Part 4 (1/2)
In the years that followed, John pursued his Christian service with the zeal of an ardent nature. He remained awhile in Judaea and, in company with Peter, added many converts to the faith. He then carried the work into Asia Minor, where he founded seven churches. Not only was he a preacher and organizer, but a voluminous writer as well. The fourth Gospel is believed to be his work, in which he records many words and deeds of Jesus overlooked by the other Evangelists. He was also the writer of the three Epistles which bear his name. Finally, he is supposed to be the author of the book of Revelation, in which he described his visions during his exile in the isle of Patmos.
According to tradition, he lived to a great age, and died at Ephesus in Asia Minor.
The love with which Christians cherish the memory of St. John is seen in the number of churches bearing his name. One such is that in Parma which was newly built at the time when Correggio was winning his first laurels. The most important portions of the interior decorations were executed by our painter.
Before considering the frescoes of the cupola, the visitor to the church likes to pause before the lunette over the door of the left transept. The subject is St. John, seated with his writing materials on his lap. There is a pile of books behind him and a volume beside him. At his feet stands the symbolic eagle pluming his wing.
[Ill.u.s.tration: ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST _Church of S. Giovanni Evangelista, Parma_]
The emblems of the Evangelists are drawn from Ezekiel's vision of the ”four living creatures,” whose faces were those of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle. Applied respectively to the writers of the four Gospels, each emblem suggests some characteristic trait. The eagle is especially appropriate to St. John. As the bird soars into the upper regions of the sky and looks directly at the sun, so St. John's inspiration raised him into the highest realms of thought, where he seemed to gaze directly upon the divine glory. It is for this that he is called St. John, ”the divine.” As the Latin inscription over the lunette reads, ”More deeply than the others he disclosed the mysteries of G.o.d.”[14]
[Footnote 14: ”Altius cteris Dei patefecit arcana.”]
In our picture the Evangelist lifts his eyes heavenward as if beholding a vision. His lips are parted, and he has the rapt expression of one absorbed in meditation. His right hand still holds the pen as he pauses for inspiration.
In trying to do honor to the beloved disciple, the painters have always represented him as the most beautiful of the twelve. As the most Christ-like in character, he is made to resemble the typical figure of Christ. So in this fres...o...b.. Correggio, he is a beautiful youth, with the curling hair, the oval face and the regular features we a.s.sociate with the person of Jesus. Though the beardless face is so refined, there is nothing weak or effeminate about it. The whole figure is indeed very manly. The head is well set on a full throat and the shoulders are broad. Rising to his feet St. John would be a tall, athletic young man, capable of lending a strong hand at his father's fis.h.i.+ng-nets. The union of strength and refinement makes the picture one of the most attractive ideals of St. John ever painted.
The keynote of St. John's Gospel is the love of G.o.d; his ardent nature never wearied of the theme; the wonder in his lifted face shows him still intent upon the mystery. Were we to seek some characteristic utterance which should appropriately interpret his thoughts, it might well be the words of Jesus to Nicodemus, ”G.o.d so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”[15]
[Footnote 15: St. John, chapter iii., verse 16.]
VII
ST. JOHN AND ST. AUGUSTINE
The church of S. Giovanni Evangelista (St. John the Evangelist), in Parma, is built with a dome-shaped cupola which Correggio filled with a fresco decoration. The subject is drawn from the life of the apostle whose name is given to the church: it is the vision of St. John on the isle of Patmos. Looking up into the dome, one seems to be looking directly into the open sky, upon the figure of Christ ascending into heaven. The apostles sit in a circle on the clouds, and beneath them the aged St. John kneels on the mountain top, gazing upwards upon the vision. The heavenly s.p.a.ces are alive with angels, for, as Browning writes:--
”Correggio loves to ma.s.s, in rifts Of heaven, his angel faces, orb on orb.”
The little creatures are sporting among the clouds and, in the poet's phrase, ”waiting to see some wonder momently grow out.”
Where the dome rests upon the four arches which support it, are four triangular corner-pieces called pendentives, which also belong to Correggio's decorative plan. They are devoted respectively to the figures of the four Evangelists, each one accompanied by one of the four Fathers of the Church. The Christian Fathers were the men whose writings and teachings shaped the doctrines of the faith in the early centuries of our era. They interpreted for the people the meaning of the Scriptures and the Gospels.
The pendentive of our ill.u.s.tration contains St. John with St.
Augustine. The two sit side by side, engaged in a discussion over the book which they hold together. St. John is young and beautiful, as the painters always represent him, except in the subject of the vision of Patmos. The face is perhaps less strong and the expression less exalted than in the lunette we have studied. There is a boyish eagerness in his manner. The symbolic eagle is beside him, peeping out from the folds of the drapery. St. Augustine is a handsome old man with finely cut features. To understand how well the figure fits his character, we must know something of his life.[16]
[Footnote 16: The life of St. Augustine, also called St. Austin, is related in the _Golden Legend_. See Caxton's translation in the _Temple Cla.s.sics_, vol. 5, page 44. Mrs. Jameson gives a condensed account of the life in _Sacred and Legendary Art_, p. 303.]
He was born in Numidia near the middle of the fourth century, and showed in his boyhood brilliant powers of mind. Without the help of any teacher he read and mastered all the books necessary to an education in the liberal arts. His mother, Monica, was a devout Christian, and sought to lead her son to a G.o.dly life. For a long time her efforts seemed in vain. Augustine would make no profession of the Christian faith, but rather indulged in youthful dissipations. His best quality was his love of study. He became a teacher of rhetoric, and pursued his vocation in one city and another, always dissatisfied with his life. At length, in his thirtieth year, he came to Milan, where he fell under the influence of Bishop Ambrose. Then followed a mighty struggle in his soul, and in the end he yielded himself joyfully as a disciple of Christ. On the occasion of his baptism was composed the hymn called the ”Te Deum” which is still used in churches.
[Ill.u.s.tration: ST. JOHN AND ST. AUGUSTINE _Church of S. Giovanni Evangelista, Parma_]
Henceforth the life of Augustine was filled with Christian labors.
After some ten years of devout living he became the bishop of Hippo (near Carthage) where he resided for thirty-five years, until his death in 430. All his stores of learning were devoted to the explanation of Christian theology. He wrote a great number of treatises refuting what he believed to be heresies, and setting forth what he considered the true doctrines of the faith. An old writer p.r.o.nounced him ”sweet in speech, wise in letters, and a n.o.ble worker in the labours of the church.” In a book of ”Confessions” he laid bare all his faults with great humility.
In our picture the good bishop is learning the truths of the faith from St. John, while a child-angel behind him holds his crosier and mitre. Allowing for the difference of ages, there is a certain resemblance between the two men, showing that they have in common a refined and sensitive nature, and an ardent temperament. The older man's face shows lines of thought and character.
St. John seems to be counting off the points of the discussion on his fingers: it may be that he is unfolding the doctrine of the Trinity.