Ad Imaginem Dei: Saint Martin of Tours -- European

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Saint Martin of Tours -- European

St. Martin of Tours As Bishop
from Sacramentay of Mont-Saint-Michel
French (Mont-Saint-Michel), c. 1050-1065
New York, The Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 641, fol. 173r

Martin of Tours is one of the great saints of Europe. Traditionally, one of the patron saints of France, he actually spent large parts of his life elsewhere as well. In fact, he got around quite a bit. Born in the Roman province of Pannonia, today’s Hungary, shortly after the conversion of Constantine to Christianity, he grew up in northern Italy, where he was converted to Christianity at a young age. He served in the Roman cavalry in Gaul and Germany. Finally rejecting his participation in the army he became a disciple of St. Hilary of Poitiers, whom he followed to Italy and then back to Gaul. Martin eventually settled in what was still the Roman province of Gaul, at Tours, where he was acclaimed as bishop in 371.

He was instrumental in spreading the Gospel beyond the Roman cities of Gaul and in combating the Arian heresy, which professed Jesus as a demi-God, but not as fully human and fully divine (the orthodox Christian view). He also founded monasteries at Ligugé and Marmoutier. He died in 397 shortly before the invasion of the Germanic tribes that ended Gallo-Roman life in what would become known as France.1

In addition to the historical facts of his life, a number of legends about St. Martin grew up in the decades and centuries after his death.

St. Martin and the Beggar

St. Martin and the Beggar
from Psalter
Belgian (Ghent), c. 1270-1280
New York, The Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 72, fol. 136r

The most famous is undoubtedly the story of his meeting with a poorly clad beggar, while still a Roman cavalry man and a catechumen (not yet a baptized Christian). In charity he drew his sword, cut his cloak in half and gave half to the beggar, thus fulfilling one of the corporal works of mercy cited by Jesus at the Last Judgment “I was …. naked and you clothed me” (Matthew 25:36). Later, in a dream, he realized that the beggar had indeed been Christ. In some versions of the story, Christ himself returns the half cloak to Martin.

Master of Jeanne de Lavel, St. Martin and the Beggar
From a Book of Hours
French (Nantes), c. 1435-1445
New York, The Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 63, fol. 70v

(Notice that here the beggar has lost both legs, possibly reflecting the experience of many in France during the Hundred Years War, a period which saw the first extensive use of cannon.)

This image is the one that is most often depicted in works of art, especially during the middle ages and especially in the periods in which chivalry was the dominant secular ideal, for this image encapsulates much that was integral to that ideal.

Jean Colombe and Workshop, St. Martin and the Beggar
from Book of Hours
French (Angers), c. 1465-1470
New York, The Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 248, fol. 120r

Master of Claude de France, St. Martin and the Beggar
from Book of Hours
French (Tours), c, 1515-1520
New York, The Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 1166, fol. 38r

It appears in manuscripts, especially in the Books of Hours that were the chief religious book used by the laity. But it also appears in sculpture, in stained glass and in needlework, as well as in full-scale painting.

St. Martin of Tours
French (Autun), 15th Century
Autun, Musée Rolin

St. Martin and the Beggar
German (Mid-Rhineland), c. 1490-1500
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters Collection

Chasuble with Orphreys, St Martin of Tours appears in the central medallion
Italy, c. 1500-1525
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection

El Greco, St. Martin of Tours and the Beggar
Greco-Spanish, c. 1597-1599
Washington, DC, National Gallery of Art

Jan Brueghel the Elder, St. Martin of Tours
Flemish, c. 1600
Nelahozeves Castle (Czech Republic), Lobkowicz Collections

(Here St. Martin is confronted not with one beggar but with a crowd of the needy.)

Anthony van Dyck, St. Martin of Tours and the Beggar
Flemish, c. 1618
Zavantem, St. Martin Church

Jacob van Oost the Elder, St. Martin of Tours and the Beggar

Flemish, c. 1650

Bruges, Groeninge Museum

Francois Nicholas Delaistre, St. Martin on Horseback with the Beggar
French, Late 18th Century
Besancon, Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'Archeologie

St. Martin As Bishop

Also prevalent, though more often found in books specifically for the use of the clergy, was the image of St. Martin as a bishop.

St. Thomas Becket and St. Martin of Tours
from a Psalter
German, c.1208-1228
New York, The Pierpont Morgan Library
MS G8, fol. 54v

Here he is often paired with other bishop saints, such as St. Thomas of Canterbury or St. Nicholas of Myra.

