 |
First Master of the Prayerbook of Maximilian, Saint
Elizabeth of Hungary
From the Hours of Isabella the Catholic
Flemish, c. 1500
Cleveland, Museum of Art
Acc # 1963, 256, fol. 197v |
“When one finds a worthy wife,her value is far beyond pearls.
Her husband, entrusting his heart
to her,
has an unfailing prize.
She brings him good, and not
evil,
all the days of her life.
She obtains wool and flax
and works with loving hands.
She puts her hands to the
distaff,
and her fingers ply the spindle.
She reaches out her hands to the
poor,
and extends her arms to the
needy.
Charm is deceptive and beauty
fleeting;
the woman who fears the LORD is
to be praised.
Give her a reward for her labors,
and let her works praise her at
the city gates.”
Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31
First Reading for the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Sunday, November 15, 2020
On reading and hearing the first reading from the Sunday
Mass yesterday, I thought it was an appropriate Biblical quotation to begin
this essay on the iconography of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. As a woman, married to an important nobleman,
she certainly fulfilled the words of the writer of this proverb for she brought
good and not evil, worked at spinning wool, reached out her hands to the poor
and extended her arms to the needy. In
her short time on earth she fulfilled this passage and modeled her life on that
of Christ. And she has been remembered
for it through many generations.
I don’t recall when I first heard about Saint Elizabeth of
Hungary but I know it was when I was very small. I remember my mother telling me the story of
what I now know is called the Miracle of the Roses. This is probably the best known tale attached
to Saint Elizabeth. It is probably a
pious fiction, although it does reveal a deeper truth about the woman. I remember thinking, that it was a sweet and
helpful miracle, but not much more than that.
 |
Main Altar with Miracle of the Roses windows
German, c, 1920s
New York, Church of Saint Elizabeth, Wadsworth Avenue |
However, this saint seems to follow me around. When I was 16 my family was forced to move
from the Bloomingdale area on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, where I grew up, to
a more distant location in upper Manhattan known as Fort George. The parish in that area is known as Saint
Elizabeth, period, no further description.
So, it could refer to the Virgin Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, or to someone
else. Once we relocated, it was obvious
that the Elizabeth who is patron of the parish is not the mother of Saint John
the Baptist but the medieval Elizabeth of Hungary. Indeed, there was (and is) a beautiful
stained glass window behind the main altar that depicts the Miracle of the
Roses.
These
views of the three panels that form the windows, plus the view from above (shown below), give
a much clearer impression of the real beauty of these windows, which come as a
surprise in the otherwise unremarkable decorative scheme of this church.
Currently, I have no idea of who the designer was.
We remained in that parish for twelve years, most of which
were unhappy ones. My father died three
years after our move and my mother developed chronic leukemia shortly thereafter. It was there that I had to cope with the
demands of grad school while taking care of her during the many complications
of that disease. During the latter years
of our sojourn, the area became a well-known location for drug dealers and
increasingly unsafe.
 |
|
We finally found a suitable new apartment and moved to the Upper
East Side to the area historically known as Yorkville. To my surprise, in addition to the big parish
churches of which I had always been aware, the area was sprinkled with small,
“national” churches, founded in the early part of the 20th century,
when immigrants were flooding into New York from many diverse language
groups. While, at the time, in every parish Mass was
offered in Latin, the national churches allowed newcomers to hear preaching and
receive other sacraments, such as Penance, in their own language. These parishes also functioned as social
centers for their communities, offering a haven in an Anglophone and sometimes
hostile city. One language group that
settled in the area was Hungarian, another was Slovak. Consequently, my apartment was within one
block each way of both a Hungarian and a Slovak Catholic church. The Hungarian church was named for Saint
Stephen of Hungary and the Slovak church was named for Saint Elizabeth of
Hungary.1
 |
Devotional Image of Saint Elizabeth
Origin Unknown, c. 1900
London, Wellcome Trust |
So, why would a Slovak church be named in honor of a
Hungarian saint? It was a puzzle, but
not one sufficiently intriguing to cause me to do any research. (And, to be
fair, simple research of this kind wasn’t quite as easy then as now, when you
just have to enter a few words in a search engine).
Having decided to honor the feast day of Saint Elizabeth of
Hungary, which is November 17, with an iconographic essay I finally did that
research, and what an interesting woman I found!
 |
Pietro Lorenzetti and Workshop, Crowned Female Figure (Saint Elizabeth)
Italian, c. 1336-1340
London, National Gallery |
The very first thing I found out is that Elizabeth was not
born in today’s Hungary, but in what is today’s Slovakia. In fact, she was born in 1207 in the capital
city of Slovakia, Bratislava. However,
in her day (the early 13th century) this area was part of the
kingdom of Hungary. Bratislava was then
known as Pozsony
in Hungarian and Pressburg in German.2 She
was born a princess, daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary and his queen, the
Bavarian countess, Gertrude.
