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I forwarded this appeal to the Medart list because I felt sure there'd be help from there! Here's the first response. Pippin Michelli, Ph.D Assistant Professor of Art History, St Olaf College http://www.stolaf.edu/people/michelli/index4.html -----Original Message----- From: Amelia Carr <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> Date: Wednesday, August 18, 1999 12:19 PM Subject: Re: Apostle with Glasses >Both Matthew and Paul are depicted with swords. >Matthew's sword is presumably a symbol of his decapitation. > >Paul is considered an apostle in most reckonings, especially medieval. The >sword recalls his martyrdom, and appears as Paul's primary attribute from >the 13th century onward. Perhaps in Paul's case, it also evokes the fiery >Word of God, as in Hebrews 4:12. In Durer's famous painting of the Four >Apostles, Paul holds the sword, and the examples could be readily multiplied. > >Glasses appear in northern art as an attribute of the studious. See, for >example, the sculpture of Jeremiah in Claus Sluter's Moses Well, or the >Canon van der Paele in the portrait by Jan van Eyck. In Sebastian Brant's >Ship of Fools, the foolish lover of books is shown as a bespectacled >scholar in his library. I wouldn't think that wearing glasses became an >attribute of any specific apostle, but would certainly indicate the >scholarly, authorial status of either Matthew or Paul. > >I don't have any memory of what the Master Riofrio panel looks like, but >looking at it again might help you in your identification of the figure. >Does the image below correspond to something above, as with many predella >narratives? Can you eliminate either Paul or Matthew as the subject here >because one of them appears elsewhere in the altarpiece? Does the subject >matter or patronage imply one over the other? Not knowing any of this, I >would tentatively identify the figure as Paul, but would hope for >confirmation by another method. > >Hope this helps, >Amelia Carr >Allegheny College >[log in to unmask] > > >At 11:38 AM 8/18/99 -0500, you wrote: > >>Recently I was in Paris, and had the opportunity to visit the Musee de >>Cluny. While I was there, I saw a large painting on wood done by the >>Master of Riofrio. I don't recall much of the rest of the painting, >>because I was so excited by one of the depictions on the bottom panel. >> >>The long bottom panel was of the twelve apostles, and one of the apostles >>was reading a book held in one hand, holding a sword on the other that >>rested on his shoulder, and was wearing glasses. He wore a reddish-brown >>overrobe, with black sleeves and white cuffs underneath. He was close to >>the end on the right hand side. >> >>I have been unable to discover which apostle this is supposed to be. I >>love the picture: to me it says 'bother me while I'm reading, and I'll hit >>you with this very big sword' (which I am sure was not the Master's >>intention). I also saw a similar depiction of this apostle in this mode >>while I was in Europe, but can't recall if it was at the Louvre, or in >>Barcelona. I have found some tantalizing references about the symbolic >>use of glasses in later medieval art, but would appreciate the help of this >>list. > >-------------------------- >Reply to messages by using the REPLY command or to >[log in to unmask] PLEASE DO NOT RESEND the message you are >responding to.To change your CURRENT address contact the Listowner >Harriet Sonne at [log in to unmask] For other >commands send see the MEDART-L WEB page: >http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~hsonne/MedartL >-------------------------- > %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%