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| Who is this saint? What is the angel bringing him? |
At some level, and I think it's at the most important level, all I really want is to do God's Will. Of course on the surface, there are all sorts of other things I want, some of which are good and others of which are only selfish, but I still (gritting my teeth sometimes) say, "Do with me as You will."
Lately, I've been praying about something that I really don't want to happen. I want it not to happen in a big way. So, as I always do when I'm in situations like this, I have been thinking about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as You will."
I have never realized before, however, what a great mercy this prayer of Our Lord's is for us, because it lets us know for sure that we can pray for the cup to pass without worrying about whether or not we are somehow or other rejecting God's Will for us. We know we can do it because He did it first. How gracious He was to leave us this example.
I came across this icon when I was looking for a picture of the Agony in the Garden. I chose it because of the lower register. I'm not sure what it's about, but it seems to be saying somehow that the agony of Jesus yields blessings for those who are suffering. If anyone knows who the saint is, I would love to hear.
AMDG
The painting is by Masaccio -- or, according to this source, has been at least attributed to him. The same source identifies the figure as St. Jerome. (Search for "agony".)
ReplyDeleteSt Jerome as a penitent in the desert - telling his beads and beating his breast with a stone. Odd that the angel has neither whip nor trumpet, and no lion is visible (at least to me).
ReplyDelete"I remember how I often cried aloud all night till the break of day and ceased not from beating my breast till tranquillity returned at the chiding of the Lord. I used to dread my very cell as though it knew my thoughts; and, stern and angry with myself, I used to make my way alone into the desert. Wherever I saw hollow valleys, craggy mountains, steep cliffs, there I made my oratory, there the house of correction for my unhappy flesh. There, also — the Lord Himself is my witness — when I had shed copious tears and had strained my eyes towards heaven, I sometimes felt myself among angelic hosts" (St Jerome, Letter 22, 7)
ReplyDeleteI think the artist has taken "there I made my oratory" in rather too material a sense.
Thanks, Paul. After Craig said it was St. Jerome (which seemed so unlikely with no lion, skull, or red hat), I thought I might find something under "Vision of St. Jerome," and I found several pictures by that name with different visions. I hadn't had time to look any further.
ReplyDeleteAMDG
Looking again, I wonder whether the red smudge by his knees might not be a cardinal's hat.
ReplyDeleteMight be.
ReplyDeleteAMDG
Yes. If you go here and enlarge it, you can definitely see that it is a cardinal's hat. At first, it looked to diamond-shaped to me, but once I readjusted the way I was looking at it, it was perfectly clear.
ReplyDeleteAMDG