Interestingly, her mother’s sisters were Hedwig, now Saint Hedwig, who
was married to the Grand Duke of Poland and is now one of that country’s patron
saints, and Agnes, who was married for a time to King Philip II Augustus of France.3
Thus Elizabeth’s parents were very well connected as well as very pious.
 |
Jean le Tavernier and Follower, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
From a Book of Hours
French (Oudenarde), c. 1450-1460
The Hague, Koninklijk Bibliotheek
MS KB 76 F 2, fol. 277v |
As was common among the aristocracy of Europe in this period
(and for years before and after) royal children were political bargaining
chips. No matter how much their parents
may have loved them it was understood that they would be used in ways that may seem
to us to be barbaric. So, like many
other children, Elizabeth was betrothed to Herman, the son of the Duke of
Thuringia, at the age of four. Shortly
thereafter she was sent to Thuringia to be brought up along with her betrothed
and his siblings. There were practical
reasons for this kind of arrangement of course.
Although it must have been devastating to the child to be taken from the
only home she knew, it guaranteed the political association which her marriage
was intended to make permanent and guaranteed that she would be familiar with
the language and all the customs of what would become her country.
 |
Scenes from the Life of Saint Elixabeth
Dutch, c. 1500
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum
The story in this painting winds through the two levels. At bottom left her parents agree to send her to Thuringia to marry the Duke's son. The infant Elizabeth appears in her nurse's arms. In the lower right her nurse prepares the girl for her trip as her parents stand waiting behind the wagon. Her father can be seen to be carrying a pot of gold, presumably her dowry. In the upper right she dines with her parents and her future parents-in-law. At the upper left the two groups of parents take leave of each other. |
In her new homeland Elizabeth seems to have grown up to be a
very devout child. There are stories
about her spending a great deal of time in church, even trying to get into the
chapel when it was closed, of private devotions and penances. What may have been a refuge for her in the
strangeness of her early days there seems to have developed into a deep and
serious piety.
 |
Charles Allston Collins, The Devout Childhood of St. Elizabeth of Hungary
English, 1851-1852
Detroit, Institute of Arts |
What was always questionable about childhood betrothals was
whether they would ever see fruition. As
happened many times in history, Elizabeth’s betrothed died before the wedding
could take place. Since she was part of
an agreement between Hungary and Thuringia which both wanted to retain, Herman
was replaced as her betrothed by his next younger brother, Ludwig (often
referred to as Louis). And this was
surely a marriage made in heaven. At the
time of their wedding Ludwig was 20 years old and Elizabeth was 14. This sounds drastically young to our modern
thinking, but was not uncommon in its time.
 |
Wedding Feast of Saint Elizabeth at the Wartburg
Dutch, c. 1490-1495
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum
Here we see two scenes from the wedding. At the right the bride is presented to her betrothed (the young man in the red hat, whose coat matches her dress) and his father (the older man with the full beard and the robe with the broad fur collar and fur cuffs). On the left we see the wedding banquet.
|
Ludwig succeeded his father as Duke of Thuringia in 1217 and,
at their marriage three years later, Elizabeth became Duchess of
Thuringia. The marriage seems to have
been a very happy one. They had three
children, Herman, Sophia and Gertrude, the youngest being born three weeks
after her father’s death. The capital of
the duchy was at Eisenach, and the ducal residence was the castle of the
Wartburg, which towers above it. There
is an irony here, as those of you familiar with the story of Luther will
realize. For, it was the Wartburg
where Luther holed up, under the protection of the Duke of Saxony, a descendant
of Ludwig and Elizabeth, in order to escape imprisonment following his
condemnation at the Diet of Worms and where he made his famous translation of
the Bible into German. However, in the
period during which it was the home of Ludwig and Elizabeth, it was the home of
some of the most celebrated of the German troubadours, especially Walter von
der Vogelweide and Wolfram von Eschenbach.
It was here that the Battle of the Bards, the central piece of Wagner’s
opera, Tannhäuser,
actually took place. So, Elizabeth was
the chatelaine of a very important location, wife of a very important local
ruler within the larger Holy Roman Empire.
 |
Anton Dietrich, Count Ludwig and Saint Elizabeth
German, c. 1850-1890
Dresden, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen |
But, in addition to being a wife, mother and consort of an
important man, Elizabeth was a serious and devout Christian. She did all she could to alleviate the
sufferings of the poor in the area around Eisenach. She gave them alms in money and she gave them
food with her own hands. This is the
context from which the story of the Miracle of the Roses comes. The story is that one day, as Elizabeth and
her ladies in waiting were on their way to feed the poor they encountered
Ludwig and a hunting party of lesser nobles and court officials. There seems to have been some suspicion of
Elizabeth on the part of some of the courtiers because Ludwig wanted to prove
that she and her ladies were not stealing treasures from the castle. So, he insisted that she show them all what
she was carrying in her skirts and baskets.
