Was the unususal painting
"Trpitel na mezi dvema andeli"
(Man of Sorrow Between two Angels)
influenced by the "Moderate Theology" of the Hussite bishop Jan z
Rokycan ?
This painting is currently part of exhibit in
Anezsky Klaster (St. Agnes's convent) in Prague
http://www.geocities.com/air0drom/aneg.html
According to a Czech art historian of my acquaintance,
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the prevailing style at that time and place was
International Gothic style...
" With Stefano da Zevio and Pisanello the International
Gothic reached its
most ornate and flamboyant. In Bohemia the style is
apparent in the Trebon Altarpiece (NG, Prague, c. 1390;
see
bohemian school). It spread to the Rhineland towns in the
early 15th century"
...
"The two leading art centers of the period were Paris and Prague,
and from there
this style spread to other parts of Europe.
Artists (Master Bondol in Paris, Theoderic in Prague and Bertram in
Hamburg)
endeavoured to convey a feeling of mass and space. They gave a more
accurate
and less biased image of reality, their figures becoming heavier,
stockier and more individual, the forms being characterized by a soft
modelling without contours, so that their pictures were
accented with dramatic emphasis"
http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/tours/gothic/characte.html
An early member of the school was architect Peter Parler
http://gallery.euroweb.hu/html/p/parler/selfport.html
famous as the designer of the St. Vitus Cathedral within the Prague
Castle complex.
http://www.sweb.cz/praguetour/katedr.jpg
taken from this site:
http://www.sweb.cz/praguetour/
Parler is also known for the Charles Bridge Tower
http://www.andel3w.dk/prague/english/pragt07.htm
Parler was associated with Tynska Skola
(the Latin shool associated with the 'Marie before Tyn' church
in Prague's Old Town Square)
where also Master Walter (died 1354) lectured at the School of Art
(translated from)
http://www.tynska.cuni.cz/cesky/historie.html)
The influence of the Hussites on the visual art of the period,
according to my art historian consultant, was purely destructive.
Seeking return to the 'teaching of the bible' they did not care for
'graven images'. They looted and burned the churches and
monasteries,
and they did not develop their own "school" of painting.
In spite of the many art treasures destroyed
during the religious wars of the 15th century, however, Bohemia still
has a large
number of paintings in this International Gothic style.
Many examples are paintings of the infant Jesus in arms of "beautiful
madonnas"
(in czech: malby Jeziska v naruci "krasnych madon" jako skutecneho
ditete. ...)
can be found in churches and galleries in Bohemia...
www.ricany.cz/org/farnost/cz/ceska/litur/vanoce/rodina.htm
-----------------------------------------------------/
However, the short answer abover does not convey the ferment of the
time, nor
explains the museum's carefully worded caption at the exhibit: "It is
not
ruled out" that it was donated to Our Lady Before Tyn Church
where the "moderate" Hussite bishop Jan z Roycan preached.
Hussites had profound influence on life in the Czech lands,
and some of the ideas they brought forward persisted and flourished.
At the
very least, the upheavals and the fervor of the movement shook the
established order and may have enabled painters to adopt new models
and symbols.
A look at the history is necessary to understand
what is meant by the "moderate" branch
of the Hussite movement and the significance to the Hussites
of the Chalice, which is shown in this painting.
On some Husite church towers, the chalice replaces the simple
cross of Roman Catholics or the double cross of the Eastern Orthodox
church.
According to the legend of the Holy Grail the chalice
capturing the blood of Christ is the same cup
which Christ used during the Last Supper
http://www.grailchurch.org/pentecost2002.htm
and
gallery.euroweb.hu/ html/j/juanes/
he Biblical quote on the frame of the painting in question is from
bible.
According to John 6:30. Christ said:
"I am the bread of life; whoever comes
to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never
thirst."
"For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who
eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him" (John
6:53-56)
http://www.catholic.com/library/Christ_in_the_Eucharist.asp
In some paintings the angels hold the chalice,
believed to be the same cup the Christ used during the Last Supper,
to catch the blood of Christ at the Crucifixion.
In this painting, the angels look on, as Christ
Himself holds the cup.
This could be the 'Cup of Suffering" ---
drinking the dregs of the wrath of God upon mankind's sin.
