the Saviour as the
Good Shepherd.

In the eleventh and twelfth centuries this servile
imitation is followed by a conscious appropriation
and independent elaboration of pagan myths by
Christian artists, as the result of a better appreci-
ation of the antique, Sibyls as well as saints and
prophets stand in the niches of Giotto's tower, and
are sculptured in relief on the bronze doors of
Ghiberti in Florence, and on the Casa Santa of
Loreto. A mosaic in San Michele at Pavia
celebrates the humane and heroic feat of Theseus
in slaying the Minotaur; on one side of the en-
trance to the labyrinth is a dragon, and on the
other side a Pegasus; on the left hand, as the
biblical counterpart of the classical myth, is David
fighting Goliath. It is probably a work of the
eleventh century.

Petrarch calls God " living Jove " and " eternal

3IO Animal Symbolism

Jove"; and Dante apostrophizes Christ as " supreme
Jove, who for us on earth was crucified " —

" O somino Giove,
Chi fosti'n terra per noi crocifisso."

Indeed, Jupiter was used as synonymous with
Jesus in poetry long before the features of the
sovereign of Olympus were borrowed by painters
and sculptors to lend dignity and majesty to the
portraitures of Christ, especially in His character
as stern and avenging Judge on the last day.

Giotto, whose pencil wrought in the spirit of the
Divine Comedy, and whose pictures are often mere
embodiments and illustrations of Dante's ideas,
introduced similar elements of ancient mythology
into Christian art by way of allegory. So, too, in
the famous frescoes of the triumph of death and the
last judgment by Andrea and Bernardo Orcagno
in the Campo Santo at Pisa, and in the Strozzi
chapel of Santa Maria Novella at Florence, we
find Charon the grim ferryman of souls, a triple-
necked Pluto as the personification of hell swallow-
ing the damned, Cerberus devouring the envious,
the morasses of the Styx, the bull-headed anthro-
pophagous Minotaur, in short the whole scenery
of the lower world as conceived by the poets of
classical antiquity and seen through mediccvat eyes.

The peacock, being sacred to Juno, became a
symbol of the apotheosis of Roman empresses, as
Jupiter's eagle was of Roman emperors. For this
reason these birds were carved on the tombs of the

i

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 3 1 1

apotheosized, and on funeral lamps. From pagan
monuments of the dead they passed to Christian
sepulchres, on which they signified the Christian's
conception of apotheosis, the ascension of the
sanctified soul and its union with God, Owing
to the belief that the flesh of the peacock was
incorruptible, this fowl was made an emblem of
the resurrection of the dead, sown in corruption,
but raised in incomiption. On this point Augustine
says {De Civ. Dei, xxi. 4) : " Quis enim nisi Deus
creator omnium dedit cami pavonis mortui ne
putrescerent ? " " For who except God, the Creator
of all things, endowed the flesh of the dead pea-
cock with the power of never decaying ? " There
is a tradition that the acute and inquisitive suffra-
gan of Hippo experimented with the flesh of
this fowl, and found the popular superstition to
be correct.

The splendour of its plumage made it also an
emblem of the glories
of heaven. In many
meditEval paintings,
for example, in Hans
Memling's picture of
the Last Judgment
in the Dorothy Chapel of SL Mary's Church in
Dantzig, the angels have peacocks' feathers in their
winga The Christian moralist, however, in his con-
demnation of all sensual beauty as diabolical in its
origin and influence, prefers in general to indicate
and emphasize the imperfections and less attractive

312 Animal Symbolism

features of the bird, which it endeavours to conceal
under its showy qualities. Thus, in Freidank*;
Besckeidenheit (p. 43), the peacock is said to have
the slinking gait of a thief, the voice of the devilj
and an angel's garb —

"der phSwe diebes sliche hSt,
tiuvels stimme, und engels w4t,"

On account of this peculiarity of its walk it i
called Petitpas ("Mincing-step") in the Roman i
Renart. The striking contrast between the ugly
feet, the awkward movement, the harsh strident
cry of the peacock, and its brilliant hues furnished
material for moralization exceedingly welcome t
didactic poets and homilists.^

The Physiologiis says that when the peacodc
wakes suddenly in the night, it cries out as if in
distress, because it dreams that it has lost
beauty, thus typifying the soul, which in the night
of this sinful world is constantly fearing to lose the
good gifts and graces with which God has endowed
it In the bestiaries a man devoid of pruder
likened to a peacock that has lost its tail ; because.
as the author argues, the tail of the peacock
denotes foresight, since the tail being behind 1
that which is to come ; and foresight is the faculty^
of taking heed to that which is to come. As i
burlesque on all reasoning from analogy, nothing
could be better than this.

The Christian version of the story of Argus and
lo is an excellent example of the naive manner
In which classical myths were diverted from their
natural course into the channel of moral and
religious instruction. " There was once a lady
who had a very beautiful cow. In order that it
might not be stolen, she hired a herdsman named
Argus, who had a hundred eyes, but slept with
only two at a time, and kept watch with all the
others. Nevertheless her precaution was of no
avail, and she lost her cow. For a certain man,
who coveted the animal, had a son called Mercurius,
who was very skilful in playing on a long, hollow
reed. This clever young man took occasion to
visit Argus, and began to talk about one thing and
another and to play on his pipe ; and as he went
on talking and playing, Argus fell asleep at first
with two eyes, then with four, and so on until finally
the hundred eyes were all closed in slumber.
Thereupon Mercurius cut off the head of the
herdsman, and drove away the cow to his father.
This incident is an admonition and a warning for
us. We are Argus, and the cow is our precious
soul, which we are set to keep with vigilance, and
the hundred eyes are the good deeds and pious
services by which the safety of the soul is secured.
The man who wished to steal the cow is the
devil; and his son and emissary lulls us to sleep
by luxury, pride, vicious habits, and worldly
pleasures, and at last carries away the soul captive,
and delivers it to his father, the author of all evil."

3H

Animal Symbolism

A miniature of this scene from the Arsenal manu-
script has been published by
CahierCJ/rf. d'Arck., II. xxJ
AB), and it is easy to t
ceive how by such a process
' of transformation all the
fables of pagan mytholc^
might serve as apt illustra*
Myihnf Argus. {.BclU3^y.^ jiQ^g of Christian teachings,
and appropriate decorations of Christian arclu^
tecture.

In the Septuagint the word o-eip^i-es occurs
frequently where owls and ostriches are spoken o
in the English version. Thus the prophet Isaiah
(xiii. 21-22) is made to declare that "sirens and
satyrs shall dance in Babylon, and onocentaure-
and demons shall dwell in their habitations." The
sirens are said to be of three kinds : half woman

and half fish, half woman and half bird, and hall
woman and half ass. Some play on flutes, others
on harps, and others sing, attracting men by the
sweetness of their music, lulling them to sleep and
rending them in pieces. They symbolize the powet
of female blandishment, and the allurements of the

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 3 1 5

flesh, and are often portrayed in missals and on
different parts of ecclesiastical edifices. The ship
of Ulysses sailing by the island of the sirens,
himself bound to the mast, and the ears of the
mariners stopped with wax, was a favourite subject
with ancient artists, who delineated the scene on
gems, mosaics, urns, and vases. In Christian art
the ship of the wandering king of Ithaca was
transformed into the ship of the Church, which
bears those who entrust themselves to its care and
keeping safely through the temptations of the
world. Thus in the crypt of Santa Lucia, in the
catacombs of Callistus, is a representation of
Ulysses and the sirens, which St. MaJ^imus of
Turin interprets as a Christian allegory. " This
ship," he says, "is the Church, and the mast
symbolizes the cross of Christ, to which the faith-
ful must cling in order to escape the seductions of
the senses. As our Lord Jesus Christ was nailed
to the cross, and remained sinless among tempta-
tions, so let us navigate the perilous sea of life as
if our ears were stopped."

As servants and messengers of Proserpina the
sirens, like the Scandinavian Valkyrias, carried the
souls of the departed to Hades, and were therefore
often sculptured on tombs and cinerary urns, usually
playing musical instruments. On the sepulchres
of illustrious orators like Isocrates or eminent
poets like Sophocles, the sirens personified the
magic power and irresistible persuasiveness of
eloquence and the charms of poetry, which capti-

3i6

Animal Symbolism

vate the souls of men. Patristic theologians and
exegetists confounded sirens and mermaids, and
believed them to be real creatures expressly in-
tended to serve as deterrent types of carnal
appetites and sensual enticements. In iredijeval
poetry the siren symbolizes the delusive fascinations
of this world, which Konrad von Wurzburg by a
bold metaphor calls "die syrene triigesam" ("the
deceitful siren "), from whose allurements the holy
Virgin rescues us on the voyage of life, and brings
us safely to the haven of eternal rest.

The siren is often represented in sacred art with
a fish in her hand, signifying the soul held in the
grip of libidinous passion, as for example on the
capitals of some of the columns in St. Germain
des Pr^s, the oldest of the Parisian churches
the arcades of the cloister of St. Aubin, where the
siren has a fish in one hand and a knife in the

other ; on capitals in the churches at Civaux, where I
the siren is handing the fish to a man in a boat, I
while another is plunging from the opposite side I

of the boat into the sea, as though he feared the
seductress even when bringing gifts, and risked his
life to save his soul; and at Cunault-sur- Loire,
where a similar scene is represented, the man in
the boat receiving the fish with an affrighted mien,
and his companion standing in a deprecating
attitude on the shore. This sculpture dates from
the twelfth century. Sirens are carved on the
stalls of the chancel in the cathedral of Poitiers
and in Notre Dame of Rouen, in the church of
St. Nicholas at Anclam, and on the portal of the
Schottenkirche in Ratisbon ; also winged virgins
with birds' legs and tails adorn the four comer
pillars which support the candelabra wrought in
bronze by Peter Vischer.

In classical mythology centaurs were associated
with sirens in Bacchanal processions and orgies,
because they both embodied and symbolized over-
ruling animal impulses and passions. They dis-
charged similar functions as agents of the gods of
the lower world, and for this reason were sculptured
on pagan sarcophagi and other funeral monuments,
from which they were borrowed by Christians, who
conceived of them as demons armed with bows and
arrows, and going about annoying believers and
assailing them with what Paul calls " the fiery darts
of the wicked."

St. Jerome records that when St. Anthony, in the
ninetieth year of his age, went to visit Paul the
Hermit in the desert, he met a creature half man
and half horse. The saint made the sign of the

Animal Symbolism

cross, as a protection against diabolical influences,
and then inquired the way to Paul's hermitage.
Thereupon the strange hybrid uttered some harsh
semi-articulate whinnying sounds, and, pointing with
his right hand in the proper direction, galloped off.
Jerome maintains that this apparition was an emis-
sary of Satan sent to frighten St. Anthony, and to
deter him from his purpose ; but if this theory be
correct, the willingness with which the devil's agent
acted as a guide-post and helped the holy man
on his way is rather remarkable. The monks
were wont to people the desert, and other lonely
places in which they dwelt, with monstrous shapes
or entrancing visions, like those which so sorely
tempted St. Anthony, products of their own sup-
pressed but ineradicable passions, and abortions of
an imagination morbidly excited by asceticism and
solitude.

The centaur figures very frequently in architec-
ture from the tenth to the sixteenth century, espe-
cially on the doors of churches. Thus, in the reliefs
on the bronze doors of Augsburg Cathedral one
centaur is shooting at a man and another at a lion •
on a frieze in the church at Brenz are reliefs of cen-
taurs shooting arrows, and the same subject is on
the bronze doors of St. Sophia in Novgorod ; on
the west side of St John's, in Gmiind, is a centaur
with a knife; on the portal of St Gilles are two
centaurs, one shooting at a stag and another pur-
suing a lion ; on the portal of St Trophine at
Aries we find seven reliefs of centaurs shooting at

lions, and of men fighting with divers wild beasts,
illustrating the conflict of fierce passions, or men
contending against their own lower natures, and
trying to subdue them. In the cloister of Zurich
Minster are two female centaurs, one shooting
an arrow at a dragon, and the other thrusting
a spear down its throat ; in the former cloister-
church at Ibbenstadt in Wetterau, on the base of
a pillar surmounted by a cross, is a centaur dis-
charging an arrow into the extended jaws of a
dragon; in the Licbfrauenkirche (Church of our
dear Lady) at Halberstadt are reliefs on the frieze
of the stone enclosure of the chancel, representing
female centaurs nursing their young, and male
centaurs tearing each other's hair ; and in Freiburg
Minster a man fighting a winged centaur with
sword and shield, and a couple of female centaurs
contending with similar weapons. It is not easy
in every case to determine the precise spiritual
significance of such scenes, and in some instances
they are doubtless purely decorative, although a
lingering tradition of the original symbolism of the
centaur underlies them all, and accounts for the
introduction of these fabulous monsters even as
merely ornamental forms.

Dante {Inf., xii.) condemns those who have
been guilty of deeds of violence against life and
property, Alexander, Attila, and other great con-
querors and ravagers of the earth, to suffer for
their crimes in a turbulent stream of boiling blood,
guarded by centaurs armed with darts, and running

320 Animal Symbolism

along the shore; and Vergil (yEn.,vi. 386) is met
by them as he is about to enter the lower world,
where they seem to have acted as warders of the
gate to the nether regions. In Bernardo Orcagna's
famous fresco of the Last Judgment in the Strozd
Chapel of Santa Maria Novella, in Florence, whicb
is essentially a pictorial illustration of Dante's de*
scription of Inferno, the damned are pursued by
centaurs. In the church of the Franciscan cloister
at Assisi, on the groined arch over the grave (
St. Francis, is a centaur painted by Giotto as {
symbol of self-will, together with other frescoes by
the same master, representing allegorical figures c
poverty, chastity, obedience, prudence, humility, and
kindred virtues with which the saint was supposed
to have been pre-eminently endowed. In a painting
by Andrea Mantegna in the gallery of the Louvre
the vices are delineated as satyrs and centauraj
and on a stoup by Jacopo della Querela in t
cathedral of Sienna are reliefs of David rending ti
jaws of a lion and Hercules slaying a centaui^
forming a part of a series of sculptures giving the
history of creation from the birth of light to ths
expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden <
Eden. In older works of Christian art, which hav«
for their subject the fall of man, centaurs often
appear as personifications of criminal impulsei
rashly and recklessly obeyed. At a later period
like other real or fabulous creatures, they gradually
lost their symbolical meaning, and were used fffl
satirical purposes in accordance with the generdt

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 321

law of degeneracy that governs this hieroglyphic
mode of expression. Thus, on some of the seats
of the stalls in the choir of B^le Minster, belonging
to the end of the fifteenth century, are carvings of
centaurs with the heads of bishops and of merry-
making monks and nuns, and other caricatures of
the clergy.