When she unveiled the contents of her cloak and baskets everyone saw
only roses. She was exonerated of
suspicion of theft and her true purpose hidden as well.
 |
Miracle of the Roses
Austrian, c. 1525
Mariahof, Parish Church |
In the town of Eisenach Elizabeth also founded a hospital to care for
the sick and dying. The medieval
hospital was a combination of what we would today consider a hospital, where
ailments are treated (and hopefully cured) and a nursing home/hospice, where
the chronically sick and the dying are cared for. Needless to say, the treatments available at
the time were primitive and the secondary function had more numerous clients
than the first. What is most significant
about this particular institution is that Elizabeth invested a great deal of
herself into it. She made it a point of
every day to be at the hospital and to care for the sick herself rather than to
just provide money and oversight. With
her own hands she washed and fed the sick, including the most abject of
medieval patients, the lepers. In this
she sounds remarkably like a saint of our own time, Saint Teresa of Calcutta.
 |
Saint Elizabeth Washing a Beggar
Slovak, Second Half of the 15th Century
Kosice, Cathedral of Saint Elizabeth |
One interesting element in her attempts to make common cause
with the poor sounds surprisingly modern.
This has to do with her diet.
Among other privations, Elizabeth insisted that she would not eat any
meat that was obtained in ways that were not ethical. This suggests that she refused to eat meat
from animals who might have been abused either in their living conditions or in
the manner in which they were slaughtered.
Consequently, it seems that bread formed a significant portion of her
diet, even as she reigned over grand ducal banquets. Contemporary vegans and
vegetarians might find some resonances in this aspect of her life.
 |
Saint Elizabeth with Her Guardian Angel and at a Banquet
From Office and Life of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia
Spanish (Seville), c. 1275-1300
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Nouvelle acquisition latine 868, fol. 16v |
Elizabeth’s life changed dramatically when Ludwig died
suddenly in September, 1227. He had left
the pregnant Elizabeth in August in order to follow the Holy Roman Emperor,
Frederick II Barbarossa, on the sixth crusade to the Holy Land. Unfortunately, Ludwig got no farther than
Otranto in southern Italy before dying of the plague on September, 11. When she received news of his death,
Elizabeth, who had just given birth to her last child, Gertrude, is reported to
have said “He is dead. He is dead. It is to me as if the whole world died
today."4
 |
Farewell of Saint Elizabeth and Her Husband, Ludwig of Thuringia
Swiss, 1480s
Eisenach, Wartburg Museum |
From this point Elizabeth went through a period of great
trial and suffering. Throughout history
native suspicions of non-native queens following the death of their husbands
has been frequent. This seems to have
occurred with Elizabeth. Her
brother-in-law, Heinrich Raspe, assumed the role of regent for her son, Herman,
and seems to have taken over her girls as well.
Whether she was forced to remove from the Wartburg (and even from
Eisenach) by physical or psychological force is unclear, but she did move to
Marburg and there does seem to have been some elements of coercion involved.
 |
Moritz von Schwind, Flight of Saint Elizabeth from the Wartburg
German, 1854
Eisenach, Wartburg Castle |
Her uncle, the bishop of Bamberg, offered her shelter, but
also proposed to find her another noble husband, to further enhance the family
fortunes. She refused this suggestion
and returned to Marburg.
 |
St. Elizabeth and the Franciscians
From Office and Life of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia
Spanish (Seville), c. 1275-1300
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Nouvelle acquisition latine 868, fol.7
|
About the same time, she came into contact with members of the recently founded Franciscan order and was in communication with Saint Francis himself. She was greatly attracted by his ideals of poverty, prayer and service to the poor. She also placed herself under the spiritual guidance of a cleric called Conrad of Marburg, who was not a Franciscan, but seems to have acted for them at times. He seems to have been determined to break whatever within Elizabeth might still have felt privileged. He is said to have subjected her to severe and unnecessary penances which she accepted with humility.
 |
St. Elizabeth in the Mud and at Prayer
From Office and Life of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia
Spanish (Seville), c. 1275-1300
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Nouvelle acquisition latine 868, fol. 23v
|
The following year, 1228, her husband’s remains were brought
home to Thuringia and interred.
Following this, she was given the dowry money which she had brought
to the marriage. With the dowry funding she
built another hospital in Marburg and renounced all her earthly rank and possessions,
much in the manner of Saint Francis himself.
