Martyr's Palm
In addition to numerous iconographic attributes that are attached to the saints and the blessed in the visual arts , holy martyrs can be recognized above all else by the attribute of the martyr's palm .
It is a palm branch , over which a single or triple crown is sometimes put, whereby the triple crown indicates the connection between a virgin life, a teacher or herald of the word and martyrdom. Several symbols come together here: According to Origen , the crown stands for the victory of the spirit over the flesh. In this sense, the palm branch is also assigned as an attribute of the martyrs, who are considered victorious over meat par excellence.
The palm branches in the hands of the martyrs refer to the 7th chapter of the Revelation of John , in which it says:
“After that I saw, and behold, a great multitude from every nation and tribe, people and language; no one could count them. They stood before the throne and before the lamb, dressed in white robes, and carrying palm branches in their hands. They called out in a loud voice and said, Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb. ( Rev 7,9-10 EU ) "
Sulpicius Severus mentions the martyr's palm in his Epistulae (around 420). The phrase "won the palm of martyrdom" is used repeatedly in the martyrs' reports. Cassiodorus states: Fortes athletas palma designat esse victores , the palm branch shows that the courageous athlete has achieved victory.
In 1688, the Congregation for the Rites stipulated that in graves in the Roman catacombs the image of a palm branch would serve as evidence that a martyr was buried there. This statement was later seen by Mabillon , Muratori and Pope Benedict XIV, among others , as not tenable in this absolute form, as the graves of pagans were also decorated with palm branches. Nonetheless, in iconography in some cases the depiction of a saint who is now unknown is at least indicative of the fact that he was a martyr. In some cases, mosaics depicting several martyrs or groups of martyrs are also surrounded by a frieze of palm branches, which sometimes also bear the fruits of the merits of the martyrs.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ M. Hassett, Palm in Christian Symbolism . In: The Catholic Encyclopedia , New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911, accessed December 18, 2019 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11432a.htm
- ↑ Three letters (Epistulae; on St. Martinus), second letter, to the deacon Aurelius
- ^ William Henry Davenport Adams, The catacombs of Rome: historical and descriptive, With a Chapter on the Symbolism of Early Christian Art , 1877, pp. 91ff.
- ^ M. Hassett, Palm in Christian Symbolism . In: The Catholic Encyclopedia , New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911
- ^ William Henry Davenport Adams, The catacombs of Rome: historical and descriptive, With a Chapter on the Symbolism of Early Christian Art , 1877, p. 93