In the crypt of the cathedral at Freising, near
Munich in Bavaria, is a column adorned on all
sides with sculptures of the eleventh century, repre-
senting the chief incidents of the old German myth
of Sigurd (Siegfried). In the first group two per-
sons — one in armour, and wearing spurs (Sigurd),
and the other in a kirtle (Regino)— are slaying the
dragon. Next we see a naked man letting himself
down into the jaws of the dead dragon ; it is Sigurd
bathing himself in the dragon's blood, which would
render him invulnerable. A branch of leaves hang-
ing down covers a part of his shoulder, and indi-
cates the fatal spot which remained unwashed by
the monster's blood, and therefore capable of being
wounded. Two birds are perched on the capital
of the column. An animal, probably an ichneumon
(also a legendary killer of monsters in the form of
crocodiles), is rushing into the jaws of another
dragon resembling an alligator. On the fourth
side is a woman with long hair, a valkyrie, or
perhaps Brunhild. The legend of Sigurd symbol-
ized the vernal freshness and vigour of the sun
slaying the demon of winter, and freeing earth's
treasures from its icy grasp, and was therefore easily

322

Animal Symbolism

turned into the channel of
Christian ethics and theology,
and made to signify the re-
deeming power of the Sun
of Righteousness. For this
reason scenes from it are fre-
quently found depicted on
monuments of Christian art.
In Nonvay the Sigurd Saga
seems to have been a favourite
theme of Christian architects,
and the adventures of this old
Scandinavian ideal of heroic
valour and strength were fre-
quently carved on the door-
posts and stalls of sacred edi-
fices, especially in the southern
provinces. The most com-
plete of these delineations
are the curious wood-carvings
from the portal of the church
at Hyllestad, in Saetersdal,
now in the University collec-
tion of Northern Antiquities
at Christiania, and dating
probably from the thirteenth
century. The scenes repre-
sented are as follows: l. The
smith, Regino, forges the
sword " Nothung," while Si-
gurd blows the bellows.

iegfiiad Saga. iFni.

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 323

k Se^'i'Hd Saga. {Frrirat^.^

2. Sigurd tests the sword by
smiting the anvil in twain.

3. Sigurd slays Fafnir the
dragon. 4. Sigurd cuts Faf-
nir's heart in three pieces and
roasts them on a spit ; while
Regino is asleep Sigurd touches
one of the pieces with his finger
to see if it is done ; as the juice
of the roast is hot he licks his
finger, and thus gets a taste of
it, and is able to understand
the language of the birds which
are singing in the branches
above his head. The steed
Grane is also visible, laden with
the Andvaregold, known as
the Rhinegold or Nibelungen
Hort (treasure). 5. Sigurd
kills Regino, whose meditated
treachery has been revealed to
him by the birds. 6. Gunnar
is lying in a pit of serpents
with his hands bound, and
playing a harp with his feet
in order to charm the venom-
ous reptiles and render them
innoxious ; one of them, how-
ever, is of the kind mentioned
by the Psalmist, "which will

hearken to the voice of

B 324 Animal Symbolism B

charmers, charming never
so wisely," and has bitten '
him. This last legend is j

J

JJffS

f^

&^£)

more fully rendered on two

C\^> '

f >-iA/

carved planks from the por-

■32^i

ta! of the church at Austad

__7^^

(Saetersdal), where we find

y^/'-^

two scenes from the Gjukun-

v«^

gasaga: Hogne's heart is

T v^

cut out of his breast by Atle

\8 I

and shown to the brother of

3 s

f^ \

the slain, Gunnar, who is

^rf

'Sit I

exposed to serpents, and

m

plays the harp \vith his feet.

The portal of the church at

Vegusdal, also in Saetersdal,

is adorned with delineations

' .

of Sigurd's exploits similar

tTf

in character, but less fully

^ (

represented. Indeed, as we

i\/

have already stated, more

\ A

or less fragmentary episodes

jr\

of old Norse Saga-cycles

ry^i

are found in a great number

lv\

^ /

of churches, as, for example,

'suFSi

at Nesland in Thalemarken,
at Hemsedal in Hallingdal,
at Lardal in Jarlsberg, at

— C^

—r^

Yr\

Opdal in Numedal, and .
elsewhere. A carving at ]
Lardal represents the ex- g

I \

]

fgfrial Sae»

(J^rHBV.)

In Ecclesiastical Architecture

325

3 piation made for the death

idSaga. IFreUing.)

the otter by heaping up
gold sufficient to cover its
skin ; round its neck is the
fatal Andvare ring. In the
church of Hitterdal, a re-
markably interesting speci-
men of the Norwegian
" stavekirker " of the twelfth
century, are decorative carv-
ings of Sigurd and Gunnar
riding up the mountain
towards the spot where
Brynhildr ( Brunhild ) is
asleep, encircled with a
barrier of fire, and, as they
return, Sigurd holds the ring
of Andvare in his hand.
Doubtless many monuments
of this kind, formerly exist-
ing in Scandinavia and in
other northern countries, have
perished. Fragments of sculp-
tures treating the Sigurd
Saga in the manner already
described may be seen still,
although in a very mutilated
condition, on a cross-shaft at
Kirk Andreas, in the Isle of
Man.'
~'~CfrDr.' L! Dietrichson and H.

326 Animal Symbolism H

Christianity, it must be
remembered, was forced upon
the Norwegians by sove-
reigns who, like King Olaf
Tryggvason, had been con-
verted in foreign lands, and
endeavoured to introduce the
new religion in a summary
manner by royal decree.
There was no change, how-
ever, in the religious beliefs
of the masses of the people,
who continued to worship the
ancestral gods and to revere
the mythical and semi-myth-
ical heroes whose deeds, as
celebrated in ancient songs
and sagas, were anything but
illustrations of Christian vir-
tues. Chief of these popular
demi-gods was Sigurd, the
most perfect embodiment of
the Norseman's conception
of manly force and fearless-
ness. Even Christian priests
themselves were not wholly
free from this feeling, and

m

f

Munthe, Die HoMaukunsl Nor-

Gegenwart, Berlin, 1893, pp. 25-27;
Journal of the British Archaologi-
cal Association, vol. xliii., p. a6o.

~^7^

Sigurd Saga. WylltstaJ.^

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 327

^^^St^^^SSB cherished a h'ngering fond-

W^^S|QB| ness for the outworn creeds

■ -Jb^^^^M/ ^"'^ discarded superstitions

' ^J^^^MoK of tt'eir fathers. Partly as

FmS^lUll ^" expression of this senti-

tSltmlml

ment, and partly as a matter

of policy, Sigurd, the slayer

of Fafnir, was made to sym-

bolize Christ, the subduer of

Satan, or was regarded as

the pagan prototype of the

Christian dragon -killers, St.

George and St. Michael, and

placed at the portal of the

church as its protector. By
the same process of adapta-

tion and assimilation Gunnar
in the serpents' pit came to
typify man in the bondage

S^jD^^

of sin, trying to comfort
himself and to calm his
conscience by resorting to

BajKBE'

worldly pleasures, but

doomed to spiritual death.

Another favourite theme

of mediaeval art was the

WXM

weighing of souls, which

i~^e^^.

plays such a prominent and

P=T^^^

decisive part in the eschato-

I ■

logy of the ancient Egyp-

1 * — '

1 Sig.^

dSaga. (.HyUcstad.)

tians, on whose sepulchral

Animal Symbolism

monuments the Supreme Judge is seen determiniOj
the worth of souls by weight, and conderanin]
each to be reimbodied in the animal form (
which the habits of life cultivated in a previoo
existence rendered it best suited. Thus a glutton i
scourged with rods by cynocephali, who are i
conducting his spirit to the earth, where it i
doomed to pass its next period of incamatiotl
as a hog. Most probably, however, the medjfevs
artist knew nothing of the Egyptian method (
procedure in determining the destiny of souls, bat
simply intended to illustrate the words of Danie
to King Belshazzar : " Thou art weighed in the
balances, and art found wanting ;" although this
metaphorical phrase is evidently based upon '
Oriental conception of the method by which retrii
butive justice is meted out in accordance with the
theory of metempsychosis.

In a bas-relief on a church at Velay an angel is
engaged in weighing souls ; the devil in the shape
of a pig is carrying off a woman, whose virtues
have been found of too light a quality, and keeping
one eye on the scales to see that the angel does not
cheat him out of the rest of the ponderable wares.
It is a competition in which neither will bate the
other even one poor scruple. In a sculpture of thij
thirteenth century on the portal of the church at
Louques, in the province of Aveyron, the devil it
slyly touching the beam with his finger in ordef
to make it incline in his favour ; and in a stained
window of the cathedral of Bourges we sei

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 329

arch-fiend putting his foot on the scale and pressing
the lever with his hand, while one of his imps is
pulling at it from be-
low so as to make the
side of virtue kick the
beam. Here the gc
and evil qualities are
incarnate as heads.
A relief on the pedi-
ment over a doorway I
of the cathedral of \
Autun represents
crowd of naked and Weighinj
clawfooted devils eagerly watching a balance, in one
scale of which are the vices of the soul incorporate
in a hideously-deformed creature, and in the other
scale its virtues personified by a young child under
the protection of a lean and lank angel in exceed-
ingly stiff and angular drapery. Here, too, the devil
in charge tries to push the doubtful beam, but is
caught in the act and thwarted by the vigilant
angel. Behind the devil stands a long procession
of trembling souls, and in the background a fiery
furnace, into which a serpent -headed imp as stoker
is vigorously thrusting those who have been found
deficient in saving qualities. In Egyptian escha-
tology the office of weighing souls was performed
by Osiris and Typhon ; in Christian art the function
of balancing good and evil deeds and thus deter-
mining the future destiny of men is commonly
assigned to the archangel Michael and Satan.

tiael

pre- I

Sometimes the scales are held by the hand of God
reaching out of the clouds, as, for example, on the
arch of the principal doorway of the cathedral of
Autun, and on a capital in the church of Saint-Croix
in Saint-L6 ; usually, however, it is SL Michael
who superintends this weighty business, and pre-
vents any cheating on the part of the great decei'
There is a vivid representation of this scene on
portal of St. Trophine in Arles-sur-Rhone (eleventii
century), where the good souls under the care of
the tutelar archangel mount upwards and join the
assembly of the elect in heaven, while the bad ones
are seized by a gigantic demon, who already
two in his clutch, holding them with their he;
downward. Essentially similar scenes are scul]
tured on the portals of the cathedral St. Nicholi
at Fribourg in Switzerland, the metropolitan chui
Notre-Dame-de-Paris, the old cathedral church
Bazas in Gironde, and in many other ecclesiastic
edifices.

On the portal of the minster at Bonn are sci
tured an ange! and a devil, each diligently writii
in a scroll held on the knee ; and cowering betweeo"
the ribs of the arch of the famous pulpit in B4kl
Minster (hewn in 14S6 in the form of a GottuC-j
chalice out of a single stone) is a devil busily 1
engaged in taking notes, not probably of the sermon,
but of the conduct of the congregation ; undemeat
is the inscription Prope est dies Domini (" the dayj
of the Lord is near "). In a fresco painting of
thirteenth century in the cathedral of Freisii

In Ecclesiastical Architecture

33'

depicting the Last Judgment the archangel Michael
and Satan are each presenting their books to
Christ; this picture might serve as an illustration
to the fine Latin hymn also of the thirteenth
century, and ascribed to the Franciscan monk
Thomas of Celano^

" Liber scriplus proferetur.
In quo lotum continetur.
Ex quo mundus judicetur.

I Judex ergo cum sedebit,

Quidquid latet apparebtt,
Nil inullum remanebit."

In Indian mythology of the Post-Vedic period
it is Yama who fixes the fate of the soul after
hearing the report of his secretary Chitragupta,
who keeps a strict record of human actions in a
.book called Agrasandhani. Sometimes, however,
in works of art this clerk is represented as weighing
a person with a steelyard in the presence of the
Judge of the Dead,

Characteristically enough, the procession waiting
for judgment in Christian delineations of the scene
consists almost entirely of women. The notion
that woman is, in an emphatic and peculiar sense,
the ally and satellite of Satan originated in the
legend of the fall of man, and was strengthened by
the institution of sacerdotal celibacy. By yielding
to the suggestions of the devil she brought ruin
upon the human race, and is still the most efficient
agent of the evil one in disturbing the meditations
of pious men. From her first appearance on the

332 Animal Symbolism

stage of history her seductive influence has beei
the cause of all the social, political, and domesti
intrigues that have disturbed the peace and happ^
ness of the world. " Clierches la femme" is alwa>i]
a pertinent mandate in the presence of any sudi
calamity. This prejudice was firmly rooted in tb
mediaeval mind, and finds drastic expression in t
painting and sculpture as wel! as in the poetrj
and theolt^y of that period. A troubadour of t"
thirteenth century, in a poem entitled Les BlaaH.
des Fames, compares woman to various animal
each of which is distinguished for some undesirabli
quality : she stings like a serpent, is fiery like i
horse, double-natured like a dragon, deceitful Uk<
a fox, greedy like a bear, and loves darkness lib
a bat; she is not even admitted to have that "ex-
cellent thing in woman," a " voice ever soft, gentlej
and low," but hoots and screeches like an owl—

" Fame est huans, fame est fresaaie."

A picture in Notre Dame de Recouvrance i
Brest portrays the devil noting down the idfe
words of two women, who are gossiping during
mass. This subject is often treated in sculptun
in the miniatures of manuscript missals and in
designs of tapestries, and is thus referred to in a
poem written by Pierre de Grosnet in 1553 —

" Note7 en I'ecclise de Dieu,
Femmes ensemble caquetoyent.
Le diable y estoit en ung lieu
Escripvant ce qu'etles disoyent.

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 333

Son rollet plain de poinct en poinct.
Tyre aux dens pour le faire croistre :
Sa prinse eschappe et ne tient poinct,
Au pillier s'en cobby la teste."

On a. gable- window of the Chiiteau de Villeneuve
in Auvergne, dating from the sixteenth century, is
a painting of three frightful devils forging the head
of a woman, and three angels moulding the head of
a man— the female head, being of diabolical work-
manship, is full of diabolical propensities. The
artists who conceived and executed such things,
it must be remembered, were in the service of a
Mariolatrous and yet misogynistic religion. In a
carving in the church of Saint- Spire, in Corbeil,
Oman has got the better of the devil, and is
sawing off his infernal majesty's right ear.

