Catholic World, Vol. 24, October, 1876, to March, 1877: A Monthly Magazine of General Literature and Science — John Shaqi
Catholic World, Vol. 24, October, 1876, to March, 1877: A Monthly Magazine of General Literature and ScienceVarious
Religion
Catholic World, Vol. 24, October, 1876, to March, 1877: A Monthly Magazine of General Literature and Science
Various
Catholic Church -- Periodicals
Then there is St. Felix, in his brown Franciscan dress, holding the
beautiful child Jesus in his arms. When we first saw it, the afternoon
sun, streaming through the windows, threw fresh radiance over the
heavenly Madonna, who comes lightly, so lightly! down through the
luminous ether, borne by God’s angels, slightly bending forward to the
saint, as if with special predilection. A wallet of bread is at his
feet, in reference to the legend that St. Felix went out one stormy
night to beg for the poor brethren of his convent, and met a child
radiant with goodness and beauty, who gave him a loaf and then
disappeared. This picture is the perfection of what is called
Murillo’s _vaporous_ style. The Spanish say it was painted _con leche
y sangre_――with milk and blood.
The _Servietta_, so famous, is greatly injured. It is said to have
been dashed off on a napkin, while waiting for his dinner, and given
to the porter of the convent. If so, the friars’ napkins were of very
coarse canvas, as may be seen where the paint has scaled off. The
Virgin, a half-length, has large, Oriental eyes, full of intensity and
earnestness.
Opposite is St. Thomas of Villanueva, giving alms to the poor, with a
look of compassionate feeling on his pale, emaciated face, the light
coming through the archway above him with fine effect. The beggars
around him stand out as if in relief. One is crawling up to the saint
on his knees, the upper part of his body naked and brown from
exposure. A child in the corner is showing his coin to his mother with
glee. Murillo used to call this _his_ picture, as if he preferred it
to his other works.
St. Thomas was Archbishop of Valencia in the sixteenth century, and a
patron of letters and the arts, but specially noted for his excessive
charity, for which he is surnamed the Almsgiver. His ever-open purse
was popularly believed to have been replenished by the angels. When he
died, more than eight thousand poor people followed him to the grave,
filling the air with their sighs and groans. Pope Paul V. canonized
him, and ordered that he should be represented with a purse instead of
a crosier.
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