St. Martha.
Ital. Santa Marta, Vergine, Albergatrice di Cristo. Fr. Sainte Marthe, la Travailleuse. Patroness of cooks and housewives. (June 29, A.D. 84.)
Martha has shared in the veneration paid to her sister. The important part assigned to her in the history of Mary has already been adverted to; she is always represented as the instrument through whom Mary was converted, the one who led her first to the feet of the Saviour. ‘Which thing,’ says the story, should not be accounted as the least of her merits, seeing that Martha was a chaste and prudent virgin, and the other publicly contemned for her evil life; notwithstanding which, Martha did not despise her, nor reject her as a sister, but wept for her shame and admonished her gently and with persuasive words; and reminded her of her noble birth, to which she was a disgrace, and that Lazarus, their brother, being a soldier, would certainly get into trouble on her account. So she prevailed, and conducted her sister to the presence of Christ, and afterwards, as it is well known, she lodged and entertained the Saviour in her own house.‘[316]
According to the Provençal legend, while Mary Magdalene converted the people of Marseilles, Martha preached to the people of Aix and its vicinity. In those days the country was ravaged by a fearful dragon, called the Tarasque, which during the day lay concealed in the river Rhone. Martha overcame this monster by sprinkling him with holy water, and having bound him with her girdle (or, as others say, her garter), the people speedily put an end to him. The scene of this legend is now the city of Tarascon, where there is, or was, a magnificent church, dedicated to St. Martha, and richly endowed by Louis XI.
The same legends assure us that St. Martha was the first who founded a monastery for women; the first, after the blessed Mother of Christ, who vowed her virginity to God; and that when she had passed many years in prayer and good works, feeling that her end was near, she desired to be carried to a spot where she could see the glorious sun in heaven, and that they should read to her the history of the passion of Christ; and when they came to the words, ‘Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,’ she died.
As Mary Magdalene is the patroness of repentant frailty, so Martha is the especial patroness of female discretion and good housekeeping. In this character, she is often represented with a skimmer or ladle in her hand, or a large bunch of keys is attached to her girdle. For example, in a beautiful old German altar-piece attributed to Albert Dürer,[317] she is standing in a magnificent dress, a jewelled turban, and holding a well-known implement of cookery in her hand. In a missal of Henry VIII.,[318] she is represented with the same utensil, and her name is inscribed beneath. In general, however, her dress is not rich but homely, and her usual attributes as patron saint are the pot of holy water, the asperge in her hand, and a dragon bound at her feet. In the chapels dedicated to the Magdalene, she finds her appropriate place as pendant to her sister, generally distinguished by her close coif and by being draped in blue or dark brown or grey; while the Magdalene is usually habited in red. When attended by her dragon, St. Martha is sometimes confounded with St. Margaret, who is also accompanied by a dragon: but it must be remembered that St. Margaret bears a crucifix or palm, and St. Martha the pot of holy water; and in general the early painters have been careful to distinguish these attributes.
St. Martha, besides being a model of female discretion, sobriety, and chastity, and the patroness of good housewives, was, according to the old legends, the same woman who was healed by Christ, and who in gratitude erected to his honour a bronze statue, which statue is said to have existed in the time of Eusebius, and to have been thrown down by Julian the Apostate.[319]
When Martha and Mary stand together as patronesses, one represents the active, the other the contemplative, Christian life.
Martha is generally introduced among the holy women who attend the crucifixion and entombment of our Lord. In a most beautiful Entombment by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Martha kisses the hand of the Saviour, while Mary Magdalene is seen behind with outspread arms: Lazarus and Maximin stand at the head of the Saviour.
Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, is revered as the first bishop and patron saint of Marseilles, and is generally represented with the mitre and stole. There are at least fifty saints who wear the same attire; but when a figure in episcopal robes is introduced into the same picture, or the same series, with Martha and Mary, it may be presumed, if not otherwise distinguished, to be St. Lazarus: sometimes, but rarely, the introduction of a bier, or his resurrection, in the background, serves to fix the identity. Grouped with these three saints, we occasionally find St. Marcella (or Martilla), who accompanied them from the East, but who is not distinguished by any attribute; nor is anything particular related of her, except that she wrote the life of Martha, and preached the Gospel in Sclavonia.
There are beautiful full-length figures of Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and Marcella, in the Brera at Milan, painted by one of the Luini school, and treated in a very classical and noble style; draped, and standing in niches to represent statues. At Munich are the separate figures of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, by Grünewald: Lazarus is seen standing by his bier; Mary, in the rich costume of a German lady of rank, presents her vase; and Martha is habited like a German hausfrau, with her dragon at her feet. They are much larger than life, admirably painted, and full of character, though somewhat grotesque in treatment.
Over the altar of the church ‘La Major’ at Marseilles, stands Lazarus as bishop; Mary on the right, and Martha on the left: underneath these three statues runs a series of bas-reliefs containing the history of Lazarus. 1. He is recalled to life. 2. Seated on the edge of his tomb, he addresses the spectators. 3. He entertains Christ. 4. The arrival at Marseilles. 5. He preaches to the people. 6. He is consecrated bishop. 7. He suffers martyrdom.
In a tabernacle or triptica by Nicolò Frumenti (A.D. 1461),[320] the central compartment represents the raising of Lazarus, who has the truest and most horrid expression of death and dawning life I ever beheld. On the volet to the right is the supper in the house of Levi, and the Magdalene anointing the feet of the Saviour; on the left volet, Martha meets him on his arrival at Bethany: ‘Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.’
In the chapel of Mary Magdalene at Assisi, we find, besides the history of her life, full-length figures of Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and Maximin. Mary, a beautiful dignified figure, as usual in rich red drapery, stands to the right of the altar, holding out her hand to a kneeling Franciscan: on the left Martha stands in grey drapery with a close hood: Lazarus and Maximin as bishops.
This will give an idea of the manner in which these personages are either grouped together or placed in connection with each other.