Study these verses.
a . Jh 1:29
b. II Cor. 5:21 ..
http://www.watke.org/resources/The%20CupofSuffering.html
Christ is not on the cross, but levitating between the two angels,
in vision of the future, vision of ascension
Cgrist expression may pointed to this 'other cup' -
But there is also another cup on the table, a cup that is very near
the Master's hand, a cup which we very frequently forget or ignore. It
is a bitter cup,
the cup of the Lord's sufferings. "Are ye able to drink of the cup
that I drink of?
http://www.ccel.org/j/jowett/calvary/calv04.htm
In this interpretation, .. Christ goes through what is known as the
agony of
the Garden of Gethsemane when He says, "Father, if it is Your will,
remove this cup from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be
done."16 It
signifies the surrender of the human to the divine. The
Transfiguration integrates God and Man. They will no longer exist as
separate. It is at
this initiation that you the disciple become more than merely
human..."
http://www.churchoftruth.org/articles/FiveInitiations.html
".So then, what was the cup? We've seen that the cup was
neither physical pain or mental distress, but rather it was the
spiritual agony of first bearing the sins of the
world and secondly enduring the judgement of those sins.
We find in the Old Testament that the Lord's "cup" was a symbol of
wrath.a."
http://users.bigpond.net.au/joeflorence/remsuffdeath.html
The Cup capturing the blood of Christ can be also the cup present at
the
Last supper.
In the legend of the Holy Grail, it is also believed that Moldavite
was the green stone in the Holy Grail.
Moldavites http://camelot.celtic-twilight.com/infopedia/g/grail_gems.htm
and
http://www.taiwanfm.com.tw/mineral/moldainfor.htm
Moldavites are only found near Prague, named after the river Vltava
(older Celtic
name meaning 'Wild Water') translated to German and English as
Moldau).
That, of course, is a coincidence.
But the symbolism of the Chalice in the Czech lands is
profound:
Why did the Husite/ Ultraquist belief develop in this particular part
of Europe?
Christian influence came to Czech Lands from the both sides, East and
West.
http://archiv.radio.cz/history/index.html
The split of the original church into Orthodox and Catholic happened
in 1054 AD. Both splinters trace their bishops back to the apostles.
http://www.orthodoxcatholicchurch.org/about.html
To this day, in spite of some efforts, that split is not healed:
http://www.syrianorthodoxchurch.org/news/
"..in the Orthodox Church both laity and clergy always receive
Communion of
both the Body and Blood of Christ."
http://www.orthodoxworld.ru/english/tainstva/4/
In the medivial Catholic church, only priests drank the wine.
Some believe the miracle of transubstantiation does not happen unless
both substances are present. Some do not believe it ever happens.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05584a.htm
http://www.catholic.net/rcc/Periodicals/Homiletic/Jan98/transubstantiation.html
In the Husite movement, it became a central belief that the laity
should participate fully in the Eucharist by partaking of both bread
and wine,
referred to as Communion "in both kinds."
The St. Martin in the Wall Church hosted the first Ultraquist mass
(in both kinds)in 1414
http://www.martinvezdi.cz/
The initiative for this was based on the research of Jakoubek ze
Stribra
AFTER Hus was jailed.
Jan Hus himself had not advocated this or served Communion this way,
but he
he approved the practice, common in the Eastern Orthodox Church,
from the dungeon where he was jailed before he was burned at the
stake.
http://www.libri.cz/databaze/dejiny/text/t21.html
All branches of the Hussite movement adopted the practice and were
sometime
called Chalicists (Kalisnici, in Czech).
Both streams, Radicals and Moderates, had new ideas, both were
seeking a
return to the original teachings of Christ,
and both wanted to allow people to choose which church (Catholic or
Hussite)
to attend. During this time Catholic and Hussite Churches
coexisted in the same cities, being alternately tolerated and
condemned by the
pope, as the fortunes of wars and course of negotiations was changing.
The main difference between the two main Hussite streams,
the so-called Moderates (also called Calixtines or Ultraquists or
Prague Party)
and the Radicals (The Taborites) was as follows:
The radicals sought to translate their theories
into reality; they preached the sufcientia legis Christi-- only the
divine law (i.e., the Bible) is the rule and canon for man,
not only in ecclesiastical matters, but also in political and civil
matters.
They rejected therefore, as early as 1416, everything that had no
basis
in the Bible, such as the adoration of saints, images,...
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussite
The radicals, Taborites built the city of Tabor, south of Prague
http://www.tabor.cz/1ja/1historie/70.htm
named after the biblical mountain
http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/san/TAB10old.html
In 1420 Mikuláı z Pelhĝimova was ELECTED bishop in Tabor and a
radical
program was declared in 12 articles.
The Moderates wanted to reconcile with the Catholic church and
wanted the Pope to accept and ordain their bishop, Jan of Rokycany.
They issued porgrams, tractats and reached numerous compromises,
such as Compactata, accepted by pope at one time.