This renunciation and her adoption of a simple form of dress based on
the Franciscan habit has caused her to be considered as one of the first
members of the lay branch of the Franciscan order, the Third Order, and she is
one of their patron saints. However, she
was not an actual member of this branch of the Franciscans, as it did not yet
exist at the date of her death.
 |
Philip Hermogenes Calderon, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary's Great Act of Renunciation
English, 1891
London, Tate Britain |
During this period, she lived in the new hospital she had
founded. Her life there consisted of
prayer, penance, tending the sick and finding money to finance the work. To bring in money, she spun wool and sold it
to aid in financing the hospital and, in addition, sewed garments for the
patients. Her life must have been a busy
one. This routine, coupled with her
continuing fasting and penances, was also wearing on her body.
 |
Bartolomeo Schedoni, Charity of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
Italian, 1611
Naples, Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte |
Saint Elizabeth of Hungary and Thuringia died in Marburg at the
surprisingly early age of 24 in 1231.
 |
Death of St. Elizabeth of Hungary
Flemish, c. 1540
Paris, Fondation Custodia |
Conrad of Marburg encouraged devotion to her and began the medieval process
of canonization. Miracles took place,
especially for the poor and sick. Evidence
was collected from Conrad and from her ladies in waiting and others who had
known her during her life and on May 28, 1235 she was formally canonized by
Pope Gregory IX in Perugia. The bull of
canonization is still extant in a Viennese church.
 |
Sandor Liezen-Mayer, Canonization of St. Elizabeth of Hungary in 1235
Hungarian, 1863
Budapest, Magyar Nemzeti Galeria |
She became a very popular saint in medieval European
culture. Her iconography spread widely. Through her daughter, Sophia, she is an
ancestor of many of the noble and royal families of Europe. Unfortunately, at
the time of the iconoclasm associated with the Protestant Reformation, her tomb
was destroyed by one of those descendents and her remains desecrated and spread far and wide. They remain widely dispersed to this day. She is the patron saint of the homeless, exiles, nurses, widows, young brides, charity workers, the Third Order Franciscans, bakers
and those who are falsely accused of wrongdoing.
 |
Shrine of St. Elizabeth of Hungary
German, c. 1235-1249
Marburg, Elisabethkirche |
Iconography of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary and Thuringia
The iconography of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary is not unlike
the iconography of many medieval saints.
There are areas of focus, such as her early life, her marriage to Ludwig
IV of Thuringia, the events which followed his early death, her asceticism, her
own death and her place among the saints.
There are some miracle stories, but the most common of these has to do
with the famous Miracle of the Roses.
What is remarkable about her iconography is that it is so varied and, especially, that it has been remarkably consistent and long-lived. It continued to be produced throughout the twentieth century and continues into the twenty-first using the same motifs and stories as in the fifteenth.
Elizabeth’s Early Life
 |
Albrecht de Vriendt, The Youth of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
Belgian, 1872
Private Collection |
Her Marriage
 |
Marriage of St. Elizabeth and Ludwig of Thuringia
From Office and Life of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia
Spanish (Seville), c. 1275-1300
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Nouvelle acquisition latine 868, fol. 6r |
The Death of Her Husband in 1227
 |
Moritz von Schwind, Farewell of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary and Her Husband Ludwig IV of Thuringia
Hand Colored Lecture Slide
German, 1854
Eisenach, Carl Simon Coll |
The Difficulties of Her Life Following Ludwig's Death
 |
Saint Elizabeth Giving Up Worldly Titles
German, 1490
Überlingen, Cathedral |
 |
Théophile Marie Francois Lybaert, Saint Elizabeth and Her Children at Their Refuge
Belgian, 1890
Private Collection |
The Charitable Work – Saint Elizabeth as Role Model for
Enacting the Corporal Works of Mercy
In Christian thought the corporal works of mercy are comprised of seven charitable acts: Feeding the Hungry, Clothing the Naked, Giving Drink to the Thirsty, Caring for the Sick, Giving Alms, Visiting Prisoners, Burying the Dead. Saint Elizabeth personally performed all but the last two and probably did these as well. In this aspect she set an example for European royalty and nobility, many of them her descendants.
