Saints, Signs, and Symbols

The Symbolic Language of Christian Art

Hilarie Cornwell, James Cornwell

• Publisher: Morehouse Publishing
• Year: 2009
• ISBN:
  9780819227652
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Art General

This thoroughly updated and comprehensive edition enhances the classic work as a guide to symbolism in Christian liturgical art, architecture, manuscripts, stained glass, and more.

This edition is more heavily pictorial in an effort to provide an even stronger resource for artists and researchers, as well as the general browsing public. It addresses the rich history of Christian symbolism, presented for the twenty-first century reader.

This unique resource offers page after page of line drawings depicting sacred monograms, saints, crosses, altars, flowers, fruits and trees, plus symbols of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, the Church Year, the Apostles, the Holy Trinity; and much more. Completely updated and with ecumenical appeal, this useful new reference book expands on its earlier and well-earned reputation for providing clear and reliable information on Christian symbolism.

PART I: The Lord and the Saints

God the Father

God the Son

God the Holy Spirit

The Holy Trinity

The Virgin

The Evangelists

The Saints

God the Father

In the 1938 book Church Symbolism, F.R. Webber and Ralph Adams Cram sum up the central problem surrounding images of God the Father:

For about a thousand years, no attempt was made to portray the First Person of the Holy Trinity in human form. The early Christians believed that the words of Exodus 33, 20, “Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see Me and live,” and St. John 1:18: “No man hath seen God at any time,” were meant to apply not only to the Father Himself, but to all attempts at picturing Him as well.

Despite these potent words, western art eventually required some way to illustrate the presence of the Father, so the following representations developed, with the human form of the Father finally making its appearance in and after the tenth century C.E.

The Hand of God

MODERN STAINED GLASS

VICTORIAN STAINED GLASS

TWELFTH-CENTURY FRENCH MANUSCRIPT

VICTORIAN

VICTORIAN

STAINED GLASS; LEEDS, ENGLAND

God the Father in Human Form

God in the Burning Bush of Moses: the Naples Bible

Rohan Master illuminated manuscript; French, circa 1420

God the Son

STAR
Revelation 22:16b: “I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

AGNUS DEI
Modeled after a fourteenth-century stained glass. Carrying the banner of Victory.

AGNUS DEI
After a tenth-century Italian sculpture.

AGNUS DEI
On the book of seven seals from Revelation 5:1-6.

PELICAN IN ITS PIETY
see Birds section

PELICAN IN ITS PIETY
see Birds section

GOOD SHEPHERD
After the mausoleum of Gella Placidia, in Ravenna, Italy.

GOOD SHEPHERD
After several statues from the third century C.E.

SUN
Arguably from the Hours of the Virgin: “Verily thou art happy o sacred virgin Mary, and most worthy of all praise: Because Christ our God the sun of righteousness is sprung from thee.”

FISH

OTHER FISH
An acronym for “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior” in Greek.

See also Peacock, Pelican, and Hen in BIRDS.

God the Holy Spirit

SEVEN-FOLD FLAME:
The “cloven flame” of Pentecost.

MENORAH:
A seven-branched candelabrum representing the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: spiritual strength, knowledge, true godliness, counsel, understanding, wisdom, and holy fear. (Can also be rendered as seven lamps.)

DOVE:
The oldest and most common rendering of the Holy Spirit is the descending dove, cited in all four Gospels as the herald of the Father's approval of his Son on earth.

The Holy Trinity

This symbol of the Trinity is common in ecclesiastical embroidery. This illustrates that man's salvation is the work of the Son of God, prompted by divine love, and brought to pass by means of the work of the Holy Spirit.

Greek form “I-Am-That-I-Am”

The manifestation of the three as commonly seen in brasses and illuminated manuscripts starting as early as the eleventh century.

FLEUR-DE-LIS.
Also a symbol of the Virgin, where it is seen to represent the lily of purity.

Early Trinitarian symbol of the three fish

THE SHAMROCK.
Familiar legend tells of Saint Patrick being faced with a group of pagans who demanded that he prove how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit can be three persons and one in essence at the same time. Patrick is said to have plucked a shamrock from the turf and proceeded to question the pagans: “Is this one leaf or three? If three, why does it have only one stem? If one, why does it have three lobes?” When they could not answer, he said: “If you cannot explain the simple mystery of the shamrock, how can you hope to understand the profound mystery of the Holy Trinity?”

Triangle within a circle

Circle within a triangle:

THE TREFOIL: three circles joined as one

COAT-OF-ARMS
Sometimes referred to as the Holy Trinity's “coat-of-arms,” this diagram illustrates the relationships between the three Persons of the Trinity and the Lord God: God in the center; the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in each of the three corners, and paths between each Person marked either “IS” or “IS NOT” in Latin, highlighting the mystery of the simultaneous uniqueness, equality, and oneness of each in the wholeness of God.

Inspired by late fifteenth-century illuminated manuscript from Avignon, France. Note God the Father in the pope's miter.

Triangle that reads “Holy, Holy, Holy”.

The Vírgín

CRESCENT MOON:
Refers to Mary, whose glory is borrowed from the Sun of Righteousness as the light of the moon is reflected from the sun. Originally a symbol of the Greek goddess Diana, the fathers of the early church adopted this sign to ease the transition for converted Hellenic Christians.

FLEURS-DE-LIS:
Many authorities believe that the fleur-de-lis is stylized of the Annunciation lily, thus its association with the Virgin Mary.

MADONNA AND CHILD:
typical from the twelfth century to modern times.

MOD...