The devil is by no means a prominent figure in
the oldest monuments of Christian art, and it is
difficult to determine with precision when he began
to claim the attention of painters and sculptors.
The general panic produced by the belief that the
end of the world was at hand, and that Christ
would come to judge the quick and the dead in
the year 1000, caused the thoughts of men to turn
more and more anxiously to the person of his
Satanic majesty, who was expected to play a pro-
minent and fatal part in that final scene. In
consequence of this state of fearful anticipation,
we find the devil and his acolytes making their
appearance in the latter half of the tenth and the
beginning of the eleventh century on the capitals

and friezes, the doorways and pediments of,
churches, frequently as human monsters with jaggedl
wings and forked tail, or that hideous abortion of
an affrighted imagination, the dragon. The object
of such creations was to exert a religious influence
by inspiring terror. But after the period so pain-
fully looked forward to had passed, and the day of
vengeance seemed to be indefinitely postponed, a
reaction of feeling set in, and men began to treat
the devil as a bugaboo to be ridiculed rather than
to be dreaded. The imps which are sculptured in
bas-relief on the churches of the fifteenth century
are far more comical than terrible forms. They
are devils who are fallen into dotage and visible
decay, and with whom the artist can take all sorts
of liberties, turning them into clowns and buffooi
for the amusement of the populace.

This tendency was intensified by the scepttcisi
which attended the Renaissance movement and It
to the Reformation, and was naturally and inevitablj
fostered by the success of these intellectual ai
ecclesiastical revolts, Luther's devil was a pi
discrowned potentate, whom it was perfectly s:
to deride and vilify. No hurling of inkstant
would have sufficed to discomfit the devils of
tenth and eleventh centuries, nor would any gi
Christian of that day have ventured to addi
them in such offensive terms as Luther eraploi
in his Table Talk, lest they should take him at
word and effect an anal possession of his persi
that would defy the most vigorous crepitus as

N

ins of expulsion. Luther's attitude towards the
prince of darkness, however bold and reckless it
may seem, was in reality nothing but the cheapest
and coarsest sort of swagger. The great devil in
the pediment over the portal of the cathedral of
Autun, belonging to the twelfth century, would
have "grinned horribly a ghastly smile" at the
scurrile scoldings and obscene jocularities in which
the Wittenberg Reformer was so fond of indulging
at the expense of the arch-fiend.

As Maupertuis was passing through a cemetery,
friend, pointing to a heap of skulls, said, " What
are they grinning at?" "At us who are living,"
the reply. This is the moral of the Dance of
Death. A Tyrolese priest, preaching to a congre-
gation of peasants, naively remarked, "All men
must die, even I myself." The grim skeleton is no
respecter of persons, so far as riches and rank are
concerned ; the crown, the mitre, the tiara, the
surplice, and the stole do not avail to ward off
the inevitable fate. Death's touch paralyzes the
strongest arm, and his scythe strikes through the
heaviest helmet and pierces the network of the
most impenetrable coat of mail. The artists who
delineated such scenes enforced in the most em-
phatic manner the doctrine of human equality so
impressively taught by Hamlet in his churchyard
soliloquy : " Now get you to my lady's chamber,
and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this
favour must she come." The lawyer with " his
quiddits, his quillets, his cases, his tenures, and

Animal Symbolism

his tricks," the jester with his gibes, his gambols;
his songs, his " flashes of merriment, that were wont
to set the table on a roar," pope, emperor, courtjei
beggar, miser, spendthrift, knight, peasant, soldier;
judge, and criminal — all join in the measured move
ment directed by the untiring and unrelentinj
corypheus.

The oldest Dance of Death of which we hart
any knowledge dates from 1312, and was a fresco
painting in the cloister of KHngenthal at LittlC
Bale, consisting of forty representations of the
manner in which death arrests the activity and
cuts short the career of all classes and conditions
of men, and accompanied with explanatory verset
More than a hundred years later the churchyard
of the Minorite cloister of the Innocents at 1
was adorned with similar scenes, "begun," as s
contemporary record states, "in the month ■
August, 1424, and finished in the following Lent*
It was called La Dance Macabre, and woodcuts
of it were published in a volume printed at Paris
in 1485, and bearing the title: Chorea ab exitn,
Macahro versibus akmanicis edita, etc., from whid
it appears that the word Macabre was then s
posed to be derived from a distinguished Germai
poet, Macabrus, who composed the rhymes.
fortunately for this theory, no poet of this name
ever existed in Germany, although he may havs
owed his origin to a confusion with Marcabrus, i
Provencal poet of the fourteenth century, who, how-
ever, sang wholly different themes. Nearly a dozen

more or less ingenious interpretations have been
given of this phrase, which is probably a transla-
tion and corruption of the mediaeval Latin C/wrea
Machabtsortim^ so called because the seven Mac-
cabean brothers with their mother were originally
the principal characters in itj or because it was first
celebrated in their honour on the day (August i)
devoted by the Church to their memory as martyrs;
for the Dance of Death was represented dramati-
cally as well as pictorially, and was doubtless
acted in cloisters and in public places long before
h became the subject of artistic delineation. The
verses explanatory of the oldest paintings are
always in the form of a dialogue between the in-
exorable destroyer and his victims, and may be
regarded as fragments of the original play.

In England, France, Germany, and Switzerland
some fifty cities are mentioned as having had
paintings of the Dance of Death, the most famous
of which was that on the outer wall of the church-
yard of the Dominican cloister in Great Bsle, made
in free imitation of the Klingenthal fresco about
the middle of the fifteenth century, renovated by
Hans Hugo Klauber in 1568, and ruthlessly de-
stroyed by order of an over-zealous iconoclastic
municipal council on account of its being " a terror
to children and a bugaboo to the people " — " ein
Kinderschreck und eine Leutescheuche."

The libraries of Heidelberg, Munich, and Paris
contain quite a number of manuscripts with minia-
tures of the Dance of Death, some of which are

Anima! Symbolism

really superb in execution, while others are cruij
in form, but not without a. certain vigour of movi
ment and vividness of expression. By far I
finest delineation of this subject is Hans Holbein
Imago Mortis, the original drawings of which, na
in St. Petersburg, are artistically as superior to a
former productions of the kind as Goethe's Fam
is to the folk-books and puppet-plays that describ
the uncanny career of the medieval master of tt
black art. Holbein's drawings were engraved c
wood by Hans Liitzelburger. These cuts, t!
proof- impressions of which, published at Lyoi
and Bale, resemble the best work of the artist!
pencil, and to which several posthumous sheet
were added in the early part of the present cei
tury, have passed through more than a hundre
editions, to say nothing of copies on copper an
lithographic reproductions.

In the Book of Hours of Geoffroy Tory at
miniatures of a like character: the grim skeleton
is mounted on a black horse, with a scythe on fa
shoulder, a folded letter in his hand, a raven, tl
ominous bird of Odin, flying over his head, and h
pathway strewn with corpses. In a copper-plate
by the Nuremberger Hans Sebastian Beham, dateij
1541, and bearing the inscription, Otiinent in /lomim
venvstatem Mors abolet (" Death does away witfi
all beauty in man "), Death in the guise of a
court-fool surprises a richly-dressed maiden of patri-
cian birth, while gathering a bouquet of flowers.
Beham was a genial artist, but a lewd fellow. In

In Ecclesiastical Architecture 339

the Berlin Museum is an engraving of Death look-
ing with lustful emotions on a lascivious pair, on
the margin of which are written these words:
propter quara picturam ex civitate ejectus est."
His fellow-burghers were so outraged by this super-
fluity of obsceneness that they compelled him to
quit the city. After his exile he went rapidly from
bad to worse, kept a brothel in Frankfort, and, in
1550, was drowned in the Main. Well-preserved
representations of Death's triumphs, painted by
Megiinger in the sixteenth century, may still be
in the pediments under the roof of the loag
iwooden bridge (Spreuer Briicke) over the Reuss at
Lucerne.

The spirit of the Dance of Death is thoroughlj*
democratic, and inculcates the doctrine of human
equality in the most emphatic and impressive
manner. The great leveller shows no considera-
tion for rank or dignity ; the lowest is not beneath,
nor the highest above his notice ; neither emperor
nor pope can escape his dominion or refuse to obey
his behest. He clutches the rich and powerful with
a rude hand, gently lulls the infant to sleep, and
closes the weary eyes of the poor and oppressed
with a touch of tenderness and compassion. He
delights to turn the tables on his victims, to make
a mockery of human faculty and function, and

Thus he presents the monarch a fatal potion in a
goblet set with jewels, capers with the king's Jester

340

Animal Symbolism

towards an open grave, breaks the judge's staff d
office over his head, strikes down the miser wi^
his heavy bag of hoarded wealth, pierces the coc
through with a spit, combats the cavalier on horsi
back, tilts with a lance against the knight in t
lists, plays the gallant with coquettes, catches t
fowler in a snare, points to the doctor's pills ;
tinctures and bids him heal himself,
apothecary in the midst of his drugs, snatches t
priest from the altar as he is praying souls out d
purgatory, gives the astronomer a skull in the foni
of a globe, and says to the astrologer, who c
the horoscope of others, but is ignorant of his o
fate—

" Tu dis par amphibologie
Ce qu'aux aultres doibt advenir ;
Dys-moy done par asirologie
Quand du debvias a moy venir."

" You tell by amphibology
What unto others is to be ;
Now tell me by astrology
When areyau to come to me."

Honore de Sainte Marie, a popular and sensj
tiona) preacher of the latter half of the seventeentih
century, was wont to take skulls into the pulpi
and address them in the sarcastic moralizing sty
of Hamlet. To the skull of a judge he would sayS
" Speak now, hast thou not sold justice for gold
and refused to listen to the pleadings of the poor ?
The skull of a flirt he would apostrophiz
following strain : " Art thou not the head of oiu
of those fair dames whose chief occupation \

lay snares for human hearts, and to catch them
with honeyed words as birds are taken with lime ?
Well then, empty and musty sconce, where are
those fine eyes, with their fond and furtive glances ?
Where are those beautiful teeth, which bit so many
hearts, and made them more easily devoured by the
devil ? Where those delicate ears, into which fops
have so lovingly whispered, seeking through these
avenues easy access to the heart ? What has
become of those lilies and roses, which thou didst
suffer to be plucked by unchaste kisses ? " It
would be interesting to know whether the idea of
delivering such discourses was original with the
French divine, or borrowed from Hamlet's medi-
tations in the churchyard. The most probable
supposition is that these sermons were suggested
by the Dance of Death, inasmuch as the Shake-
sperian dramas were little read and indeed hardly
known in France at that time, and it was not until
a much later period that they began to be generally
appreciated even in England.

It would be wholly foreign to the scope of the
present work to consider at length the different
forms in which death has been represented in art.
To the poetic imagination and fine .esthetic sense
of the Greeks the genius of death was not a grim
monster, but a graceful youth leaning on an inverted
torch, the twin brother of sleep, as Homer calls him,
and it was not till the twelfth century of the Chris-
tian era that he began to be personified and por-
trayed as a mummy or a skeleton. The Dance of

342 Animal Symbolism

Death doubtless originated in the Dance of the
Dead (Todlentanz, Danse des Morts), which accord-
ing to popular superstition took place in church- ,
yards at the ghostly hour of midnight. TheJ
remarkable fascination of the theme is evidentJ
from the frequency with which it has been por-
trayed by modern artists, as, for example, by Alfred
Rethel in six admirable xylographs of Death od
the barricades and in revolutionary and reactionary
contests suggested by the political events of 184?
in the woodcuts of Ille, Pocci, and Barth, the ex-
cellent series of India-ink drawings by Otto Seitz,^
and the more recent and uncommonly clever
sketches by Luhrig. In these and similar works
Death 6gures as a working-man in a blouse preach- ^
ing insurrection, as the " walking delegate " t
labour union organizing a general strike, as a Je;
urging a monarch to resist by force of arras the w
of the people, as a diplomatist seated at a tab!
and kindling war by a single stroke of his pen, ;
Swiss guide leading a company of tourists througl
a mist over a precipice, as a careless switchmai
plunging an express train into an abyss, and Snal^
in the newest and most destructive r61e of i
anarchist and dynamiter.

«-■
red '

OD

nary J

ieitz,1

lever '

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|»i«iau?»

I""'"'*

whelp, S2
Al/raham, slgDifies faith, 67 ; ^c-
rificing IsiLBc, S4
■ ifi, declared inlaoious, 263
iti, author of a natnial history,
55.56
Adamant, type of Chrut, 45

-4ot/AflV of Louvraine, Queen, ^\

^lia CapilBlina, 294

jSHan, on the remora, 1 £5 ; on the

ichneumon, 132 ; on the beaver,

"39
jEschylu!, ' Eumeaides, 299
Aitila, or eagle-stone, 49
Asate, virtue of, 35 ; worn in June,

37 ; in peatl-fishing, 47
Agnus Dd, in art, 308
AgrasandhSni, Indian book of

judgmenl, 33 1
Aimtric di Prtgulhan, simile of

the phcenix, 131; basilisk and

mirror, 165
Aix-la-ChafiUe, Bacchana.! and ,

olher pagan scenes in the min- |

ster of, 303 ; amethyst with the ■

ihree Graces ia the cross of,

Lothair, 308
AlierlMs Magnus, his criticism of

the ' Ph^oli^us,' 78 ; on the '

African viper's horn, 105 ; on '

the beaver, 139 ; on the wolf,
the basilisk, 169

Alln-echt vott Brandenburg, 136

Alces, at elks, described by Julius
Csssar, HZ

AUlulm, his parables, 66

Alimannic gods,t^^iettA at Br^eni,
307 ; destroyed by St. Gallus,
307

AUxaucUr the Great, embalmed
with honey, 4 ; services to
science, 2i ; wisdom, 116 ; lover
in * Lai d'Aristote,' 226 — 228

Alexander III. , Pope, his salaman-

der h

,14a

L

Alexander VI., Pope, his coal-of-
arms, 201 ; scandalous life, 202

Alexandria, schools of, 11, (6, z6 ;
commerce and culture under the
Ptolemies, II, 25 ; libraries and
leaming, 26

All Soulr Day, pagan feast of the
dead, 264

Alnnmd, symbolism of the flowei-
ing, 166, 167

Alize, sculptures on tiie doorway of
church at, 50, 51 ; eagle, 118 ;
whale, 124; panther, 135;
hyena, 142 ; charadrius, 146 ;
antelope, 174

Aniboise, church of St. Denis,
foxes as pilgrims witnessii^ the
slaughter of the Innocents, 211.

