For hundreds of years, all the great works of art in Europe have served the Christian faith. Patrons were either wealthy aristocrats who wished to increase their loyalty, or the church itself.
Saints are a popular subject in art because their actions in life, especially their deaths, are a powerful reminder of the power of faith. Many of these works still move us today and evoke strong emotions. Sometimes, however, these images, which are meant to evoke reverence, make us smile at the corners of our mouths. These are not one-off works by crafty artists, but typical symbols used to depict saints. Below are ten very strange images of saints.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >10 St. Bartholomew's skin</h1>
St. Bartholomew, one of Jesus' disciples, lived a very exciting life of suffering after Jesus' death, and he was commanded to go out and preach the Word of God, like other apostles. Only Bartholomew entrusted him with the mission of preaching, and told him to preach abroad.
According to tradition, he would go to Mesopotamia, Ethiopia, or most commonly India. There he overthrew idols, taught the Indian Matthew gospel, and cast out demons.
It is said that he was in trouble during his later missionary work in Armenia. Bartholomew converted the brothers of the Armenian kings to Christianity. This annoyed the king a little, and he ordered Bartholomew to be skinned alive.
This is why, in statues and paintings all over the world, Bartholomew has shown a skin that stands firm in his position, and in some versions, such as the Final Judgment in Michelangelo's work, Bartholomew is depicted as a man with skin and holding skin, but other artists opt for a more bloody option, depicting a stripped man with his bloody skin coldly draped over him.
It's a way to at least make sure people don't forget the pain you suffered for your faith.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >9 Sant Antipa cattle</h1>
Little is known about SantʼAnte Antipas in Paganmo. There is a brief passage in the book of Revelation that says, "Antipas was my faithful martyr, and he was killed in the place where Satan lived among you." This martyrdom has left us with some very strange images of saints.
According to legend, Sant'Antipas was attacked by pagan priests in Pagans in Pagans for not offering sacrifices to them, when told: "The whole world is against you!" Antipas replied, "In this way, I am the enemy of the whole world!" Because of his stubbornness, the priests dragged Antipas to the temple of the goddess Artemis and put him in a hollow copper bull. A pile of fires was lit beneath it, and the saints were roasted alive. Many of the saint's images focus on this aspect of his martyrdom.
Now, Antipas is invoked as the patron saint of toothache sufferers — which seems to suggest that toothache is worse than most people think, or that burning to death isn't as painful as we think.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >8 Tongue of St. Romanus</h1>
When you're afraid of what others are going to say, pulling out their tongue can seem like a prudent approach. When St. Romanus openly rebelled against the Romans, that's how the Romans treated him.
Now, one can see in the painting that St. Romanus was spitting out his tongue in his hand. Around 300 AD, the Roman world still persecuted Christians because they did not support the official gods of the Empire. In one of the persecutions,
Christians are willing to sacrifice on the altar of a pagan god, and they have a chance to escape punishment. When St. Romanus encouraged his fellow inmates not to do so, he was specially selected for punishment, first, he was beaten, then he was hung up and attacked with a blade, and then his tongue was pulled out. Despite verbal setbacks, the saint was miraculously able to speak, so he was beheaded. Now we can still see the saint spreading his faith with his tongue.
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" >7 St. Margaret and the belly of the dragon</h1>
St. Margaret's in Antioch has always been a favourite among artists because her life has provided her with such an abundance of inspiration.
As a patron saint in childbirth (the reasons will be explained below), she was widely requested for assistance, and the image of the saints proliferated, leaving us with many examples of her struggles.
When Margaret was a young maid, a Roman official fell in love with her. As a devout Christian, Margaret rejected his courtship. Angry at being rejected, he put her in jail. There, the devil devoured Margaret with a dragon, but through prayer she managed to rush out of the beast's belly, hence the association with childbirth.
The photograph is irresistible to the artist, and one can see St. Margaret fleeing dragons of all shapes and sizes. She could barely crawl out of their internal organs, and neither her hair nor her clothes were stained with the blood around her.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >6 Wiggerfertis</h1>
Everyone has a date that they've always wanted to get rid of. However, when it comes to avoiding romance, few people can do what St. Wegger fortis does.
Her legend is popular for its folktale nature. According to legend, the young Wilkerfertis was the daughter of a pagan king and had sworn to remain a virgin forever. Her father, in defiance of her sacred vows, wanted to marry her to another king.
To escape the upcoming wedding, Wilgofertis prayed to God to make her so ugly that no one wanted to marry her.