 |
Saint Elizabeth Ministering to a Sick Woman
German, c. 1240-1300
Marburg an der Lahn, Elisabethkirche
 | St. Elizabeth Feeding the Poor
From Office and Life of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia_
Spanish (Seville), c. 1275-1300
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Nouvelle acquisition latine 868, fol. 3v
|
 | St. Elizabeth Washing the Feet of a Poor Man From Office and Life of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia Spanish (Seville), c. 1275-1300 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Nouvelle acquisition latine 868, fol. 8r
|
|
 |
St. Elizabeth Washing the Feet of a Poor Man
From Livre d'images de Madame Marie
Flemish (Hainaut), c. 1285-1290
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Nouvelle acquisition francaise 16251, fol. 103v |
 |
Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Feeding the Poor
From a Psalter-Hours
French (Metz), c. 1370-1380
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 88, fol. 21v |
 |
Cologne Master, Saint Elixabeth of Hungary Giving Clothing to the Poor and Feeding a Sick Man
Scenes From the Life of St. Elizabeth
German, End of the 14th Century
Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud |
 |
Jacques de Besancon, St. Elizabeth Feeding the Poor at Her Hospital
From Legenda aurea by Jacobus de Voragine
French (Paris), c. 1480-1490
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
Ms Francais 245, fol. 175r |
 |
Saint Elizabeth Distributing Clothing to the Poor
From the Hastings Hours
Flemish (Bruges), c.1480
London, British Library
MS Additional 54782, fol. 64v |
 |
Master of the Housebook, Saint Elizabeth Performing the Works of Mercy
From an Altarpiece
German, 1495
Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud |
 |
Erhard Schoen, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Giving Food and Drink to a Beggar
German, c. 1515-1517
London, Trustees of the British Museum |
 |
Saint Elizabeth Giving Bread and Wine to Beggars
German, c. 1515
Pedralbes, Fundacion Coleccion Thyssen-Bornemisza |
 |
Attributed to Hans Weiditz, Saint Elizabeth Washing the Hair of a Sick Man
German, c. 1520-1530
London, Trustees of the British Museum |
 |
Pieter de Jode the Elder, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Feeding a Beggar, Surrounded by Scenes
from Her Life
Flemish, c. 1585-1634
London, Trustees of the British Museum |
 |
Adam Elsheimer, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Bringing Food to the Inmates of Her Hospital
German, c. 1598
London, Wellcome Collection
|
 |
Hieronymous Francken, Saint Elizabeth Caring for a Sick Woman at Her Hospital
Flemish, c. 1600-1625
Beaune, Musée des Beaux-Arts et Musée Marey |
 |
Raphael Sadeler the Elder After Johann Matthias Kager, Saint Elizabeth Washing the Feet of Beggars
Flemish, 1615
Philadelphia, Museum of Art |
 |
Bartolome Esteban Murillo, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Tending the Sick and Lepers
Spanish, c. 1671-1674
Seville, Charity Hospital |
 |
Lucas de Valdes, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary and Her Ladies Caring for a Sick Man as Other Beggars Wait
Spanish, c. 1700-1725
Seville, Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla |
 |
Daniel Gran, The Charity of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
Austrian, c. 1720-1736
Sheffield (UK), Museum |
 |
Giambattista Pittoni, Saint Eliabeth Distributing Alms
Italian, 1734
Budapest, Szépmûvészeti Múzeum |
 |
Karl Ballenberger, Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia Giving Alms
German, 1833
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art |
 |
Sandor Liezen-Mayer, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Giving Her Cloak to a Poor Woman
Hungarian, 1882
Budapest, Magyar Nemzeti Galeria |
 |
Edmund Blair Leighton, The Charity of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
English, 1915
Private Collection |
Among her other works it is attested that she spun and wove woolen yarn to make clothing for the inmates of her hospitals and to sell in order to obtain additional funds when her private resources were exhausted. She is also reputed to have made clothing for the poor with her own hands.
 |
St. Elizabeth Spinning
From Office and Life of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia
Spanish (Seville), c. 1275-1300
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Nouvelle acquisition latine 868, fol. 22v |
This aspect of her life seems to have fascinated a late 19th-early 20th century woman artist, Marianne Stokes, an Austrian born painter married to an Englishman.
 |
Marianne Stokes. Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Spinning for the Poor
Austrian, 1895
Private Collection |
 |
Marianne Stokes, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Sewing for the Poor
Austrian, c. 1920
Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales |
Saint Elizabeth's Prayer and Fasting
 |
The Young Saint Elizabeth Praying a the Chapel Door While Her Attendants Play Chess
From Office and Life of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia
Spanish (Seville), c. 1275-1300
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Nouvelle acquisition latine 868, fol. 4v |
 |
St. Elizabeth Eating a Frugal Meal
From Office and Life of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia
Spanish (Seville), c. 1275-1300
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Nouvelle acquisition latine 868, fol. 19v |
,%20ca.%201325-1350_Paris,%20BNF_Ms%20Francais%20185,%20fol.%20223.jpg) |
St. Elizabeth At Prayer
From Vies des saints
French (Paris), ca. 1325-1350
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 185, fol. 223r
|
,%201348_Paris,%20BNF_MS%20Francais%20241,%20fol.%20305.jpg) |
Richard de Montbaston, Vision of St. Elizabeth
From Legenda aurea by Jacobus de Voragine
French (Paris), 1348
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 241, fol. 305r |
 |
Master of the Lives of the Emperors and Workshop, Vision of Saint Elizabeth
From a Breviary
Italian (Milan), c. 1425-1450
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 760, fol. 573r
|
 |
Attributed to Joost de Paepe, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Prays for the Salvation of Berthold
von Leimbach
Flemish, c. 1630
Warsaw, Muzeum Narodowe |
 |
Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary in Prayer
French, c. 1735
Dijon, Musée national Magnin |
The Death and Canonization of Saint Elizabeth
Images of Saint Elizabeth's death, burial and canonization run the gamut from imaginary to flatfooted realism.