Ambrosius, the " mellifluous," 3 ;
allegorii^ exegesis, 40 ; on the
viper and lampreji-, 55 i Latin
' Physiologus' attributed to, 64 ;

352

Index

on locusts as Gentiles, 167
symbolism of animali, 185
Amethyst, aoti-inebrirmt virtue of.
35 ! associated with Fcbniary,
37 ; in the New Jerusalem, 39
Ataianlkus, supposed 10 be ■a&h

maoder's skin, 142
AtnifHs Calhedral, Virtoes and
Vices personified, 153; Sam
193 ; fox preaching to fowls,
.■iinor, hia duel with and likeness
10 a bee, 2 ; Amor and Psjcht
as Christian emblems, 309
Amorozso da Firmst, ladjr-love

likened to a lion, 93
Amfhitheatn, sports of, 33
Amsdoff, NicMlas van, letter

Luther, 203
Anatresn, Eros compared to

bee, I
Auastasiu! Siimila, his anagogicat

contemplations, 61
Anclam, sirens in St. Nicholas',

3"7
AHoma, lion In church at, S7
Andely, Henri d", hia ' Lai d'Aris-

tole ' cited, 326, 21&
AHdvangold, 323, 325
AngdumBii, asinine catechism of,

268, 269
Animals, primitive superstitions
about, 8 ; prophetic movei
of, 9; early worship of,
comipted by Adam's fall,
redeemed and regenerated by
Christ's death, 30 ; Roman
passion for pets, 24 ; occult and
magical properties of, z6 ; as
human mirrors and heavenly
prototypes, 27, 28, 30 ; L
Oriental literature and especi
ally in Buddhistic teachings, 30
—33; in Christian art, 53;
Roger Bacon's theory of their
place in Scripture, 58 ; as
symbols of the conflict between
Christianity and paganism, 130 -

used to illustrate opposite qnaK-
ties, 91, 109, 131 ; an initisl
and capital letters, 152 ; their
prominence in Church ornament-
ation of the elenenth and twelfth
centuries, 179, I So; protests
against their presence in sacred
places, 180—185; ethical and
satirical porposes of, 185—188,
193 — 19s ; caricaturing religious
rites, l&Q ; fanciful and grotesque
delineations of, 216 — aafi, 231
— 145 ; in satirical delineations,
320 ; woman compared to differ-
ent, 332

Annunciation, symboliied by toe
chase of the nnicom, 96; auri-
cular conception in pictures of
the, gS— 100

Anselm, cited, 40 I

Ant, pattern for Buddhist ascetic f
31 1

Antelope, symbolism of, 173 ; in '
poetry and art, 174

AnH-Seinitism, in art, ig, 1S9—
299

Anti-Siiiiitic satin
297

Ape, ridden by Avance, 163 i "■ '_
sacred architecture, 186, 1S9, I
21s, 218, 219, 223. 235

Apis, sacred bull, s^n of, [4

Apocalypse, mimsters of the, i

Apello, the purilier, 299 ; a

309
Apr'U, coi^secrated to Venus, 1
Apulcius, died, 139
A^iia tnarini,

October, 37
Archileeis, secular, supplantm

ish, 186

' Areipagitica,''K\\loa's, cited, in4
Argonauts, purified by swiofr^ J

blood, 299

r^is and lo. Christian apolog

of, 3 '3. 314

!, banished, _
AriaslP, OQ lovers symbolized by

eaglets, 119, 130
jJriitolU, scientific study of nature,

2a ; Christianiiation of, 43 ;

fable of eagle's beak, 119; in

discussion with Lc^c, 154;

ridiculed in ' Lai d'Aristote,'

Arlv, synod of, 252 ; centaars in
St. Trophine's, 318; weighing
souls, 330

ArsiHol Library, bestiaries in,

r priest, 186, 1E9 ; in
architecture, 194 ; papal, 195 —
203 ; with rosary, Z41 —
243 ; as the bomolc^e of the
cathedral, 267 ; in the Angou-
mois catechism, 268 ; Feast of
the, 265, 267, 271—280 ; wor-
shipped by Jews and Christians,
270 ; supenority of the Oriental,
afig ; drawing of ass*worship in
the Palatine, 270 ; of St.
Bernard, and other effigies in
churches, 271 ; litany of the,
272 — 277 ! symbol of the
Saviour, 378; tradition of the
' ' true," 272 ; interpretation of
the litany of the, 278 ; type of
the Jews, 279 . , .

Asasi, Giotlos centaur in cloister
at, 320

A tit, cutting out the heart of
Hogne, 324

AtBttemini, symboliied by a simple
cross, 30S

Augsburg, lion in cathedral of, 82 \
centaurs, 318

Aiigiiitinc, cited, 58, 87, 88, 91,

n'the pelican, laB ; cited, 185 ;
<n the peacock's SeA, 311

All/nay, ass as priest in St. Peter's
church, 225, 277

Aiulad, Siegfried saga, 324

Autun, foi and crane in cathedral
of, 209 ; weighing souls, 329 ,
330; devil, 335

Auvergtu, devils aod angels forg-
ing heads, 333

Avista, appreciation of the dog in

Aveyron, devil weighing souls,
Aviccnna, cited, 43

Bacchas, type of the Christian
vineyard, 301, 303, 308

Bacon, Hogrr, his spiritual interpre-
tation of natural things, 58

BSJi, carvings in minster : phtenix
and pelican, 129; Jews and sow,
297 ; Pyramus and Thisbe, 304,
301 ; cenCauts with heads of
bishops, monies, and nuns, 321 ;
devil and angel taking notes,
330; 'Dance of Death,' 337

Ball, John, on the Romish fox,
193

Bamberg, queer religious relics in,
2S6, 287

Barbazan, Etitttm, his collection of
fables and tales, 226

BavCechba, revolt of, 294

Barlaani und JosapAal. See Ru-
dolf von Eras

Barnnias, his epistle cited, on
Judaism, 53; on the symbolism
of Abraham, 67; on the hyena,
14Q ; on the pretiguiation of the
cross, 249

SamiKie geese, symbolism of, 174,

Bar Shalom, Rakbi Jehuda, bis

apolt^ue on circumcision, 262

Bartk, his ' Dance of Death,' 342

Bartholotnaus Artglietts, cited, 74

Basil the Griai, bis ' Hexafaeme-

ron ' cited, 18, S5. 57

Sasilisi, symbolism of the, 1G3—

166 ; represeaCs Antichrist, 167 .

method of killbg it, 164, 16S ;

in the abbey of Veielai, 166,

16S
Baslaril, M. de, on the snail, 3lS
Batrachilians, heretical sect, 238
Bayonne, wooden bs% in Saint-

Esprit's at, 271
Batas Catiedral, weighing souls,

330
Star, type of Satan, 88 ; in the

beast-epos, iSg, 314, 315
Beast-tpes in architecture, 1S5 ;

used forpolemical purposes, 193;

scenes from, 213—372, 13S, 236
Blasts of Ul-tmiat, in churches and

cloisters, I7g, tSo
Beauv"" "■= " I

139
Bclinkaustn, lion in cloister, 83
Bxkil. See Thomas d Bictet
Beda, cited, 66 ; on locosts sym-
bolizing Gentiles, 166
Bte, £ras compared to a, i; sym-
bol of immortality on tombs,
otherwise mre in Cbristian art,
3 ; in Greek, Oriental, and
modem poetry, I — 3; hive typi-
cal of the cloister with the
Virgin Mary as queen bee, 3 ;
Cbnst the ielhereal and Krishna
the ajenre bee, 4 ; in Somadeva's
tales, 5 ; relief in the baptistery
of Farma, S ; golden bee sym-
bolic of sovereignty, 4 ; symbol-
ism of a broken bee-hive, 323.
See Honey
Beards, vagabond monks satir-
ized, 233
Sigtiines, their licentiousness

Beham, Hans Stiaslian, his repre-

sentilion of Death, 338
Bei/, symbolism of the church,

534—356 ; bells of the Gospel

and trumpets of the Law, 255 ; j
terror to demons, 257

Bclla-ophm, 301

Belli, Vaierio, his pb
enamel, 130

B^Iona, relief in a church at: Trifl
307

Beiudict IX., 230

BntedicHnts, other orders I
and satirized by them, 125,

Benjockai, Rabbi Simon, h»
on the Sabbath, 262

Berbedih, Richard de, dted,

Berlin Miueum, painii:
Lucas Cranach, i ; ]
representation of Death,

Bernard of Clairvaujc, cii
his protest against fabulous
in cloisteis, tSo, iSi, 183 — igj
an ass and arch-priest, 225 ; as
of, 271 ; cited, 27S

BemarditKS, satirical works of ad
in their cloisters, 225

Beryl, virtues of, 37, 39

Butiaries, Waldensian, 49 ;
source of the, 59 ; FtEnch, , . ^
Tusco-Venetian, 73 ; codices U'
Italian hhraries, 73, 74 ; ' Beiti-
aire Divin' (see William of Nsr-
mandy); English bestiaiy on
the pMither, 133; derivation of
panther in the, 137 ; on the
wolf, 150. ?>ti* Physiologits'" '
animals mentioned ' "

BelkUhem, star of, 278; relics Cl

rays from star of, 2^
Beverly, carving of animals ii

minster (St. Mary's) of, 330

}fin
es iS^

M£iaii Friars, satirized, Mo
'Slasmc dts Famrs,' qnoled, 332
BiKcaccio, on heliotrope, 35 ; list

of relics, 389
^BochaH, Samutl, cited,
I corn's horn, 107
p BSdMtree, sacied to Buddhists,
. 252
Bedldatt Library, ivory carving in,

:6i
Benaeentura, sjmbolisi, 185
Bonn, recording angel and devil

in the minster of, 330
Bmk of Armagh, illuminations in,

118
Bordeaux, Council of, 1S4
BSHgk, F, L., on the derision of

Jews, 299 nail
Boston, Lincolnshire, carvings in

St. Botolph's, 96, 33a, 134
Bourassi!, MM, died, 256
Benrgis, lion in cathedral of, S3 ;

gospel-mil], 160 ; beasts of the

evangelists, 161; weighing souls,

328, 329
Brandenburg Cathtdral, reliefs of

. animals, 237

- Brians, Alemannic gods at, 307
Brntz, centaurs shooting arrows,

3-8
Bresl, devil noting female gossip
during mass in, 332
I Briilol Cathedral, carvings from
beast-epos and other poems,

\ British Museum, 71 ; metal plate

Buddhism, animal symbolism in,

31—33
Baffoenery in churches, 179
BufimiU, endowed with medicinal

and magical properties, 34
Biirgcr, G. A., his ballad quoted,

Bur^s Cathedral, grotesque and

satirical carvings, 232
Burkhart van Hahenfels, on the

unicorn's horn, loS
Burlesque of sacred rites, 279, 2S1

cloister, sculpt
; and Vergirs
n the, 33S, 22i.

'n St. Redegonde's
vV^ in «i

of

Cuen, a

104; 'Lay o( Aristotle"*

Pierre's, 22B
Csisar, Juliui, on elks, 112
Cahier, ' Melanges d'Arch6olcgic '

cited, zo, 65, 72, J51
Caiamott, Gmrant de. See Guir-

ant de Calansan
Calcar, sculptures at, 340, 244,

245
Calvin, satirised in St. Serain,

194
Candace, Queen, no, 137
Canterbury Cathedral, gospel-mill,

iBo ; (ox as friar, 212
Catidmpri, Thomas df, cited, 74
Caper bush, sj'mbol of Judaism, 167
Capua, baptistery, eagle (ishjng.

n the, 118

[Diurch of, tSl
\ Bruges, eieeution of fox in St.
' Michael and St, Ursin at, aiz
■ "3

I Brunette Lafinti, cited, 74 ; on thi
whale, 123 ; on the wolf, 151
Brunhild, 321
^•firussels. Royal Library of, 50
eagle and eaglets, 118

Caricatures of sacrecf rites, 186,

J79; of Jews, 389—299
Carnival, survival of Saturnalia,

Carthusians satirized, 189
Carvings, fandful and grotesque,

216 — ZZ4
Cassian, on the source of spiritual

discernment, 16, 17
Cassiodorus, cited, 66
Cat: "wild-cats"in churches, 183;

356

2 of the, J07, 234 ; at

worship, 211; in tlie priest's

house, 214
Catacombs of Catlistus, USysses and

sirens, 315
CatMarine-Tuhtil windows, revolt

of the angels on, 258
CalB, on Roman efTeminacy, 24
Cavalcanli, Cuida, erotic imagery

derived from the fable of the

unicorn. 108
CtttB ifAscali, his ' Acerba ' cited,

74
CtciHus, Fdix, on the cull of the

Cen/our, symbol of nnnily passions,

317 — 321; St. Anthony and the,

3»7
Cerbirtfs, in Santa Maiia Novella

at FlorencBj 310
Chalctdcny, virtues of, 36, 38
Ckalons, Council of, 263 ; navel of

Jesus in Notre-Dame-en-Vaux,

Champagtu, poet of, on Reynard's

execution, 213
ChanipjUury, definition of ' ' ecor-

"208

Chamdrius, sculpture at Alne, 50,

146 ; at Lyons, 146 ; sj-mboUsm

of, 14s — 147 i psalter of Isabella

of France, 146
Charltmagne, the type of valour,

43; his capitulary against acton,

263
CharUs Vni., eagle's claw as

symbol of, 20 1
CiaroB, as ferryman, 310
Chartrts, relief of hare and warrior

in the cathedral of, g
Chislir, sculpture destroyed in the

cathedral of, 224
CiMfric ///., goldea bees in the

tomb of, 4
ChUraptpta, secretary of Yama,33i
CAiusi, CDlumn-sustainiiig lions at,

9«

Christ, moncgrant of, 12
CkrisHaHify, ^^greEsirenesi of, 1 1
Chrislmai, solar feast, 6g, 264
Chrysaliit, virtues of, 37, 38, 39
Chrysepraie, virtues of, 37 ; worn

in December, 37
CArp/nrtnw, cited, 3, 185 ; 'Dicta'

" Clad," signifying phoenix, sand,

and palm, 60
Church edifice, symbol of human

soul, 76 ; mystic meaning of its

structure, 254— ^S*
Cicen, Higed to provide panthers

for political purposes, 23
Cimahut, the doctrine of the

Triniw in his painting of the

Crucifixion, 252
Circt, purifies the Argonauts with

swine's blood, 299
Cislerciatis, as foxes, 223 j satiriied,

224
Ctvaux, sirens in the church al,

316
Classical myths, a source of Chiis-

linn symbolism, 300—303, 305 —

321 I

Cl/aiis, keys to Holy Writ, 181 ,|

Melito's 'Clavis,' S3. 259 I

Cltniens Alexaiuiritiits, cited, t& 1

185 I

Clemtnl VII., Pope, his pyi

adonied with a phceoii, 130
ClMnint, Felix, music of the ass's

chant, 275; interpretation of the

ass's litany, 278
Clsves, sculptures in, 240, 243, 244
Cloisters, wealth of English, 231
Cltiny, Musee (Hfitcl) de, Vinne*

personified, 153, 162 ; mustnl

pigs, 232
Cebktice, relic in cloister of St. J

Barbara, 28S 1

C«:Wcuj,onlhe"MUnchl!alb,"2a( \
Cock, symbolism of the, 161 — 163;

bakilisV hatched from the egg c*

a, 163; witches' ointment made

from the egg of 3, 170 ; pecking

at the fox, 206
Cockalricf, origin atid syroboliaoi

of the, 163 — 170
Coctlun, lebus, 223
Oelius, letter to Cicero for pan-
thers, 23
CfA'frK', griffin's claw, 106; pbcenix,