The next morning, when she woke up, Wilgofertis grew a strange beard. The wedding was cancelled! Unfortunately for her, her father did not like her furry new appearance and ordered her crucified. That is why there are many paintings of young people and statues of bearded women on crosses in churches around the world.
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" >5 St. Locke and his licked legs</h1>
St. Locke was a relatively little-known saint whose portraits were both lovely and corrupt. The cute part comes from his loyal dog, who he almost always shows alongside.
The less lovable part comes from the rotting sores that St. Locke seems to like to show off. Saint Locke was born into an aristocratic family, and his sanctity was predicted when he was born with a birthmark in the shape of a cross on his chest.
After the death of his parents, Roach left all his possessions to the poor and became a saint. He was so pitiful that if the dog hadn't brought him bread to eat, he would have died. If the dog hadn't licked the infected ulcers off his legs, he would have died too.
Most of the paintings were sufficient, depicting him with a dog, but some depicting St. Locke being licked. St. Locke is now the patron saint of dogs and skin diseases, although neither dogs nor dermatologists would recommend licking to clean wounds.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >4 Eyes of St. Lucy</h1>
Although women usually say to men, "Hey, my eyes are on it!" For St. Lucy, this was not the case. In Lucy's photographs, she often rests her eyes with her own plate.
St. Lucy was a Christian, but her mother was not. Her mother arranged for her to marry a local pagan, but Lucy longed to remain a virgin and spent her dowry on the poor. St. Lucy took her mother to the tomb of St. Agatha (mentioned below) to pray for an illness of her mother, who was immediately cured and converted to Christianity.
It was in the fourth century when the Romans were persecuting Christians, and Lucy's fiancé disagreed with her faith and denounced her to the authorities. Because Lucy refused to renounce her faith, she was taken by the Romans and tortured in many cruel and unusual ways, one of which was her tears. In other traditions, St. Lucy gouges out her own eyes to prevent her fiancé from getting married.
< h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > 3 in the arms of St. Agatha</h1>
The portrait style of St. Agatha, who helped St. Lucy, is similar to that of the young St. Lucy. However, St. Agatha did not like to put his eyes on the plate, preferring to put his breasts on the plate.
How they separated from her body was the key to Agatha's holiness. One of the most revered early martyrs, Agatha was born in Sicily. She was a very beautiful woman and was often proposed to her, but from a very young age she devoted herself to a life of religious purity.
A high-ranking Roman official liked her, however, and her oath did not deter her. When she rejected him several times, Quintianus informed her Christian authority and brought her before a judge—Quintianus himself. The unjust judge liked to torture the woman he wanted to torture to marry, and one of his barbaric acts was to rip her breasts off. For some artists, the act is so cruel that it cannot be ignored, so now St. Agatha often shows her most memorable qualities on plates.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" >2 Breastfeeding in St. Bernard.2</h1>
The Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, is considered by many to be the ideal woman. The image of Christ in which she feeds the baby is popular in the church, intended to show that she was raising the baby in the process of Jesus so that she could raise all human beings. Although this upbringing is metaphorical, there is a saint who has been nurtured by a more authentic faith.
According to legend, one day, when St. Bernard was praying, the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus appeared before him. When the baby stopped breastfeeding and rested, St. Mary placed her breasts in St. Bernard's mouth to feed him. Another version of this story is that the Virgin squirts milk at St. Bernard from a considerable distance.
There is a legend that milk hit him in the eye and cured him of an eye disease. In works of art, the most common image is of an impressive stream of milk flowing towards a kneeling saint.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >1 St. Christopher and the head of the dog</h1>
St. Christopher is one of the most famous and popular Christian saints. Many people hang his image around their necks because he is the patron saint traveler who is said to help people find their way home.
On his medallion, he often crossed the river with a child (actually Jesus). His image usually doesn't look like a dog-headed man.
However, in some early icons, St. Christopher's head was the head of a dog. This apparently bizarre artistic choice stems from ancient misunderstandings of the world and texts. In addition to the places known to the ancients, it is said that the world is also inhabited by all kinds of strange humans. There are tribes with people who jump around with one foot, people with faces buried in the middle of their chests, and even human cities with dog heads.
There is a theory as to why St. Christopher was shown a dog's head, that is, he was described as a cananeus and misread as "canineus", and although these depictions of St. Christopher have fallen out of favor, they can still be found in some churches and ancient manuscripts.