>>Patrick J. Nugent wrote:
But little of that art would have been understood
>without preaching, or catechesis, or whatever you'd like to call it, to
>explain what was going on and what was meant.
>
>
And, nature abhorring a vacuum, that may be the wellspring of these very
saintly advocacies (as well as some of their legends' odder tributaries).
It seems likely that the illiterate congregants would receive certain of
their knowledge about the saints directly from the priests at sermon; much
else they would infer from the art on their own, or in overhearing others
talking thereof before a given altarpiece, statue, window, etc.
Are we to presume that the priests and nobility commissioning liturgical art
were unaware that it was to be seen (and interpreted) by the Great Unwashed?
Or did they harbor some (genuine? naive?) hope that the art would illuminate
and edify the masses?
I (perhaps incorrectly) have always imagined Dr. Crockers' 98% of the
population attending mass in the great cathedrals, spellbound by the pomp
and circumstance, taking in the odd word here and there, and then, before
exiting, gathering before this side altar or that, drinking in the rich
details of the sculptural groups or the Neighborhood Memling or Van Der
Weyden. Via a mix of individual meditative interpretation on the artworks,
and the sharing of ideas/interpretations by other congregants, stories and
efficacies deviate from the strictly accepted.
In this circumstance, ideas about which saint did what; or what this or that
saint might be particularly "effective" at, etcetera, become almost
folkloric - yet powerful. And, therefore, "true."
Someone on this List mentioned St Lucy the other day; her advocacy for those
with ocular problems seems quite as likely to have arisen because one of the
Great 98(%) remembered having seen her portrayed holding two eyeballs in a
dainty tray, and suggested to her/his neighbor (suffering from double
vision, cataracts or some such) that Lucy might lend a sympathetic ear.
jmichael
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