> The eagle association with visionaries was suggested to me by John's
> attribute. Please give me the Beckett reference. I am intrigued.
> tom izbicki
This is a rare iconographic motif, at least, to my knowledge. It
appears in Venetian S. Zaccaria, capella di S. Tarasio, on
the predella panels: St. Thomas is kneeling before the enthroned
king, the eagle is above their heads. G. Kaftal treats this eagle as
an attribute of Thomas (Iconography of the Saints in the Painting of
North East Italy (Florence: Sansoni, 1978), fig. 1272), although
from the position of the bird it is not enough clear whether the
eagle is hovering above the saint or it belongs to the king's
accessoires. I would suspect that the eagle - as a king of birds -
in this situation reveals the true majesty of the saint in spite of
his humiliate position in the earthly hierarchy.
Beside Kaftal, you might also want to check
Pallucchini: p. 214, figs. 587-91. - Bisogni: "Arte Illustrata" VI,
No 53, maggio 1973, pp. 150, 151, footnote 10. This is a first
publication of this image.
T. Borenius, The Iconography of St. Thomas of Canterbury:
Archaeologia 79 (1929);
Louis Reau, Iconographie de l'art chretien, III/3 (Paris: Presses
Universitaires de France, 1959), 1272 - 7.
Best,
Elena Lemeneva
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Central European University
Medieval Studies Department
Nador utca 9, 1051 Budapest
HUNGARY
Pannonia utca, 49/B, IV/3
1133 Budapest Hungary
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