 |
Saint Elizabeth on Her Deathbed Surrounded by Christ, the Vigin Mary, Saints John the Baptist, John the Evangelist, Catherine of Alexandria, Peter and the Landgrave Konrad of Thuringia
German, c. 1370
Marburg, Elisabethkirche
|
 |
The Last Years, Death and Funeral of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
Dutch, c. 1490-1495
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum |
 |
Moritz von Schwind, Death of Saint Elizabeth
German, 1854
Eisenach, Wartburg Castle |
 |
Moritz von Schwind, Funeral of Saint Elizabeth
German, 1854
Eisenach, Wartburg Castle |
Miracles of Saint Elizabeth
These miracles are primarily miracles of healing for poor folk prayed for by Saint Elizabeth.
 |
Miracle of St. Elizabeth
From Office and Life of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia
Spanish (Seville), c. 1275-1300
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Nouvelle acquisition latine 868, fol. 12r |
. |
Miracle of St. Elizabeth
From Office and Life of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia
Spanish (Seville), c. 1275-1300
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Nouvelle acquisition latine 868, fol.11r |
The Miracle of the Roses
The best known miracle of Saint Elizabeth is one of concealment. While bringing food to the poor she encountered a hunting party led by her husband. In order to demonstrate that his wife was not stealing from the treasury Ludwig ordered her to display what she was carrying in her cloak. When she opened the cloak it was filled with roses instead of the bread she had been carrying. She was thus exonerated before the nobles and even more cherished by her husband. This miracle is the most commonly produced image of Saint Elizabeth, especially in latter centuries. There are literally hundreds, probably thousands, of depictions in all media. I have chosen just a small sampling.
 |
Karl von Blaas, Miracle of the Roses
Austrian, 1839
Private Collection |
 |
Moritz von Schwind, Miracle of the Roses
German, 1854
Eisenach, Wartburg |
 |
Gustave Moreau, Miracle of the Roses
French, 1879
Private Collection |
 |
Károly Senyei, Saint Elizabeth
Hungarian, 1890s
Budapest, Saint Stephen's Cathedral |
 |
George James Frampton, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
English, 1895
Bath (UK), Victoria Art Gallery |
Saint Elizabeth as Saint Among Others
Catholics believe in the Communion of Saints. Not only are they united though the Church in this world, but there are three states in which the Church consists: the living, the souls undergoing cleansing in Purgatory and the blessed in Heaven. Salvation is not entirely a solitary occurrence, we are here to help each other. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that the souls of the blessed, the saints, form the court of Heaven where God reigns. Images of this court abound and sometimes the participants are selected by those still living in order to fulfill some idea. These images can accommodate a variety of ideas. And, with the other saints, Saint Elizabeth may appear as a member of the heavenly court.
Many of the earliest group images that include Saint Elizabeth of Hungary were made by artists working on the decoration of the spectacular basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi at Assisi. This basilica was begun as soon as Saint Francis of Assisi was canonized, only a few years after his death. Members of his newly founded orders for men, women and lay individuals were themselves rapidly canonized after their deaths and artists incorporated their images into the work they were doing in the basilica. Saint Elizabeth was considered to be an early, almost a founding member, of the Third Order Franciscans, Hence, only a short time after her death and canonization, her image was included with images of other early Franciscan saints in the chapels and altarpieces of the great basilica in Assisi.
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Simone Martini, Saints Clare of Assisi and Elizabeth of Hungary
Italian, c. 1320-1325
Assisi, Basilica of San Francesco, Lower Church, St. Martin Chapel |
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Simone Martini, Saints Elizabeth, Margaret and Henry of Hungary
Italian, c. 1320-1325
Assisi, Basilica of San Francesco, Lower Church |
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Giotto, Coronation of the Virgin
Italian, c. 1328-1330
Florence, Church of Santa Croce, Baroncelli Chapel 6 |
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Giotto, Coronation of the Virgin, Detail of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
Italian, c. 1328-1330
Florence, Church of Santa Croce, Baroncelli Chapel |
Her image appeared elsewhere as well, although often in a Franciscan context.
