Title: Crozier Head, Saint Michael Trampling the Serpent
Culture: early Christian
Date: 2nd quarter in 13th century
Provenience: Limoges, France
Material: copper-gilt and champlevẻ enamel
Measurements: 10 ¾ x 2 7/8 x 5 ½ in. As a symbol of jurisdiction and authority of high ranking catholic prelates, the crozier or known as pastoral staff at times is inspired by the shepherd’s crook. It can be used as a walking stick for support in journeys and in churches before the introduction of seats.
In this crozier head, Saint Michael known as an emblem of church militant and an archangel (high-ranking angel) is battling the serpent which is the demon or satan. This figure indicate the two very opposing force between the good and evil, and
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A pastoral staff with crook head shape on the top was starting to emerge. This kind of pastoral staff was called a crozier. This luxurious material made type of pastoral staff was used until nowadays. Most of this kind of pastoral staff often carved with biblical character and always show two opposing force when they were fighting to each other.
Saint Michael battling the demon serpent was the most popular decoration to be carved on the crozier because it was the perfect representation of good and evil. It may be true that “In art, he is most frequently shown with a sword, either battling with or standing in triumph over a dragon or the prostrate Satan” (Jones 178). Saint Michael is one of three archangels (the other two are Gabriel and Raphael) that was mentioned in the Holy Bible. He was known as the general of heaven, protector of chosen people in earth. In early Catholic church, people considered him as the defender of Christianity. He was also charged with the guidance of souls here below, to protect them from devil’s snares and to lead them to the eternal light (Englebert, 369).
Saint Michael is a famous character among all Christian figures. He often gave vision to people and give solution to every problem. An appearance of him once occurred among the monks in French, who built a monastery under his name, Mont-Saint-Michael. He also appeared in the cave of mount gargano, southern Italy on may 8th 492 and until now that
In Christianity, the Devil is represented as the founder of an empire “on fire”, an empire that struggles against and counteracts the kingdom of God. The Devil is described as an entity who is filled with evil power, but not enough power to overcome Christ if they were to duel. Though the Devil is not as powerful as Christ, he’s unfettered, given the designation of being the ultimate source of evil power. Since the inception of Christianity, portrayals of the Devil have been fundamental in instilling fear within the Christian population. The Devil’s abilities and appearance has become feared by approximately 31.5% of the world’s population. As historians have had access to the past that they haven’t had before, it’s been discovered that the iconography of the Devil isn’t necessarily original, but rather, inspired from religions with an age older than Christianity. While there’s an infinite amount of possible sources available to attribute the iconography of the Christian Devil to, the Greek god Pan provides source materials that show imagery and behavior similarities to the Christian Devil. By analyzing texts by ancient authors such as Hesiod and Ovid, as well as paintings and sculptures spanning multiple centuries, I will argue that the Greek god Pan’s iconography and behavior was used as inspiration for the Christian Devil.
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incarnation of the devil, or more likely, what the devil represents (Rauer 33). The first dragon from The
Hildegard influenced the Church in many ways. She spread the word of God and preached what God had wanted her too. She is someone who can be looked up upon, and known for her amazing work as a songwriter, book writer, and preacher. The visions she had received from God were truly a miracle, and the fact that she shared her life with all of us made it even more heroic. She stood proud and tall for her faith, and did not care who did not believe her. St. Hildegard converted many people into the Christian faith by announcing the love that God has for each of his children, and he says that each of us is a “living spark”. People come into his kingdom to feel warm and welcome with others arms spread wide. Her life began hard, being sickly as a baby, losing her mother and father, but somewhere in the middle God found her. Little did she know she was given a special gift from above. She not only had the visions but was brave enough to tell the world about them. She deserved to be announced a Saint, and the church will be influenced by her story
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The tympanum shows Romanesque style and is divided into three horizontal sections. Starting from the top section there are carved angels with trumpets. They all have halos and appear to be sitting on thrones. In the middle section the figures seem to be taller than the rest. Some of the figures have halos and some don’t, and the rest were formed similar to a monster stature. On the right-side of the sculpture shows serpents wrapped around the demonish figures and have little children behind them. The last section of the statue is full of figures, more so than the other sections. It is a long sequence of people in no particular order; but starting from the left to right we can see the figures posture become more deformed. Lastly, the central figure is four times bigger than the rest and looks like it can be Christ himself sitting on a throne with angels encompassing him and upholding him in the air. The sculpture as a whole shows simplism not humanism, because the figures are not human like.
While at the Art Institute of Chicago, I spent most of my time in “The Elizabeth Hammond Stickney Gallery”. There were three pieces in this gallery: Saint Michael and the Devil, The Birth of Saint John the Baptist, and Saint George Killing the Dragon. Each piece was made in the Renaissance period in Europe in the fifteenth to sixteenth centuries. I believe the main reason these pieces are grouped together is that they all contain a depiction of a saint. Another reason for this arrangement is that all these paintings all represent the survival of holy figures and the death of the evil ones. This is shown in each piece by either a saint killing an evil creature or the birth of a holy saint.
Saint Paul, originally named Saul, was a crucial part in the development of Christianity. Paul, who was born in Tarsus, Cilicia, grew up Jewish and was trained as a rabbi (Adcock). Paul eventually converted to Christianity, but before he did, the future of the religion was looking very slim. Rome had made it illegal to practice Christianity. Paul was a pious Jew, so his conversion to Christianity surprised many of his followers. They viewed him with much suspicion and treated him with hostility. Paul was dedicated to his new life and made it his mission to spread Christianity throughout the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire and eventually to Rome itself. Paul made two separate journeys throughout the Mediterranean. He preached about the message of Jesus to many and sent his letters to the people he had not visited. Paul saw that his new faith had a message for everything and everyone. By converting to Christianity, St. Paul has saved Christianity from extinction, has written crucial letters about his faith, has preached to hundreds of people, has spread Christianity throughout the Roman Empire, has caused
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The character of Satan in this story can also be related to other tragic heroes throughout history.