Their program, expressed in The Four Articles of Prague, asked for:
(1) Freedom in preaching;
(2) Communion in both kinds;
(3) Reduction of the clergy to apostolic poverty;
(4) Severe punishment of all open sins.
The views of the moderate Hussites were represented at the university
and
among the citizens of Prague; therefore they were called the Prague
party.
They were also called Calixtines or Utraquists, because they
emphasized
the second article of the four, and the chalice became their emblem.
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussite
NOTE: Much later, influenced by the Hussites, the Chalice was accepted
as symbol of
several other religions, e.g. Unitatrians.
http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=lang_cs&ie=UTF-8&inlang=pl&safe=off&q=church+chalice&spell=1
The church Chram Matky Bozi pred Tynem (Church of Our Lady before Tyn)
was the main Ultraquist Church in Prague at that time.
http://www.motylek.com/es/place.asp?cat=3&subcat=3&id=7
This is the church where the painting in question is thought to have
been hung.
From 1435 when they elected Rokycana as their bishop until 1451, the
Moderates
negotiated with Rome to have him ordained as archbishop, so as to be
part of
the apostolic succession and thus legitimize their movement within the
Catholic
church. When they lost hope for this in 1451, the Moderates
established
contacts with the Orthodox Church to have Bishop Jan of Rokycany
ordained.
The fall of Constatinopole to the Muslims prevented this option.
Thus the intolerance of Rome, combined with this accident of
history,
forced on them the protestant practice in which churches elect their
leaders.
http://www.libri.cz/databaze/dejiny/text/t27.html
In 1457 Rokycana died and M. Václav Koranda Jr. was elected bishop.
At this point, the Utraquists had retained hardly anything of the
doctrines of Hus except
communion in both kinds. In 1462 Pope Pius II. declared the Compactata
null and
void, prohibited communion in both kinds, and acknowledged George
Podebrad as king under the condition that he would promise
an unconditional harmony with the Roman Church.
The same year Rokycana died, "brother Rehor" founded a new church,
today called the Moravian Church, based on Hussitism, fundamentalist
teachings of Chelcisky, influenced by the Waldesians or Picards.
It rejected all violence, including that of the of the Taborites, and
it no longer hoped for, or cared to reach, acceptance by Rome.
http://www.enter.net/~smschlack/
They chose their archbishops independently of Rome.
http://www.moravian.org/history/
http://www.historicist.com/history/preref.htm
Thus the Apostolic Succession
http://www.catholic.com/library/Apostolic_Succession.asp
was broken in this branch of the Hussite movement, and
perhaps at that moment the first protestant church was born.
The name "Protestant" however came later, in 1529, when "adherents of
the new Evangel"
protested toleration of Catholics in some German Lands
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12495a.htm
While the German lands still allowed both Catholics and Lutherans to
worship in
way determined by their feudal masters, all religious
freedom in Bohemia was supressed.
Protestants, including Ultraquists and the Moravian
and Czech Brethren, had to convert back to Catholicism or emigrate.
http://www.whatsaiththescripture.com/Voice/History.Protestant.v1.b3.html#CHAPTER
19
Some Hussites left for Poland, some converted, found refuge in
Germany and later sailed to
the New World.
In Prague, Baroque became the style of architecture, and visual
arts continued
their interrupted development, as described by the Catholic art
historian above.
It was not until 1781, that some religious tolerance was
re-established in the Czech Lands.
http://www.bartleby.com/65/jo/Joseph2.html
In conclusion, then
considering this historical millieu, we suspect
that this painting is work of the unknown artist, who has both
Catholic affinity to the visual arts and a Hussite preference for
the
ultraquist liturgy, artist who wanted to represent both elements of
the Eucharist,
body and blood, in the same painting.
Accccording to this conclusion Hussite Theology did influence the
composition of this masterpiece, made at a unique branching
point in the history of Christanity, when for a short time,
the Catholic and Protestant churches coexisted in one city, ruled by
same king.
With the final victory of counter-reformation and of the Hapsburgs
this special conditions in Prague disappeared. That may explain the
uniqness
of this painting.
Search Strategy:
A large part of the search was conducted off
line:
a search of art history books, querying
experts,a
visit to the museum.
Some materials came from websites in the
Czech language,
such as
http://www.libri.cz/databaze/dejiny/
which provides a nearly month by month record
of the era.
Other terms were:
Ultraquists, Tabor*, Chalice*, Eucharist,
Hus*,
Itnernational Gothic, Giotto, Rokycan*,
Zizka,
and other terms used in the text. |