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Saint Francis Giving His Rule to Franciscan Saints
Italian, c. 1340
Naples, Museo dell-Opera di San Lorenzo Maggiore
Here, Saint Elizabeth appears as the saint wearing a light colored veil to the right of Saint Clare. In an enlargement it is just possible to see that she wears a tiara around her head, on top of the veil as an indication of her worldly rank. |
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Giovanni di Paolo, Saints Clare of Assisi and Elizabeth of Hungary
Italian, c. 1445
Private Collection |
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Nikolaus Obilman, Saints Hedwig of Silesia, Elizabeth of Hungary and Mary Magdalene
Polish, c. 1466
Warsaw, Muzeum Narodowe
Here we have the image of two related saints, Elizabeth and her aunt, Hedwig, alongside the Biblical saint, Mary Magdalene |
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Master of the View of Saint Gudule, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary with Saints Catherine of Alexandria and Dorothy
Flemish, c. 1480
Private Collection
Here we have a "modern" saint, Elizabeth of Hungary, on a par with two early Christian martyrs. |
Solo Images of Saint Elizabeth
Most often, however, Saint Elizabeth appears alone, holding one of her attributes or in relation to some characteristic object. The symbol is often the roses from the Miracle of the Roses, but out of the context of that story.
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Andrea da Firenze, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
Italian, c. 1365
Houston, Museum of Fine Arts |
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Saint Elizabeth with the Model of a Church
Possibly French, c. 1470
Marburg, Elisabethkirche
Here she holds a model of the church in which this image stands.
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Wolfgang, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
German, c. 1470
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Here the attributes are loaves of bread and a bowl of soup representing her efforts at feeding the poor. |
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Jan Provost, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
Detached wing of an altarpiece
Flemish, c. 1500-1524
Genoa, Galleria di Palazzo Bianco
Here our saint holds a crown and a book reminding us of her rank and of her prayer life. |
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Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
Italian, 16th Century
Richmond-Upon-Thames, London, Ham House |
Here again they are a crown and a book.
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Goswijn van der Weyden, Ssint Elizabeth of Hungary
Reverse of Panel with Lysbeth Biers
Flemish, c. 1510
Brussels, Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique
I am including this image among the solo images of the saint. However, the notation that this is the reverse side of a portrait of a woman named Lysbeth (Elizabeth) places the concept behind it as that of a patroness. Saint Elizabeth is Lysbeth's patron saint. |
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Crispijn de Passe the Elder, Saint Elizabeth
Flemish, c. 1590-1637
London, British Museum
In this rather regal image, Saint Elizabeth sits in state, surrounded by images of the assistance she gave to the poor (basket of bread loaves and containers of wine) while over her shoulder in the background we can see an image of her at her work. |
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Francisco de Zurbarán, Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia
Spanish, c. 1635-1640
Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao
This beautiful image by Zurbaran, with her attributes of crown and book, is a somewhat stunning reminder of how very young she was at the time she died. That is something that is easy for forget in looking at her accomplishments and trials. |
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Hugues Merle, St. Elizabeth of Hungary
French, 1879
Detroit, Institute of Arts
Another, later, portrayal that also reminds us of the youthfulness of this saint.
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Saint Elizabeth as Patroness
Finally, there is one more guise in which artists have depicted Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, as patroness in the personal sense. As noted above she is the patron of many kinds of people, with many divergent histories and intentions.
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Jan van Eyck, The Virgin and Child with Saints Barbara and Elizabeth of Hungary and Jan Vos
Flemish, c. 1441-1443
New York, Frick Collection
Notes from the recent special exhibition of this and some related works at the Frick suggest that these saints were chosen because, before becoming a Carthusian monk, Jan Vos had been a member of the Teutonic order of knights. The order cared for the relics of Saint Elizabeth at Marburg and the tower attribute of Saint Barbara also resonated with them. In daily life Vos would have used the image as a focus for intercessory prayer to the Virgin and these patron saints and may have intended it as a memorial after his death.7 |
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Master of the Drapery Studies, Saint Elisabeth Feeding the Poor with a Donor
From The Saint Elizabeth Triptych
German, c. 1480
Karlsruhe, Staatliche Kunsthalle
Along the top angels hold a cloth of state which bears the inscription "Saint Elizabeth" and "Mother of the Poor". Around the head of the kneeling donor the scroll, representing his words, reads "O Saint Elizabeth, Pray for me, a miserable sinner". The name of the donor has not survived. |
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Attributed to Israhel van Mechenem, The Mass of Saint Gregory,
German, c. 1515-1520
Warsaw, Muzeum Narodowe
The identity of the female donor has been lost. From her clothing she is either a widow or a nun. It may be that her name is Elizabeth or one of the variations of that name.
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St. Elizabeth of Hungary Presenting Six Women and One Child from the Busnes de Poucques Family Flemish, 1570
Saint-Omer, Musée de l'Hotel Sandelin |
There is one group of people with a very particular interest in this saint, those named for her. And of that group, there has always been a small, but important group of women who have an even closer relationship to this saint. They are her blood descendants. Many of them are not immediately recognizable to English speakers because we do not necessarily associate their first name with the name, Elizabeth, for their names are Isabel, Isabelle or Isabella, the Romance language version of the name.