130
Colonne. See Guldo ddte Col-mnt
Ceme, sculpture of papcl ass, zoi
Caniiantint, sun-woishipper, 69,

30s
Copts, their hieroglyphic signs and

sjrtnbols, iz
Cortalimiinsttr, relics in the, 106
Coritil, woman and devil, 333
Councils, decrees agaimt aetorai

263 ; against "' Feast of Fools,"

366
Cranath, Liuas^ painting ascribed

to, loz noti; bis drawing of the

papal ass, 195; " ein grober

Maler," ao|
Crahe, s^balism of the, 209,223,

224

Crocodile, symbolbm of the, 131 —
'33

Cress, the, in Coptic monuments,
12 ; symbolized by the letter
Tau, 67, 243, 250; triumphal
chariot of, l6t ; its presence in
Nature and prefiguration in the
Hebrew Scriptures, 247—252 ;
symbolisms of, its delineation as
cruci&t in art, 252; relics oF,2S7
'Ovni, type of Christian virtues, 55,
147

CunoHll-siir-Loire, sirens in (he
church at, 316, 317

Cynrwidf, Ai^lO'Saxon paraphrase
of ' De Phcenice,' 69

Cyprian^ he-goat typical of Christ,
46

Daklemp, Vtmtr, his editio

60

Danae, legend or, 302
' Dance of Deaih,' 336—342
Danle, on the heliolrope, 35 j on
the pearl, 4S ; on tbe unicorn,
108 ; on the eagle, II9 ; on the
phcenixand pelican, 131 ; beasts
in the path of, 138 ; commenl-
Btots on, 254 ; on the statue of
Mars, 306 ; Giotto as illustrator
of, 310 ; on centaurs oa symbols
of violence, 319
DaHtiig, Hans Memling's 'Last
Judgment ' in Dorothy Chapel of
St. Mary's Church, 311
David, on the hart, 171 ; his cross-
shaped slaS, 249; his ctHDbat
with Goliath in San Michele or
Pavia, 309 ; slaying b lion, relief
at Sienna, 330
Death, Greek conception of, 341 :
as a skeleton in art, 341. See

' Decameron,' specimens of sacred

relics, 2S9

Deiliss, Chriali«niiation of pagan, 6

Dimeter, myth of, 303

'De Trismus Gallia,' 204

Devil, as a lion, 8S, 92, tZ9 ; as a

unicorn, 109 ; as a whale, 132,

123; as an otter, 133; as; a

dragon, 134, 172; as a partridge,

143, 144; as a basilisic, 164; as

a fox. 2o6, 109, 3IO ; hoof of

the German, 244 ; in the myth

of Ai^us, 314; as a cenuur,

317; as Fafttir, 327; cheating

in weighing souls, 328, 329 ;

recording female gossip during

mass, 330 ; woman his agent

and ally, 331 ; not a prominent

figure in Christian architecture

except in the tenth and eleventh

A ^

358

Index

centuries, 333 ; liberties taken

bj Luthet witb the, 334 ; in the

c&tbedial of Autun, 33s
' DU^gue of Cnatnru' 60
Diam^, virtues of the, 37, 45 ;

a protection against demons, 46
Diimer, hia ' Deutsche Gedichte, '

38
Dioicoridts, cited, 43
Dug, sfmbolism and diabolism of

the, 89 ; in the Bible, in Homer,

and in the MaMbhSrala, 8g — gi
Do/linger, oa Jesuits as educatois,

269

duced by, 243
Dominicans, derided, 243
Dove, embtemaric significance of,

76, 77, 261
Draconiiiis, Mmilius, allusion to

the hart in bis poem, 173
Dragon, as demon, 5 ; Solomon's,

41 ; at Aloe, 51 ; foe or the

elephant, 1 1 1 ; symbol of Satan,

13^) 133 ; flees the panther,

I3S
Dresden, griffin's daws in Museum

at, 106
Drtux, Philippe dt, his ' Livre des

Crfatares,' 71
Dublin, illaminations of Celtic MS.

in Trinity College, iiS
Dtt Merit, cited, on Jews as owls,

77
Durand, on animal types, 85 ; on

symbolism of church edifices,

254, 259

Eagle, of Jupiter and John, 6 ; on
doorway at Alne, 51, 118 ;
renews its youth, 66, 116 — 119;

Enit, signification of, 257, 278

Eberl, Adolf, cited, 68 note

" Ecorchtr le renard," 2o3; in 9

Fiacre's, 209
Egg-thraiiHg, in church at Ken

pen, 239—141
EldtT Lady Chapel, sculptures ii

of, I

carving
Elefhanliasii, 201
Elisia, on ilt^, 90
Elis, Cassar's description
Eltenberg, Annunciation

church of, 99
Ely Calkedral, fox as pi

186, Z23
Emden, sculptures published \

Marten at, 335
Emerald, virtues of, 37—39
Emmerich, carvii^s of animals 1

240, 244,245
Eiiiser, his interpretation of t

" monk-calfi" 204
EpAeius, Council of, 65
Epiphaniut, on gems, 40 ; dtc

56, 59, 185 ; on the colt of t

Epiphany, origin of, 69

tion of, 264, 267
Eros, likened to a bee, i
Eschatology, ^yptian, 329
EspagHol. See IHerre Bspagnii
Eisimis, symbolism of the, 124 —

126
Eticherius, Bishop of Lyons, on the

spiritual s^ificance of the pointi

of the compass, 259 ^

its II. , sumaraei '
his book of n

zeal as a collector, _
Eumenides ' of ^scbylus, cite^

298,299

Eui^aSSius, his txegfsisol at

Exegesis. See HirmeaeutUs
Fables, hagiological and other, 1E5,

Fafair, in FreiEinE, 323 ; in Hylle-

stad, 317
Faa of rmat, ils effect on the

natiual world, 29
Fathers, credulity of, 175—177
Feasts, origin of Christian, 69 ;

scandalous celebration of, 26s —

Ferrara, lion in, 92

Fiseharl, his explanation of the
Stissburg sculptures, I S3

Fish, symbolism of, 55, 121— iz6;
significance of baked, 122

Fiogtl, cited, 192

Florence, Baptistery, gz, 306 ; St.
Maria Novella, 310; Uffiii, 130

/iw/jcaA origin of the name, 195

Fools, feast of, 265, 266

'^jHr />./>.,• cited, 281— 284

^o;r,ondDorwayin AIne,5l ; burial
of, 18S, 189, 235 ; on cushion
at Pforzheim, 192 ; wiles of, 205
— 216 ; ensnaring fowls, 208 ;
"pricking" the, 209; type of
devil, 210 ; Herod as, 2o6, 211 ;
preaching, 20S, 210, 2ti, 211,
2iS,i2:;exe<:utionof,2i3,2i5,
221 ; dehneatioQ of its exploits
in European churches, 211 —
24s

Fra Ci^/Zo, his collection of relics,
289

Frankfort, satire oa Jews, 295

FTOiKftlob, on hunting the unicorn,
107 ; on the panuier's breath.

the

Freiburg MittsUr, lioo and pelican,

83; Samson, 91, 191, 192;

wolfs novitiate, 189— 191, 235;

rcTolt of angds, 25S; centaurs,

319; weighing souls, 330
Freidank, quoted on the peacock,

31a
Freisaig, distich on the Jews, 298 j

Siegfried saga, 321 — 325
Freyr, sun-god, 298
Fria, German Venus, 122
Friar sad. Tinker, 244
Fribaiirg, weighing so

cathedral doors in, 330
Friday, use of Gab on, 121
Friedrich, Prof., on the Gelasian

decree, 65
Friedrich II., bis "ostrich eyes,"

94 ; permits Jews to lake usury,

293
Frog, symbolism ot the, 200 note,

238
Fiilica, type of doctrinal punty,

[48

Gabrid, archangel, hunter of the

Gatia, Bacchus on a baptismal

ewer at, 30S
Galatea, triumph of, 303

Gayet, on Coptic :

Giesf, carvings of, 193, 215, 221

Geiler von Kaisersberg, Johanat!,
Armons censuring beguines, 187

Gelaiius /., Pope, his apocryphal
decree condemning the ' Physi-
ol ogus,' 64, 152

Gems, as amulets, 34, 35 ) virtues
of, 36, relation to mtmths of
the year, 37 ; religious symbolism
of, 38—40

Gentiles, symbohied by locnsta, 1G6

Gasner, his account of the bishop-
fish, 199

Ghibtrii, his sib^U on &Bpti«ICTy in
Florence, 309

GioUa, sibyls on Ws tower, 309 ;
iltiutrates Dante's ideas, 310 1
his centaur in Asaisi, 330

Cijw/unnt dair Orlu, imagery de-
rived from the phcenix and
pelican, 131

Gtrgtnti, myth of Hippolytns on
font in, 307

GJttkungasaga, in the church at
Austad, 3Z4

GtadsloHt, his theory of mythology,
301

Glaucister Caihcdral, satirical carv-
ings in, 7,1^

Gmiind, centaurs on St. John's
chnrch in, 318

Gnostics, tlieir specnlations con-
cerning the Word, 9S, 99 ; Lord
of Satraoth with ass's head, 271

' Gulden Legend^ parable of human
life from the, 5

GsHalh. See David

GSs, elephant on chasuble at, 1 13

ffuj^-iwV/.atGottingen, 157, 158;
at V&elai, 159 ; at Bourges,
Conterbory, and elsewhere, 160,
l6l

Gottfrili vm Strasburg, on the
Vi^in as a Cuille-dove, 147

GaUingtH, picture of the fabrication
of theology in, 157

Gottweih Cloister, 66

Grandidier, his description of monk

and b^ine in Strasbut^, i37
Gram, in Si^iied saga, 333
Grassheffer, symbolism of^ 166
Gray Friars, satiriied, 220
Gnal Malvern Abbey, rats hanging

cat, 234
Gregory I, (the Great), tiis love of

symbolism, 66 ; ui

■ Physiolt^E,' 153; onJob.iSfi

on the basilisk, 167, 168 j "

Ezekiel, Z56 ; his letter of

struction to Anglo-Saxon i

siocariea, 306
Gregory 0/ Nasians, Greek '

oTogus, ascribed to, 64
Gregory of Nyssa, his animal ty]

ology, iS ; on the dolphin, izl
Gri^Hs, as demons, 39 ; so^caUi

cTaws of, 106 ; symbols of cam

passions, 192
Grimm, Jacob, on supeistitio

dread of animaJs, 8
GrimnuHtAal, unicorn in, loi, loa

Luther's denunciation of, 104,
Grosnet. See Pierre de Groiael
Guido delU Coloniu, ladies IJ

to panthers, 136
Guillaume. See William of Nii

Guiratii de CalaHsait, on the op<

eves of the lion, 94
Guilinburiti, golden boar, 39S
Guntiar in Siegfried saga, 323-

325. 327
Guy de Maitois, ape in cowl as h

abbot's seal, 281
Gyrfalcoti, in Coptic relief of Is

and Horus, 13

H, signification of, 67
Hadrian, ph<£nix on bis coin, IZJ

had swine sculptured over gab

of Jerusalem, 294
Halbersladi, centaurs in Liebfnuien

klrcbe, 319
Salle, relics of Noah's ark an

Virgin's chemise, 288
Hallingdal, Siegfried saga, 324
Hamlet, dted, 233, 340
Hard-sMl Saftiit, sermon of, 4S
Hare, superstitious fear of the, s

in the Strasburg Minster, iSS

in the 'Lay of Aristotle,' 228

symbol of the Trinity, 239

Sanymn, John. See Bali, John
Hart, symbolism of, 55 note ; in

Pisa Cathedral, S5, 171—173;

carving ui Ely Cflthedral, 3S3
' Himienly /cnisaUtn,' poem cited,

38. See ferusalrm
^i:*«m, cosmogony allegorized, 17;

of. 193

He-pMl, type of Clirist, 46 ; as

bier-bearer, 189
Heider, his edition of bestiary, 66
fftidiugsfeld, swine in synagogue

at, 294
£'^'i!jrunn,carTiDg5 satirizing Jews,

297
Seiligeiutadl, Jews sucking swine,

297
Heliotropt, virtues of the, 35 ;

associated with March, 37
fftBisaiiU, Siegfried saga, 324
Henri d'Andely, his ' Lai d'Aiis-

tote ' died, 326, 22S
Henry I. of England, 71
Henry VIII. of England, satire on

the Roman See, 195
Hercules, taken for Samson, 6 ;

Christian interpretation of his

labours, 302 ; at Trier, 307 ;

slaying a centaur, 320
Hcrmentatics, importance attached

to, 27 ; essential to keep Holy

Writ abreast with the progress of

thought, 29; perverse ingeoutty

of patristic, 40—42, 45, 54, 55,

91, tig, 145. IS9. 171— 177.

Hermes, the prototype of Christ,

300
lermes Trismegishts, authority of,

169, 170
Herod, as foi, ao6, 2ti
Herodotus, 197

Herse. See John o/Herie
' Hersog Erttsf,' poem, 125
Bespendts, Garden of Eden in

Christian art, 309
' Hexahemera,' cited, 54, 55
Hey!Dood,John, his 'Four P.P.,'

281—2^3
Hieronymus, his symbolism of

Solomon, 42
Hilariui, exegesis of locusts, 167
HildfberC of Laoardin, works ot 6 1
Hildefaaie, his symbolism of beasts.