St. Martin of Tours and St. Nicholas of Myra
from Huntingfield Psalter
English (Oxford), c. 1212-1220
New York, The Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 43, fol. 26r

(St. Martin is here shown dividing his cloak while wearing a bishop's miter, conflating his early and late careers)

St. Martin of Tours
Austrian (Carinthia), c. 1340-1350
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cloisters Collection

St. Martin of Tours
German, Late 15th Century
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Cycles of the Life of St. Martin

There are also several surviving cycles of pictures showing the life of St. Martin. They appear in manuscript form in books such as Vincent of Beauvais’ Speculum historiale.

St. Martin and the Beggar and Baptism of St. Martin
from Vincentius Bellavacensis, Speculum historiale
French (Paris), 1453
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 51, fol. 250

St. Martin Converts a Brigand, Saves a House from Fire and Is Chased from Milan by Arian Clergy
from Vincentius Bellavacensis, Speculum historiale
French (Paris), 1453
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 51, fol. 254

St. Martin Attacked by Soldiers and St. Martin Bringing a Child Back to Life
from Vincentius Bellavacensis, Speculum historiale
French (Paris), 1453
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 51, fol. 297

St. Martin Visited by the Virgin Mary and Saints and St. Martin Tormented by Demons
from Vincentius Bellavacensis, Speculum historiale
French (Paris), 1453
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 51, fol. 299

Translation of the Relics of St. Martin
from Vincentius Bellavacensis, Speculum historiale
French (Paris), 1453
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 51, fol. 393v

During the summer of this year (2015) the Metropolitan Museum of art reunited several related Franco-Flemish embroideries of St. Martin’s life, probably meant for the decoration of liturgical furnishings, which have found their way into various parts of the Museum’s collection. The small, highly detailed embroideries were small marvels in their own right.3

St. Martin Announcing His Conversion to His Parents
Scenes from the Life of St. Martin
Franco-Flemish, c. 1430-1435
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection

St. Martin and the Brigands
Scenes from the Life of St. Martin
Franco-Flemish, c. 1430-1435
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cloisters Collection

St. Martin with St. Hilary of Poitiers
Scenes from the Life of St. Martin
Franco-Flemish, c. 1430-1435
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection

St. Martin Offers the Wine Cup to a Priest, Bypassing the Emperor and the Empress
Scenes from the Life of St. Martin
Franco-Flemish, c. 1430-1435
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection

The Empress Kneels Before St. Martin
Scenes from the Life of St. Martin
Franco-Flemish, c/ 1430-1435
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cloisters Collection

St. Martin and the Repentent Horsemam
Scenes from the Life of St. Martin
Franco-Flemish, c. 1430-1435
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Anonymous Loan

St. Martin Brings a Dead Man Back to Life
Scenes from the Life of St. Martin
Franco-Flemish, 1430-1435
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection

However, what is probably the greatest of the cycles of the life of St. Martin is the series of frescoes executed by the Siennese painter, Simone Martini, between 1320 and 1325 in the Chapel of St. Martin in the lower church of St. Francis at Assisi.

Simone Martini, Scenes from the Life of St. Martin
Italian, c. 1320-1325
Assisi, San Francesco, Lower Church, Chapel of St. Martin

These show detailed images of the most important scenes from the saint’s life, from his early conversion to his death. Throughout the early scenes St. Martin is imagined as a contemporary early 14^th century knight, his Roman world equated with the chivalrous ideal.

Simone Martini, St. Martin is Knighted
Scenes from the Life of St. Martin
Italian, c. 1320-1325
Assisi, San Francesco, Lower Church, Chapel of St. Martin

Simone Martini, St. Martin Divides His Cloak for the Beggar
Scenes from the Life of St. Martin
Italian, c. 1320-1325
Assisi, San Francesco, Lower Church, Chapel of St. Martin

Simone Martini, Dream of St. Martin
Scenes from the Life of St. Martin
Italian, c. 1320-1325
Assisi, San Francesco, Lower Church, Chapel of St. Martin

(In his dream Martin saw Jesus explain to the angels that he was the beggar to whom Martin had given half his cloak.)

Simone Martini, St. Martin Renounces His Weapons
Scenes from the Life of St. Martin
Italian, c. 1320-1325
Assisi, San Francesco, Lower Church, Chapel of St. Martin

Simone Martini, St. Martin Restores Life to a Dad Child
Scenes from the Life of St. Martin
Italian, c. 1320-1325
Assisi, San Francesco, Lower Church, Chapel of St. Martin