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Crown of Immortality

January 01, 1970

The Crown of Immortality is a literary and religious metaphor traditionally represented in art first as a laurel wreath and later as a symbolic circle of stars (often a crown, tiara, halo or aureola). The Crown appears in a number of Baroque iconographic and allegoric works of art to indicate the wearer's immortality.

The Crown of Immortality, held by the allegorical figure Eterna (Eternity) on the Swedish House of Knights fresco by David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl

Wreath crowns edit

 
Wreathed worshipper of Apollo, from Cyprus, 475-450 BC

In ancient Egypt, the crown of justification was a wreath placed on the deceased to represent victory over death in the afterlife, in emulation of the resurrecting god Osiris. It was made of various materials including laurel, palm, feathers, papyrus, roses, or precious metals, with numerous examples represented on the Fayum mummy portraits of the Roman Imperial period.[1]

 
Gold wreath from ancient Macedonia

In ancient Greece, a wreath of laurel or olive was awarded to victorious athletes and later poets. Among the Romans, generals celebrating a formal triumph wore a laurel wreath, an honor that during the Empire was restricted to the Imperial family. The placing of the wreath was often called a "crowning", and its relation to immortality was problematic; it was supposed to secure the wearer immortality in the form of enduring fame, but the triumphator was also reminded of his place within the mortal world: in the traditional tableaux, an accompanying slave whispered continually in the general's ear Memento mori, "Remember you are mortal".[2] Funerary wreaths of gold leaf were associated particularly with initiates into the mystery religions.[3]

From the Early Christian era the phrase "crown of immortality" was widely used by the Church Fathers in writing about martyrs; the immortality was now both of reputation on earth, and of eternal life in heaven. The usual visual attribute of a martyr in art, was a palm frond, not a wreath.[citation needed] The phrase may have originated in scriptural references, or from incidents such as this reported by Eusebius (Bk V of History) describing the persecution in Lyon in 177, in which he refers to literal crowns, and also brings in an athletic metaphor of the "victor's crown" at the end:

"From that time on, their martyrdoms embraced death in all its forms. From flowers of every shape and color they wove a crown to offer to the Father; and so it was fitting that the valiant champions should endure an ever-changing conflict, and having triumphed gloriously should win the mighty crown of immortality. Maturus, Sanctus, Blandina, and Attalus were taken into the amphitheater to face the wild beasts, and to furnish open proof of the inhumanity of the heathen, the day of fighting wild beasts being purposely arranged for our people. There, before the eyes of all, Maturus and Sanctus were again taken through the whole series of punishments, as if they had suffered nothing at all before, or rather as if they had already defeated their opponent in bout after bout and were now battling for the victor's crown."[4]

The first use seems to be that attributed to the martyr Ignatius of Antioch in 107.[citation needed]

Advent wreath edit

 
Candle-crowned Danish girls in a Lucia procession, 2001

An Advent wreath is a ring of candles, usually made with evergreen cuttings and used for household devotion by some Christians during the season of Advent. The wreath is meant to represent God's eternity.[citation needed] On Saint Lucy's Day, December 13, it is common to wear crowns of candles in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Italy, Bosnia, Iceland, and Croatia.

Before the reform of the Gregorian calendar in the 16th century, St. Lucy's Day fell on the winter solstice. The representation of Saint Lucy seems to derive from the Roman goddess Lucina, who is connected to the solstice.[5][6]

Crown of martyrdom edit

 
Blandina with a martyr's crown

Martyrs often are idealized as combatants, with the spectacle of the arena transposed to the martyr's struggle with Satan. Ignatius of Antioch, condemned to fight beasts in the year 107, "asked his friends not to try to save him and so rob him of the crown of immortality."[7] In 155, Polycarp, Christian bishop of Smyrna, was stabbed after a failed attempt to burn him at the stake. He is said to have been " … crowned with the wreath of immortality ... having through patience overcome the unjust governor, and thus acquired the crown of immortality."[8] Eusebius uses similar imagery to speak of Blandina, martyred in the arena at Lyon in 177:

A small, weak, despised woman, who had put on Christ, the great invincible champion, and in bout after bout had defeated her adversary and through conflict had won the crown of immortality.[9] Emblem of Christian martyrs, The Crown or wreath of Immortality, is a reward for those who stayed faithful until death. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27, James 1:12, and Revelation 2:10)[10]

Crown of stars edit

 
Carlo Dolci, Madonna in Glory, c. 1670, oil on canvas, Stanford Museum, California
For the iconographical motif represented above the head, see circle of stars.