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Petrus Christus, Isabella of Portugal with Saint Elizabeth
Flemish, c. 1457-1460
Bruges, Groeninge Museum |
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Isabella of Austria with Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
Flemish, c. 1520
Private Collection |
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Peter Paul Rubens, Vision of San Ildefonso (central panel), Archduke Albert IV with Saint Albert of Louvain and Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia with Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
The Saint Ildefonso Altar
Flemish, c. 1630-1632
Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum |
© M. Duffy, 2020
1. In addition, just
across the street from my new residence was a Byzantine Rite Catholic church
also primarily attended by people from Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and
Ukraine. While the church of Saint
Elizabeth on Wadsworth Avenue in Fort George is still going strong, with a
congregation now composed largely of immigrants from the Dominican Republic,
both Saint Stephen and Saint Elizabeth on the Upper East side have been
closed. These two churches have been
incorporated into the nearby parish of Saint Monica, which is now known as
Saint Monica-Saint Stephen of Hungary-Saint Elizabeth of Hungary (quite a
mouthful). This represents the
demographic shifts of the last 50-60 years in Manhattan and is equally true for
Protestant congregations in the area that have the same ethnic composition,
Slovak and German Lutherans and Hungarian Reformed. The Byzantine Rite church of the Exaltation
of the Holy Cross is still hanging on, although now administered from East 15th
Street by the church of Saint Mary, the only other Byzantine Rite church left
in Manhattan. (Source: Parish websites and personal experience.)
2. There is an
alternate possible birth location as well.
This is the castle of the town of Sárospatak in Hungary. Initially,
I thought that the two towns might be close enough to explain the
confusion. However, they lie at opposite
ends of Hungary. In any event, she was
born in 1207.
3. The marriages of
Philip Augustus are a bit messy. He was
initially married to Isabella of Hainaut. On her death he married Ingeborg of Denmark
(she of the famous Ingeborg Psalter)
but, like Henry VIII with Anne of Cleves, when they finally met, he was physically
repulsed by her. A three-way battle
ensued between Philip, who sought an annulment; Ingeborg and her family, who
fought the annulment; and Pope Innocent III, who sided with Ingeborg. During the annulment battle, Philip planned
to marry the daughter of the Count of Geneva, but she was kidnapped by another
suitor and hurriedly married. Finally,
Philip succeeded in marrying Saint Elizabeth’s aunt, Agnes, and they had two
children, but the marriage was eventually declared null and void by the Pope
and, under threat of an interdict, Philip was forced to take Ingeborg
back. Obviously, royal marriages didn’t
always work out as intended! On his
death Philip was succeeded by his son from his first marriage, Louis VIII, and
is, therefore, the grandfather of Louis IX, Saint Louis, another royal saint.
4. Rainer Koessling,
ed. and trans., Leben und Legende der
heiligen Elisabeth nach Dietrich von Apolda, Frankfurt am Main, Insel
Verlag, 1997, p. 52. (Cited in Elizabeth of Hungary, Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_of_Hungary)
retrieved 11/14/2020. For his part,
Ludwig IV though never officially canonized, has been thought of in Germany as
a saint himself. He is sometimes called
Saint Ludwig or Saint Louis or Ludwig the Pious in honor of his own personal
piety and as the consort of an official saint.
5. See also Bihl,
Michael. "St. Elizabeth of Hungary." The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, New York, Robert Appleton
Company, 1909. (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05389a.htm). As well as
6. Gardner, Julian. “Painters, Inquisitors and Novices”, Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz, Volume 60, Number 2 (2018), p. 233, has described this altarpiece in detail:
"The
ranks of saints on either side of the central Coronation strike other chords.
All the Franciscan saints canonized within the first century of the order’s foundation
are present. Francis not only appears in the main register but also for a
second time to the right of the central Man of Sorrows in the predella: there, his pose reflects a doctrine
especially dear to the order – its founder as alter Christus. In the main order is depicted also Louis of
Toulouse, the young Angevin saint canonized in 1317, who was thus a contemporary
of Giotto and of many of the Santa Croce friars…. Louis is shown as bishop of
Toulouse, his cope spangled with gold fleurs-de-lys. Clare appears near Francis…. Anthony of Padua
accompanies Louis of Toulouse, while Elizabeth of Hungary, clad very fashionably
in crown and wimple, stands to the left of Clare. These ‘modern’ Franciscan saints appear
alongside the prophets, apostles, martyrs, and other orders’ saints."
7. "The Charterhouse of Bruges: Jan Van Eyck,
Petrus Christus, and Jan Vos", September
18, 2018, through January 13, 2019. Press
Release #332, dated August 16, 2018.
Also consulted:
Rupert
Maas. “The life of Charles Allstem
Collins (1828-73): And his painting "The Devout Childhood of St Elizabeth
of Hungary", The British Art
Journal, Spring 2015, Vol. 15, No. 3 (Spring 2015), pp. 38-60.
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