When the original meaning of the lion, the hart, and other emblems, was no longer present to the popular mind, legends were invented to account for them; and that which had been a symbol, became an incident, or an historical attribute,—as in the stories of the lion healed by St. Jerome, or digging the grave of St. Paul; the miraculous stag which appeared to St. Eustace and St. Hubert; the wounded doe in the legend of St. Giles; and the hind which spoke to St. Julian.
The Peacock, the bird of Juno, was an ancient pagan symbol, signifying the apotheosis of an empress, as we find from many of the old Roman coins and medals. The early Christians, accustomed to this interpretation, adopted it as a general emblem of the mortal exchanged for the immortal existence; and, with this signification, we find the peacock with outspread train on the walls and ceilings of catacombs, the tombs of the martyrs, and many of the sarcophagi, down to the fourth and fifth centuries. It is only in modern times that the peacock has become the emblem of worldly pride.
The Crown, as introduced in Christian Art, is either an emblem or an attribute. It has been the emblem from all antiquity of victory, and of recompense due to superior power or virtue. In this sense the word and the image are used in Scripture in many passages: for example, ‘Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of glory.’ And in this sense, as the recompense of those who had fought the good fight to the end, and conquered, the crown became the especial symbol of the glory of martyrdom. In very ancient pictures, a hand is seen coming out of heaven holding a wreath or circlet; afterwards it is an angel who descends with a crown, which is sometimes a coronet of gold and jewels, sometimes a wreath of palm or myrtle. In general only the female martyrs wear the symbolical crown of glory; martyrs of the other sex hold the crown in their hands, or it is borne by an angel. Hence we may presume that the crown, which among the Jews was the especial ornament of a bride, signified the bride or spouse of Christ—one dedicated to virginity for his sake; and in this sense, down to the present time, the crown is placed on the head of a nun at the moment of consecration. Therefore in the old pictures of female martyrs we may interpret the crown in this double sense, as signifying at once the bride and the martyr.
But it is necessary also to distinguish between the symbol and the attribute: thus, where St. Cecilia and St. Barbara wear the crown, it is the symbol of their glorious martyrdom; when St. Catherine and St. Ursula wear the crown, it is at once as the symbol of martyrdom and the attribute of their royal rank as princesses.
The crown is also the symbol of sovereignty. When it is placed on the head of the Virgin, it is as Queen of Heaven, and also as the ‘Spouse’ of Scripture allegory.
But the crown is also an attribute, and frequently, when worn by a saint or placed at his feet, signifies that he was royal or of princely birth: as in the pictures of Louis of France, St. William, St. Elizabeth, St. Helena, and many others.
The crowns in the Italian pictures are generally a wreath, or a simple circle of gold and jewels, or a coronet radiated with a few points. But in the old German pictures the crown is often of most magnificent workmanship, blazing with jewels.