60
HUdesktim, lion's head, 92; grrifSn's

claw, 106
Hippolylu!, sculptured on a Chris-
tian font, 307
HiUerdal, Siegfried saga, 325
IJog' typs of Buddhist ascetic, 31,

32 ; as satire 00 Calvin, 194 ; in

sacred architecture, 1&6, 1S9,

194. 1 95. 2iS
Hogitt, saga of Atle and, 324
Halbdn, his 'Imago Mortis,' 33S
"Holy CW, " worshipped at TVier,

2S7
Boly Rood, legends of, 252
Hommel, his edition of Ethiopic

' Physiologus, ' 63, 71
Honey, antiseptic and cultic uses

of, 3 ; in Mithras warship, 4 ;

symbol of worldly seductions, 5
Honors de Sainie-Marie, sennon

cited, 340, 341
Hoopoe, type of filial affection, 14S
Horapollo, meaning of, 14 ; cited,

' Horlus Deliciarum, ' cited, 74 ;
destroyed, 75 ; miniature of
monster in, 155, 156

Hortii, type of infant Jesus, 13 ;
personification of light and life,
14; anniversary of, 15 i reliefs
in the X-ouvre and British
Museum, 13; in Aix-la-Cbapelle,
303

Hrabanus, Maarns, his four senses

^^

of Scriptur

:. M7

Uradikin, abnonnBt skdelcn of a
saint there, 2S4

Hus" ^ Saini-Victor, treatise oa
l^BSlB foJself ascribed to, 75

Hvgo von Langimttin, on the uni-
coiB, 108 ; his oU^ory of the
panther, 135

Humour, coarseness of medieval
and Refonnatory, 19

Hyadtltk, associated with January,
37

Hyena, m AIne, 50, 142 ; nature
and symboliEm of, 140 ; super-
stitions concerning, 141 ; in
architecture, 141, 14Z

HylUstad, SiegCiied saga, 323

Hymn song to the ass, 272—275 ;

its spiritual sense, 278
Hyrtl, Joseph, saints' skeletons rec-
tified by, 285

/, signification of, 67
Ibbenitadt, centaurs in the cloister-
church of, 319
lia, symbol of aspiration, 153
Ichnmimm, Egyptian ideograph,
132; killer ot monsters, 132,
321
hoKxlmm in Netherland churches,

245
Hit, his 'Dance of Death, 342
Jnderawaod. See Baitrly
Inditat stetw, type of Christ, 48
Inghiifredi, canzoni cited, 131
Itaiecati III. , confirms mendicant
orders, zio; censures rule^ of
St. Frauds, 224
le, myth of Argus and, 313
JsaitUaof Franci, her psaller, 20,
146, 153 ; illustrations fiooi it,
124. 133. 148, 162, 174, 311,
3H
Isidore, cited, 3, 43, 48 ; his
' Etymologies,' 59, 109; his sym-
bolism of animals, 1S5

Isis, type of the Virgin, 13 ;
A«-la-Cbapclle, 303 ; herslai
worshipped by Christians,

Isle of Man, Signrd saga i

Seven Swords, 6

Jadnlh, 39
JaCBpo da Lenli

cited, 165
JacofH) diUa Quercia, liis reliefs

Sienna, 330
JaeepoHt da Tadi, his symbolism

the serpent, 115
Jarbberg, Siegfried saga, 324
Jaspir, virtues of, 37, 38
JereiHiah, 00 the hyena, 139
Jeromt, "chui " as palm-tree, 66 ; on

the two women at the mill, 159;

his symbolisms, 1S5, 247; oD

the brazen serpent, 250 ; on SL

Anthony and the centaur, 317
/erasaiem, stories of the Heavenly,

38 ; swine over the gales of, 194
Jesuit, definition of theology, 269
Jesus, His remark concerning adeu

d(^, 90
Jeiuels, as talismans, 34 ; blea»ng,

43 i formed (irom hyena's ey«%

Jews, coarse caricatures of, s
299 ; self-sacrifice of two, 31

.the,

theu

I, los^

John the Baptist, his six heads, 3
John tht Evangelist, preaching, 21
John II. (the Good), his deer

concerning the Jews, 293
Joseph, relic of his breath, 1S8
Jme, name applied to God and Ij

Christ, 309, 310
Jug, symbolism of the, 33

3IO

fustin Martyr, his ' Hexahemeron,

55 i on the cross in nalure, 247 ;

on the pascha as foreshaxlowing

the Cmcilivion, 151
fusiaial, (in the beavec, J 39 ; on

fiQgs' entrails us chaims, 23S

Kautbach, Mb illustiations of the

beast-epos, 214, 315
Ktlkeim, inscription Fccording the

banishment of Jews irom Ratis-

bon, 297
Kcmpat, sculptures in parish church,

239 — 1(4 ; excellent works of the

Fiemish school, 244
Kephisodelos, statues by, 306
Kenter, Justmus, on occult virtues

in stono, 44
Kirk Andreas, Sigurd saga, 325
jningatlhal, ' Dance of Death, '

33S, 337
Klesterttatberg, lion, 84 ; Samson,

Kenrad von WUrzburg, on hunting

the onicom, 107 ; on the panther,

136 ; on the beaver, 139 ; on the

siren, 316

Kortter, Throdor, poem on precious

stones, 38
Krishna, his symbol a blue bee, 4
Ktesias, his fabulous stories, 22,
197

Lactantius, ' De Phcenice ' ascribed

to, 6S
'Zai ifAris/ati,' 226—228
Lampraht, PfaffcH, his 'Alexan-
derlied,' description of the uni-
corn, llO; cited, 125 ; Queen
Caodace's automatic panther, 137
iMtBprty, symbolism of the, 55
XaHa, Syriac ' Physiologus,' 64
Lange, Konrad, Papstesel, ig6iii//f.

Ltingrnslein. See Hugo veit Lan-

ginsldn
Langland, WiUiam, his Satire OH

the mendicant orders in ' Pieis

Plowman,' 230 — 232
Lapis lazuli, virtue of, 37
Lardal, Siegfried Saga, 324
ZcAmin, Moseumoflhe,53; mosaic

of phtenix in the tribune of the,

127
Lauchtrl, Fnedrich, his history of

the ' Physiologus ' cited, 63, 79,

loS, 116, 136
Lauranberg, ' Scherlzgedichte,'

cited, 187
Lausannt, monsters in the cathe-
dral of, 20D
Laulensoik, Paul, his altar-piece at

Grimmenthal, representing the

chaseofthe unicorn, 103 ; picture

burned, 104
Leech in Buddhistic symbolism, 32
Leicester, fox preaching in St.

Martin's, 223
Le Masts. See Mans
Lentino. Seejiuopa da Lenlino
Lt-Puy-en- Velay, personification of

the sciences, 154 ; weighing

souls, 32S
Lulling, ' Die Biene ' cited, 2
Leviathan, as a rhinoceros, S5 ;

Litijrauenkirche, in Halberstadt,
centaurs, 319

t'ly, symbol of purity, 76

Limcges, foies as mendicant friars
in the cathedral of, 225

Lincoln, Abraham, jokes of, 43

Lituoltt Cathedral, fox preaching,
223 .

Lion, winged, 10 ; three character-
istics of the, 81 ; symbolism of,
82—94 i represented in archi-
tecture, 82—87, 9I1 9^1 13?;
on helmets, 85 ; type of opposite
qualities, 87 ; in poetry, 93, 94 ;
as devil, 87, 8S, 129

3^4

Index

' LitAiaia,' i

I preciooa s

' lAvre a'HtHTts,' miniature of snail

and iU meaning, 217, 318
Lhard, symbolism of, 94, 95 ;

fighting with scoipbn, 154
Locusts signify Gentiles, 166---16S
LoTiHfi) iAvalos, likened to a

lion's whelp, 93
Lerento de Stgura, Jitan, his

' Poema de Alexandre,' 113;

method of capturing elephants,

113; seipcnts fear of nudt

persons, 116
LoTcIo, sibyls on the Casa Santa

of, 309 .
Lot, symbolism of, 67
Lothcdr, cross of, 30S
LoHise of Savoy, 162
LoaqHii, devil cheating in weighing

souls in the church at, 328
Louvre, Mantegnn's satyrs and

centaurs in the, 320
LoHvrtl, Pierre, his account of the

Lueea, lions supporting pulpit, 91
Lucerne, M^lioger's tnumphs of

death in, 339
Lucretius, wit^, but not scientific,

Lvawig, Dnlte of Bavaria, com-
pared to various animals, 136
Liihrig, his ' Dance of Death,' 342
Lund, animals in the cathedral of,

Lufia (Lufancir), 150 uole

Liipercalin, the Christian feast of
the Purification, 264

Luther, Martin, his coarse wit, 19 j
on the hart and serpent, 55 ncte;
on the aqueous origin of swallows,
149 J satiriicd, 194; on"Papst-
esel" and "MUnchkalb," ao2
— 204 ; his interpretation of the
satire on the Jews in Witten-
berg, 390 ; harmlessness of his
devil, 334

Lilltelhtrger, Hans, his cats of
Holbein's 'Imago Mortis,' 33S

Lyeosthtnes, his work on prodigiu
dted, 197, 19S, 324

Lydda, ostensible birthplace of Sl
George, 15

Lyons Calhidral, Hoa and whelp,
34 ; unicorn, 96 ; MS. in City
library of, 204 ; Saint-Jean
(cathedral), 'Laid'ATistole,'22S;
revolt of the angels, 258

Macabre, origin of the word, 336,

337. See ' Dane: of DeaiV
Mactdomans, heretical sect, 23S
Madrid, National Library of,

'Libro de los GB,tos,' 72
Maeriant, Joiob van, 74
Magdeburg, phcenix, 129 ; sotiie on

Jews, 297
Magi, their wisdom explained by

Luther, 5J note ; ass lodBl with

their gifts, 2 78
Maisendei T'em/ii'fn', foxpreodiiiig

to a cDi^egation of animals, zi 1
Malefarlus, snail storminE, 217
Malipiero, account of pap^ ass, igj
Malvern Abbey, rats hanging ctl.

23+
Manchester, grotesque carvings in

the Collegiate Church of, 133
Mandrakes as aphrodisiacs, 110
Malts {Le\, lion and phcenix, S3:

fox as friar, 325
Mantegna, Andrea,

satyrs, 320
Mcatu, 'Institutes 'of, thievii^put'

:, 144

n precious st

MarSn

43 ,
Marie ae France, her ' Wolfs Not

tiate' cited, 190, 191
Maritnhq/en, sculptures of onimall, 1

Mari, his type a roaring Iton, I

ManiUes, on the six heads of Job

the Baptist, 286

Mars, sCalnc of, 306
JifarliH, his drawings, 335
Martiai, on the skill of the Romans
intamingindtmimng animals, 24
Jifavlbmnn Chislir, lion howling

over whelps, 83
Maafertuis, moralizaCioD on eIcuUe,

335
Max, Gabriel, the rose of martyr-
dom in the paiating by, 76 ; his
painting, 'The L^t Greeting,'

^^
Mojcimus, his interpretalion of

sirans, 315
Mmitnce, lions in the cathedral of,

87, 92 ; Comicil of, 263
Metritsehcf, See Biskop-jisk
Mtgastktnes, his fabulous stories, az
Mtgenbirg, Konrad von, his ' Buch

der Nalur,' 74
MegHngcr, his ' Dance of Death,'

339

Meissner, died, 206, MB, s

Metanchthon, his coarse sarcasm,

19 ; OD the pBpal ass and the

" mook-calf, 202, 204

JHelito, his ' Clavis ' cited, 53, 759

Mena, Juan di, simile of the lion's

whelp, 93
Menaader as a Christian saint, 306
Mercury in Christian art, 307, 309,

313
Merl, symbolism of the, 14S
Mesaah, etymology of, 252
Metempsychosis, j^uence on animal
symbolism and heraldry, 7 ; in
Oriental eschatology, 3z8
Mele, animals to the Templais'

Michael. See St. Michael
JIAilaH, first Council of, i84;A[U'on's

rod in, 287 ; statue of Hercules

at, 307
MiUoH, on tie eagle, iii
■Minerva, relief o^ 307
Minmile Cloister at Qeves, 244

Minotaur, 10; in Christian art,

309, 310
Mithras, cult of, 4 ; altar in St.

Clemente, 306
Mneuis, bull of Osiris symbolized

by the sun, 14
Moikna, lions os devils, 91
Monoculi, types of single-minded-

Monslroaties, as embodiments of

metempsychosis, 7 ; as portents,

196 — 204 ; satirical, 224, 245 ;

saintly, 285^-287
Monlaientbert, on the sculpture

satirizing Calvin, 194
Mema, lions as types of spiritual

vigilance, 87
Morris, Richard, his edition of the

'Physiologus,' 6z
*' ^/«>ifiiflM,"desaiptioiiof, 203 ;

interpretations of, 204
Munich, lion relief, 82, S3 ; Royal

Library, 20, 153, 197
Munois. See Guy de Manois
Muotta, hares as a symbol of the

Trinity, 239
Museo Pio- Clementino, relief of

satyr, 301
Music personified, 154
MyCheUigy as source of Christian

symbdism, 300

ffapoteon, golden bees of, 4
Nass, F. /., on the Sttasbu:^
Iptur- --■

Nechebt-IHtkyia, birth-easii^ gyr-

falcon, 13
Necka-ni, Alexander, on natural

things, 60
Neslttnd, Sigurd saga, 324
Nestonus, condemned as heretic,65
Netherlands, iconodasm in the, 245
Nibelungen Hurt, 323
Nice, Council of, on sacred images,

182

fficodimtu, his glove as a relic, z8S
!filus, SI., hi* letter to Olympi-

odonis, 182
NoaUUs, Bishop, relic of Jesus'

DEtvel removed by, 3$8
Nerth, usigned to Satan, 35S, 159
Horaiay, Sigurd saga in, 321
Nutrt-Damt of Paris, sleeping lion,

S6 ; weighing souls, 330 ; of

Roaen, foxes as friars, 325 ;

Henri d'Andely, canon, 226 ;

-en-Vaan in Chalotis, relic of

Jesus' navel, aSS ; de Recouv-

rance in Brest, female gossip

during mass noted by the devil,

33*
fTaugorod, lion's jaws symboliiiog

hell, 92 ; centauis in St. Sophia

of, 318
Ifamftrs, significaiice of, 40, 4I ;

symbolism of, 67
Nuimdttl, Sigurd saga, 324
Nuremberg, symbolical animals, 82,

130; lelramorph, 1551 image of

ass, 271 ; Jews in, 293
NyctUorax, symbol of the teeli

66i<,tji,w., 77

Odium Iktologkum, parody of, 154
Odo, Abbot of Cluny, 167 ; of

Sheiington, his censures of the

Cistercians, 224 ; his fables, 225
Odon, Archbishop, on the dissolute

sports of nuns, 266
Ogivt, not permissible Co heretics,

256
Olympiodorus, scruples about ajti-

mals in churches, 1 82
Qnk, its significance and survival

Onyx, associated with August, 37
Opal, associated with October, 37

ri/, Sigurd saga, 324
__ mhdm, auricular conception of
Christ, ^
Oppiaiats, his poem on fishing
cited, I as

Orragiuf, Andrea and Bemardc,

their frescoes, 310, 320
Ortndd, poem on Holy Coal, 1S7
OrimtaHon, its significaiice ia

sacred architecture, 357
Origin, his threefold sei

Scripture, iS ; spiritualize

Hebrew cosmi^ony, 17 ;

uititie exegesis and asceti

57, 58 ; symbolical expositic

5S ; on the lion and other cii

tures, 85, 185 ; on forms of &_

cross in nature, 247
Oriandi, Gia'da, sonnet ti .
OrfiAeui, prototype of Cbritl, ;
Orfa, Gimianni. See ^■' —

dalP Orto
Osiris, bulls sacred to, 14

ing souls, 329
Oilealogy, frM-ks of sacred, 285
OitrieA, incnbatii^ eyes of, f'

mentioned, 314
Ol/er, symbolism, I31 ; confuseJ

with water-snake, 132
Ousd, symbolism of, 148
Ovid, his ' Metamorphoses

■WW \

. 33; symbol ofi

Jews, 77 ; rebus of Tyll Eulen- I

Spiegel, 343; sign of desolation, \

3U
Ox, like a deer and unicorn, lt2;

hoof of, 195 ; coat-of-arms of

Alexander VI.. 201
Oxford, carving in Bodleian

Library, 161

Faderbom, scenes from fables ic
the cathedral of, 237 ; sculptotf
of three hares, 239

Fadua, sculptnre of lion, 87

Pallas as Eve, 6

134 i "Bture and symbalism of

the, 133 — 1 38 ; Siegfried's quiver

covered with skin of, 1 37 ;

^^Quecn Candace's automalic, 137

^niAera, legend of, 137

\ifitesi!, discovery and description
of, 195 ; allegory of Rome, 200 ;
■culptuied on the cathedral of
Como, 30O, 201 ; engravings of,

: fl03 ; interpretations of, 204

kWciu, his ex^esis, 55

jBiri/iWW ami Friar,' assortment
of relics in, 2E3

^ilris, terrobuli, 50 ; ' Evangeliari-
nm,' I S3; illumiDated roanoscript,
161 ; Feast of Foolsfoibiddenby
the Council of, 266 ; elEgy of ass,
37 1 ; statue of Isis, 307 ; sleep'
likg lion, 86 ; ivejgbing souls ir
Notre-Dame of, 330
ftrnw, relief of human life, 5
lion, 87

Rtrtrii/ge, syniboliEin of, 143—
145 ; pilfering propensity of, 1451
in missals uid sacred edifices,
145

Paschal lamb, symbolical of the
Cnidlixion, 251

Patiicus, a famous hunter, 24

Fitul, on the vice symbolized by
the hyena, 139; on lions, 142;
toiling at the gospel-mill, 160 ;
bis natural man symbolized by
the centaur, 192; on the pascha,
aSr; the Hennit, 317

Pavia, Theseus slnying the Mino-
taor, 309

PtacBck, symbolism of the, 310—
312

Pearl'fiilmtg, formation and sym-
bolism off 47, 48

Pegams as Christian prototype,

301, 309
Ivican, type of the holy recluse,
66 ; in Freiburg Minster, 83 ;
in StTMbnig Minster, &); type
of the Atonement, 12S ; in nrehi-

teclure, 129 — 131 ; in sacred and

secular poetry, 130, 131 ; on

shield of Love, 153
Pmltcost, celebration of, 265
Fepys "foxed," 209
Peter ef Capua calls the risen

Christ " sethereal bee," 3
Piter of Pkardy, prose version of

'Physiologus,' 71
Petrarch, unicorn in engraving of

*■"■ triumphs, 104, 105 ; calls

God

30?

Pttromm, on the Roman passion

for the arena, 23
Ffarditim, Prorosi'i cushion with

wolf as monk, 193
Philaster, on frog-woiship, 238
Philippe AugHste, edict banishing

actors, 263
Pfdlifpi dt Thaun, his ' Livre des

Creatures,' 71 ; on the hyena,

140
Philo, foander of the Alexandrian

school, 16
Philolheos, fresco of sleeping lion

in the convent of, 86
Pkienix, larva of, 15; Laclantius"

, 68; c

. 69;

Cynewulfs Anglo-Saxon para-
phrase, 69 ; described and
ex^eticatly applied, 1 26 ; on
cinerary urns, 127 ; in architec-
ture, 8j, 84, 129—131 ! in
poetry, 130, 131 ; on the shield
ofDevotion, 153
PAj/siolegiis (the), on the Indian
stone, 13 : importance of it as a
key to the mystical meaning of
natural things, iS ; cited, 3S,
43 ; on the tutelar vinue of the
diamond, 46 ; br-fetched simili-
tudes of, 47 ; viviparous accipi-
ters, 49 ; author of, 54 ; plural
form of, 56 i Epiphanius' exposi-
tion of, 59 ; works modelled
after, 60 ; Theobald's version of,
6e, 62; its popularity, 62, 63;

368

Index

innalalLons of, 62 — 74; Etbio- 1
pic, Aimenian, and Sjriiic, 63,
64 ; when composed, 65 ; fitst
inention of Latm version id the '
iHdex ProhibilBi-um, 64, 152;
MSS. uid editions of the Latin,
65; modem translations from the
iJatia, 70: two German versions,
70 ; Icelandic, 70, 71, 124 ;
French bestiaties based upon, 71;
Greek metrical, Roumanian, and
Spanish vetsiODS, 72 ; Provencal,
73 > quoted and amplified by
media:val writeis, 74 — 76 j clue
to these treatises. 75. '53;
Albertua Magnus' ccitieisin of,
7S ; key to allusions and similes
in sermons and songs, 79 ; on
the charactenstics of the lion,
81, 82; poetic imagery derived
from, 93, 94, 107, 108, no,
113. it6, 119— 121, 131, 134,
136, 137, 146, 147 i the uni-
corn, 95, 109 ; elephant, no
— 112; serpent, 114 — ri6i
eagle, 116 — 119; fish, 121 ;
sea-creatnrei, 122 ; phosnix,
126, 127 ; otter, 133 ; Walden-
sian veraon of, 49, 73, 109. 133;
beaver, 139 ; hyena, 139, 141 ;
raven, 149 ; cock, 162 ; psycho-
logical value of, 171 -, a prece-
dent For other marvels, 185, 229,
230 ; fox, 205, 208, 209 i basi-
lisk, 237 ; swan, 338 ; peacock,
312; casual references to, 13S,
151, 232, 234

PicardU, ape on bishop s seal in,
281

Picards, 114

JPicturts, books of the ignorant, 11

Pierre de Grosnet, poem on gossips
in church reported by the devil,
332

Piirre Espagnal, on ostrich eyes,
94

' Pieri Plo^uman.' See Langland

Piiuda, on the samlr, 4:

Piium, Bishop of, ape ii
robes as seal, 3S1

Pisa, scalptares of animals ir ...
cathedral of, S5, 91 ; frescoes ift
the Campo Santo of, 310

PUra, his 'Spictlegium 5oli» |
mense,' 53, 63

Phny, cbaractet of bis Natural
History, 25 ; borrowed by M»i-
bodius, 43 ; on the eagle-stone.
49; ichneumon, 132

Plutarch, on the ichneumon, 132;
on ass-worship, 270

Pluto, personification of hell, 310

Potci, his 'Dance of Death,' 341

' Poemade Alexandre' SeeZwvmM
deSegHra

Poitiers Cathedral, hog and dog ns
harpists, 232; sirens, 317

Points of thi mmpas! in sacred
architecture, 256-— 259

Polo, aiesscr, his lady-love likened
to the panther, 136

Poitue de Leon, his version of Solo-
mon's Song, 147

Pope, Cranach's drawing of the
rise and origin of the, 203 ; elec-
tion of the, 223

PostidoH as Adam, 6

PosiMffm as a ChristiaD smnt, 30$

Prague, abnonnal skeletons of
"■■'■■s, 284—286

f SalomoH,'
ragon, 41

Precieiis stones. See Gems and

Pregtilhan. See Aimtric dt P.

Proserpina, t '

3>5
Proverbs, illustrated

architecture, 222,
Prudentius, Aurelius

allegorical poems,
Psalter. See Imiella
Pyramus and Thi

dral, 304, 305

Fyrobili. See TerrobuU

Quedliniurg, Bacchus in Schloss-

kirche oi, 308
Querela, See /acsfo della Qutrcia

myths and fables, 261 ; their

personification of alphabetic

cbaracten, 262
Rabelnis, his humour, ig ; on

" flaying the fox," 209
Raltigk, Sir WalUr, 'The Lover'

cited, 33 ; on hyenas, 140
Ram, symboi of leadership, 76
Ratisbim, lion, %^ ; sculptures ;

satire on Jews, 297 ; sirens, 317
Rats executing cat, 207
Raven, symbolism of, 66, 76, 149,

•5°

s,87

R^ormaluiM, sceptical tendency of,

334
Regino, Siegfried saga, 331 — 323
geinaert di Vbs, Reincke Vos,

and Reinttc Fuchs, ciled, 137,

187, 214, 215
Reinniar vim Zwder, on ' ' ostrich

eyes," 94; on the unicorn, 108;

on thephcEnin, 131
Rdics, holy, 281 — 289 j repaired

by Prof. Hyrtl, 285
^nnoim,scnlptnre of Samson, 192
~ wDj-a, symbol of the Saviour,

22, 124; feats of the, 125
Renaissantt, effect of, 334
Renart li Ncuvel, snail as standard-
bearer, quoted, 217
Rtthel, Alfred, his 'Dance of

Death,' 342
Rhtims, effigy of ass in the cathe-
dral of, 271
RMnegold, 323

RAiaoceros, syrobol of recluseness,
33 ; Biblical levistban, 85

RibUsford, eagle taking a fish, I18

Rohigff (Robigus), origm of Roga-
tion week, 264

Rutk-CTystal, virtue of, 37

Rodari, Jacob and Thomas, sculp-
ture of papal B£s, 200

Rogation vieek, origin of, 264

' Roman de Renart ' (' Romance of
Reynard'}, cited, 216, 225, 230,
235. 236, 311

Romans, spectacular use of animals,
23—25

Rerm, lions in churches, 87, 92 ;
relics in, 2E6. 288

Rosary, ass with a, 242 ; origin of

Rost, symbol of majlyrdom, 76
RoMtH, celebration of Christmas at,

265; foxesas begging hHars, 225;

sirens in Notre Dame of, 317
Ruby, virtne of, 36
Rudolf von Ems, his ' Barlanm und

Josaphat, ' 5
Rumeland, cited, metaphors from

animals, 136
Rumpler, Angelas, his protest
~ linst animals in churches, 183

SaiSat/i, personified soul of Israel,

261
Saelersdal, Sigurd saga, 322, 324
S^as, Germanic, Christian sym-
bolism of, 185 ; Norse sagas in
Scandinavian churches, 324
t. Ambrosius, in Milan, statue of
Hercules slaying the Nemean
lion, 307

f. Anna, her three arms, 2S5 ;
in Heiligensladt, Jew sucking a

St. Basil. See Basil the Great
SatHti' bones, qneer anomalies in,

384; reclified by Prof. Hyrtl,

385 1 power of multiplication,

3S6
SI. BatalfA'r, Unicom, 96 ; musical

piga, 332
St. Cenlta, in Truterere, phoenix,

117
St. CUmenle, in Rome, Mitbrax

worship, 4, 306
S.S. Cesma e Damiano, phcenix,

"7 .. ,

St, Citlama, in Rome, genu 01 the

TiotBfic 303
St. Crocein Gerusalemme, relics in.

388

Teighing

SI. Cmix, in Sainl-L3,

souls, 330
St. Cyprian. See Cyprian
St. Denis, abbey of, Assumption

of tbe Virgin as Vcdub, 7 ;

gospel-mill, 160 i in Ainboise,

foxes as pilgrims, 211
SI. Domitilta, catacomb, Christ

with nimbus, 301 ; Orpheus, 303
St. Eipril, St. BemHrd"s ass, 271
St. Elienne, in Bourses, lion snd

pelican, 83 ; gospel-mill, t6c> ;

m Limoges, foxes as begging

friars, 325
St, Fiacre, wiles of foit, 3o6, 308 ;

"prick the fan," Z08, 209
Si. Frattcis, Giotto's centaur on

the tomb of, 320
St. Gailus, images broken by, 307
St. Gtfl)-^, his combat with dfMon

borrowed from Morus slaying

Seth-Typhon, 13 ; Coptic relief

of, 14 ; his anniversary, 15 ;

patron of Crusaders, 15 ; analo-
gous to Sigurd, 327
St. Germain dis Fris, statae of

Isis, 307; siren, 316
St. (Hilts, centaurs in, 318

,S'/. HUd^onie. See Hildefaxie

SI. Isidore. See Isidore

St. Jaiquis-la-Bmukme, Virgin
the form of Venus, 7

SI. Jaurin, in Evreui, foxes
friars, 325

Si. Jean, in Lyons, ' Lay of Aris-
totle,' 238; revolt of angel^
258

St. John (in Lyons, see SI. Je
feast of, 69, 264; in Gmtlnd^
ceniauis, 318

Si. Laurence, in Nuremberg, lion,.
Sz ; phcenix, unicorn, pelican^
and lion, 130

St. Li, weighing loula, 330

SI. Lucia, Ulysses and sii
the crypt of, 315

St. Maria, in Capua, e^le catching
fish, llS ; in Organo, image 3t.
ass, 271 ; in Dantiig, angels witil
peacocks' feathers, 311

Si. Maria Noj'ella, Chafon, 3I(i[
ceataun pursuing the damned,
320

5/. Martin, in Leicester,
preaching, t86, 233; near Trier,
pagan altar, 307

Si. Mary, in Beverly, foxes
friars, 233 ; in Dantiig, Me._
ling's angels with peacock^
feathers, 311

SI. Maximus. See Maxintui

St. Michodl, in Pfonheim, wolf at-
fnar, 193 ; in Bruges, executios
of the fox, 212, 213 ; archangd
analt^ous to Sigurd, 327 ; will-
ing souls, 329, 330 ; (Micheli^
in Pavio, Tbesens slaying Min»
taur, 309

St. Nicholas, in Stralsund, lion, S3
in Giiltingen, grepel-mill, 157 ;
in Calcar, carvings of animals,
244 i in Zerbst, Jews sucking
sow, ZQ3 ; in Anclam, sireni^
Fribouig,

souls, 330

ig, weighing fl

SI. Nisier, is Troyes, apocalyptic

beast, lJ6
Si. Pair, his two skails, i86
St. Pierrt, in Aulnay, as9 as priest,

M5. »77I in Caen, 'Lay of

Anstotte,' zzS ; in Poiliers,

musical hog anrl <loc> 233 ;

(Pietro), in Cora, haloed head of

ApoUo on a fonl, 307
SI. Porckaire, lion's jaws tjipical

of hell, 9a
St. A-ajjiWIf, phcenix, 127 ; list of

iGlics in, 3&S
St. Pcdegimdt, nnicorn and Vii^in,

SI. Snin
192

r-di-Ntvrti, Samson,

St. Scbald, in Nuremberg, phtenin,

unicorn, pelican, and lion, 130;

beasts as mintstering spirilE, 2So

St. Semin, satire on Calvin, 194

St. Sophia, in Novgorod, relief of

SI. Spire' Atyil over-reached by

St. Slipkai, in Vienna, Samson,

SI. Thcophilns. See Thiophilus
St. Th/pMiu, in Aries, centaurs,

318; weighing souls, 330
SI. Ursin, in Bruges,

foi, 212, 213
St. VicIim; in Xanten,

Luther, 194; carving of monster

typical of Erian, 224
St. Vigian, eagle taking a fish, 1
Si. Vtlui, his four haiids, 286
Salamandfr, nature and symbol]

of, 142, 143
Salisiury Cathedral, carving of

eaele and child, 234
Saliburg, satire on Jews, 297
Samir, nature of its blood utilized

by Solomon, 42
Samson, his exploits in Freibui^

Miaster, gi, 191, 192 ; anS

Delilah, 2zS

Sappkirt, worn in April, 37;

Bymbolism of, 38
Sardius, symbolism of, 39
Sardonyx, symbolism of, 39
Satan, woman a satellite of, 331,

333. See also BaHl
Saliri, symbolism superseded by,
1B5 sgg. J on friars as foxes
and other real or fabulous ani-
mals, 186 — 195, 204, 208—226,
232 — 24^ ; on St. Bernard, 225 ;
on Calvin and Luther, 194 ; on
foibles, aig ; on the Pope, 195,
203, 223 ; on holy relics, 281 —
284, 3S9 ; on tithes of eggs,
240 ; on the Dominicans, 243 ;
on Jews, 289-299 ; on women.
331—333; on al! classes anJ
conditions of men, 335, 339 — 342
Saturnalia, Carnival a survival of.

lures, iSS
S(haffhausm, relic of Joseph's

breath in the glove of Nico-

demus, 2S3
SchtlUmau, anti-Semitic game of

cards, 299 natt
Schtmhamphcra!, meaning and use

.Sf^iqifmi^mirelief of Samson, 192
Schott, on the sea-bishop and other

marvels, 199
SchotletiMrchi in Ratisbon, sirens,

317
Schubert, G. H., his views of the

mineral kingdom, 4^
Sea-Hshop described, 198, 199
Segura. See Loreiao de Sigura
Siittshdm, Adam Fritdrich von,

his episcopal escutcheon, 394
SrilB, Otto, his ' Dance of Death,"

342
Senlii, chapter of the cathedral

censures the clergy, 267
Septuagini, translation of "chul"

66;"lil(etheph«nii,"is7;"»s
a panther," 134; "lair of the
hyena," 139; "upon a pole,"

i, 314 ,

Sirpent, characleristics and symbol-

ismof, 114 — 116 { king of, 163;

trampled bfhart, 323 ; relief of,

8S
Serra, nature and symbolism of,

I3Z; a sea-dragon, 125
Sa/m, ligniGcitnce of, 40, 41
SAakaftan, cited, 1^, 354, 305
Shaiemt itiusttr, fox on the

eallotrs, 213
Sifyli, scnlptnres of, 309
Siiktm, in ass's litany, 274, 17S
SUgfriid (Sigurd), bis quiver of

panther's skin, 137 ; saga, 321 —

3*7
SitHiui, lion, 91 ; relic of St. Vitus,

s86 ; rdiels of creation, 32a
SifinHie, lion, 87
Sirm, symbolism of, 154, 243, 314

—317: in art, 315— 317
Smoi!, m apocalyptic beast, 157 ;

as gon&loniei, 217; as vine-de-
stroyer, 218
Snait, Buddhistic symbol of re-

genemtion, 33. See Serpenl
SMam, symbol of carnal seduction,

67
Sslemen, his wisdom, 27 ; his

m^cal construction of the

Temple, 41—43
SffiHOdnia, his allegory of haman

life, S
SophocUs, symboliied by siren, 315
Sauthf SBCred character of the, 35S,

259
Saw, as bier-bearer, i Sg ; suckling

Jews, 290, 292, 295—297
Sfihirtx, symbolism oi, 168
Spider, Buddhistic symbol of self-
illusion, 32
Spirt, origin of the name Protestant,

Squirrel, Buddhistic symbolism

of the, 31 i in Ely Cathedral,
223

Slag, in chasuble, 1S6 ; chanting
at the altar, 189, 335 ; reading
breviuy, 244. See also Hart

Slanley, relief referring to tbe
family of, 334

S/oIle, Matter, on the lion ml.
ostrich, 94

Stcrl, type of filial piety, S5

Straho, on the ichneumoD, 132

Slraiburg, relief of lion and whdps,
S4; monk and b^nine, 187;
burial of fox, 189

Strieker (air), his ridicnle of super-
stition, 44

Slraiel, cited, 399 tifffe

' Strvmafeui,' cited, 16

.SAtf/^rf, relief of Samson, 192

SuttaniHi, on the remora, 125

Sugrr, j^Airt, description of gospel-
mill, 160 ; animals in churches
prized, iSl

S«n-7ixrrskip, survivals of it io
Christian feasts, 69

Superstition, concerning animals, S
— II, 22 J precious stones, 34—
40, 44—49 ; concerning the uni-
corn's bom, 105, 107

' Snltanipala,' cited, 33

Swallme, symbolism of the, 5J ;
Lulher on the, 149

Swan, symbol of Christian resig-

Swine, daisies before, 242 ; playing
bagpipe, 243. See aiso fffip

Sj/niioiism, bee and flowers ai I
symbols of love, 2, 3 ; Orieniai I
source of^ 5 ; of human life, S T I
its evolution out of metempsy- r
chosis, 7 ; hybrids and monsters J
in ^yptian, 10; survivnl of the I
fittest in Greek, 11 ; its degen- f
erncy into conventional forms, L
15 ; gradually superseded by I
satire, i8, 19, 185 — 191; - —

i

cecHed by scenes fcom the beast-
epos in religioiia polemics, 193—
195 ; of animals and minerals
(see the EJngle names)
SypAilis, miraculously healed at
GtimmenthttI, 103 ; colled ele-
phantiasis, zoi

123;

east, !S7
Tarraguna, reliefs in the cathedral

of, ao6
Tatt, signification of, 67, 248
Titnati, significance of, 259
T'trrebHli, symbolism of, 49 ; in

art, 50; scnlpturedat Alne, Jl
TertuUian, his translation of Psalm

xciL 12, 127 ; his criteiion of

truth, 1 76; on the cross in nature,

247 ; on ass-woTship, 370
T'eilitneny, questionable value of

ocular, 105
Titramorph, symbolism of, 1 54 ; in

art, iss, 156
Tkalunarkert, Sigurd saga, 324
T/iaun. See Philippe de Thaun
Theatre, decay of, 263 ; in sacred

rites and feasts of the Church,

Theobald of Plaxsaiut, poem on

beasts, 61
Thiaphilus, «lleeorieal exposition

of creation, SS
Th^hrcutus, pupil of Anslotle, 22
TAeseiis, mosaic of, 309
TMiaull, the onicom in his lyrics,

108
TTStifar, See Pyramui
Thomas 1) Biciel, verse on [he

auricular conception of Christ, 99
'Aomai dt Cantimprt, his book on

natuial things, 74
Thomas of Celano, bis hymn on the

Last Judgment, 331
TkomaHn von Zinlnre, on lions

and eagles as patterns for courts
and sovereigns, 93, 120

Thora, penonification of the, 262

Toledo, in Spain, CBlhedral of,
unicorn and Virgin, 96 ; relief
of animals and the ' Lay of Aris-
totle,' 226

Topac, virtues of, 36

Tory, Cfoffroy, Death in his ■ Book
of Houre,' 338

Toulouse, satire on Calvin, 194

Taurnay, tomb of Childeric III.
at, 4

lours, cathedral of, lion and
phoenix, S3 ; Council of, 363

Trefoil, not pennissible to heretics,

156

Trier, ' Evangeliarium' in the
Cathedral Library of, 156; Holy
Coat at, 287 ; pagan altar in St.

Mar

r, 307

Trinity, Egyptian symbol of, 14 ;
symboliied by three hares, 239 ;
influence of the doctrine on art,
252; vestiges ofit in the materia!
world, 252—254

Trivium, personification of, 154

Trnyes, apocalyptic beasts in, 156,
157

Try^gvason, King Olaf, his con-
version, 326

Turin, frog as symbol of the Resur-
renion. J3S

Tnrqimse, worn in December, 37

Turtle-dove, symbol of constancy,
147, 148

Tuscany, UonS in the churches of,
91

Tyflwn {Seth~\ demon of sterility
and death, 14; reliefs of Horus
slaying, [3 ; weighing souls, 329

Uhland, himting-song in his col-
lection, 108
Ulysses, in Christian art, 315
(/nicont, symbol of cruel persons,
73; Christ's incarnation, 84^

8s. 9S— "Of '° ="■ 96—105.
130 ; superstilioos notions con-
ccroiog tts horn, 105 — 107 ; sig-
niftcE idso Satan, 109; mounted
by Chastity, 153; in poeti?,
99, 107, 108, iiOi enmity to the
elephant uid likenea: to the he-
goal, 109 ; description of, 1 10
Urim and Thummim, signification
and nse of, 34

^o/^^T-tdj, conductors of souJs, 315 ;
in the Sigurd sa^a, 321, 315

Vasiihtha, invocatiDQ of ^gs in
the Veda, 338

Vatopidi, tetramorph in the monas-
tery of, 155

Yaughan, Rco.J. i'. , his discovery
of vestiges of the Trinity in the
material world, 25a — 254

Vegiisdal, Sigord saga, 324

Vtlay, pcrsonificntion of sciences,
'54 i weighing souls in 3 church

.1,328

Venus, fish sacred to, isi

Vergil, as a prophet of Christ, 266 ;
legend of his love adventure in
sculpture, 229 ; met by centaurs
in the lower world, 320

Ver/iHa, image and traditiaa of the

yjniai, gospel-mill, 158 ; fighting

the basihsk, 165, 166, -"•

weighing souJa, 328
ViniHa, griffin's claw ot,

unicorn and Virgin symboUzing

the triumph of chastity, 105

Samson, iga
Villegas, Eilivan Mamul df, his

description of a duel between

Amor and a bee, 2
VUieneuvi, ChStiau di, deviU and

angels forging the heads of

I. 333

1 of

lum Naturale,' 74 ; 1

Aleiaoder's tunic of salamander

skins, 143
yiolUt-li-Duc, on jollities in

churches, 280
Vifer, copulation with the lamprey,

55 ; symbol of sin, 66 ; hom of

AG^can viper, 109

I IstBT, 6 ;
Venus, 7 ; Coptic Virgin and
Child an imitation of Jsis and
Honu, 13 ; Virgin and unicoro,
9S — 105 ; as a. crystal vessel,
t04; relics of her three anus,
286
fTr^wj, l^ersonificationoftheseveD,

ViscAtr, PHtTj reliefs of birdlike

viigiins on bis candelabra, 317
VisAtiii as Krishna, 4
Vosettundt. SedValtAervandirV.
Voragitu, Jacobus de, his ' Gold^

Legend,' 5 ; on the croa U

nature, H?
Vulgalt, capitals and ini tialt ip

codex of the, 152 ; ver^on of

Proverbs jdo. 27 and EccL lii.

5, 166 ; cited, 192 ; versian of

Zech. vi. 12, 357 tuile
Vulture, eutoliios used by, 4S;

Egyptian typeofco ' ""''

iyachimut non Jiliihlkauien, in.

cry &om the self-renewal of n

eagle, 120
Wake, Johanna, rebus of c

cock, 320, 222
Waltber Hon dir Vvgthueide,

auricular conception, 99
IVaitrsnaie, confounded withtih

Weasel, as slayer of serpeitts, J

Index

375

lyM, Benjamin, heretical desecra-

tioD of sacccd symbols denounced

by, 256
ITiwM, £mj(aHi'i«,oDbBlImEthe

cat, 143
Wtighing souls, represented in

church architecture, 32S— 331 ;

'iD Indian mytholi^y, 331 ; pram-
ice of women in these deline-

Wdmar, paintings of unicorn and
Virgin at, gii — 102 ; griffin's
claws, 106

Wemtl, his copper-plate of the

Wtst, twofold signification of the,
as 7

Whalt, Jonah's, 84 ; two character-
' '3 of the, 122, 123; in archi-
nre, 124; at Alne, 51, 124

Whitiuntide, a solar feast, 69

William, Abbot of St. Thierry,
St. Bemuxl's letter to him cen-
suring monstrosities in churches,

180

I,' date

o(; 72 ;

}yi!/iam of Normandy, ' Le Bcs-
••'■■"■ Tllvi
8;
n the panther, 137

im Th ■ •

ro, 96,
. -7
•at, Jew sucking

Winthesier Calhtdral, satirical 1

iogs in, 224
Wilt™berg, Jews sucking a

and prying into the Talmud, in

palish church of, 289 — 291
Witton, rebus, 222
' Woes o/Frafce,' poem, 204
Wolf, peculiarities of, 150, 151 ;

with crucihx, iS3; novitiate of,
IS preaching friar, 193
Woifrim voit Estktnbach, simile of

lion's whelps, 92 ; on the medi-

cinal and moral virtues of the
unicorn's heart and horn, 107
'onian, us Satan's ally, 33>— 333

Weed-ran'ings, comical and gro-
tesque, 216—219

Worcester Calhidral, foies in
kennels and cowls, 210

Word (the), Gnostic theory of, 98 ;
incarnate through the ear and
its representation in art, 99, too

Wermi, letramorph at, 155; in-
scription to two self-sacriRcing
Jews, 300

WUrtburg, incarnation of the Word
through the ear in the cathedral
of, 99 ; swine on escutcheon of
Prince Bishop of, 294

Wright, his edition of an English
bestiary, 62 ; his translation of
Philippe de Tbaus, 71

Xanteit, St. Victor's Church, latire
on Lnther, 194 ; monster symbol-
izing begging friars, 224

Yama, the fate of the soul decided

by, 331

Yggdrasil, 15Z

Yudkishthira, accompanied to

heaven by his dog, 91
Yafa, sacred to Parsis, 252

Zafpi, Feliee, Cupids as bees in his

Zerbst, sow suckling Jews in St.

Nicholas of, 292
Zircldri. See TJuimasiH von Z.
Zoolatry, universality of, 10
Zorgi, Bertolotne, his lady-love

compared to the serpent, 116
Zurich, centaurs in the minster

cloister, 319
Ztatter. See Reinmar von Zwettr

iiihard Clay 6- Soni, Limiltd, Limion b- Bungst-

..Hill*

m':v