The crown of stars, representing immortality, may derive from the story of Ariadne, especially as told by Ovid, in which the unhappy Ariadne is turned into a constellation of stars, the Corona Borealis (Crown of the North), modelled on a jewelled crown she wore, and thus becoming immortal. In Titian's Bacchus and Ariadne (1520–23, National Gallery, London), the constellation is shown above Ariadne's head as a circle of eight stars (though Ovid specifies nine), very similar to what would become the standard depiction of the motif. Although the crown was probably depicted in classical art, and is described in several literary sources, no classical visual depictions have survived.[11] The Titian therefore appears to be the earliest such representation to survive, and it was also at this period that illustrations in prints of the Apocalypse by artists such as Dürer[12] [13] and Jean Duvet were receiving very wide circulation.

In Ariadne, Venus and Bacchus, by Tintoretto (1576, Doge's Palace, Venice), a flying Venus crowns Ariadne with a circle of stars, and many similar compositions exist, such as the ceiling of the Egyptian Hall at Boughton House of 1695.

Allegorical development edit

The first use of the crown of stars as an allegorical Crown of Immortality may be the ceiling fresco, Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power (1633–39), in the Palazzo Barberini in Rome by Pietro da Cortona. Here a figure identified as Immortality is flying, with her crown of stars held out in front of her, near the centre of the large ceiling. According to the earliest descriptions she is about to crown the Barberini emblems, representing Pope Urban VIII, who was also a poet.[14][15][16] Immortality seems to have been a preoccupation of Urban; his funeral monument by Bernini in St Peter's Basilica in Rome has Death as a life-size skeleton writing his name on a scroll.

Two further examples of the Crown of Immortality can be found in Sweden, firstly in the great hall ceiling fresco of the Swedish House of Knights by David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl (between 1670–1675) which pictures among many allegoric figures Eterna (eternity) who holds in her hands the Crown of Immortality.[17] The second is in Drottningholm Palace, the home of the Swedish Royal Family, in a ceiling fresco named The Great Deeds of The Swedish Kings, painted in 1695 by David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl.[18] This has the same motif as the fresco in the House of Knights mentioned above. The Drottningholm fresco, was shown in the 1000th stamp[19] by Czesław Słania, the Polish postage stamp and banknote engraver.

The crown was also painted by the French Neoclassical painter Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée, 1725–1805, in his Allegory on the Death of the Dauphin, where the crown was held by a young son who had pre-deceased the father (alternative titles specifically mention the crown of Immortality).[20]

Poems, texts and writing edit

Gallery edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Lorelei H. Corcoran; Marie Svoboda (2010). Herakleides: A Portrait Mummy from Roman Egypt. Getty Publications. p. 32.
  2. ^ For a full discussion, see Mary Beard (2007). The Roman Triumph. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674020597. passim
  3. ^ Mark J. Johnson (1997). Pagan-Christian Burial Practices of the Fourth Century: Shared Tombs?. Vol. 5. p. 45. citing Minucius Felix, Octavius 28.3–4 {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  4. ^ The metaphor of the 'athlete of Christ' gaining the 'Crown of Immortality' is developed further by St John Cassian in . Archived from the original on 2005-05-05. chapter 18 & 19
  5. ^ . Archived from the original on 2007-12-10.
  6. ^ "About Lucina".
  7. ^ . 24 January 2018. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2007.
  8. ^ "The words in Chapter 17, 19 of The Martyrdom of Polycarp".
  9. ^ . Archived from the original on 2007-03-08.
  10. ^ . Archived from the original on 2009-08-08.
  11. ^ . Archived from the original on 2015-02-20. Retrieved 2015-04-03. Paper by Patrick Hunt, Stanford U.
  12. ^ . Archived from the original on 2007-01-02.
  13. ^ "Apocalype artworks beginning with Albrecht Dürer's - Madonna Appears to St John (German)".
  14. ^ . Archived from the original on 2007-03-14. Retrieved 2007-02-27.
  15. ^ . Archived from the original on 2007-03-14. Retrieved 2007-02-27.
  16. ^ Vitzthum, Walter (October 1961). "A Comment on the Iconography of Pietro da Cortona's Barberini Ceiling". Burlington Magazine. 103 (703): 427–433. ISSN 0007-6287. JSTOR 873383.
  17. ^ (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-12-31.
  18. ^ "Fresco at Drottningholm castle".[permanent dead link]
  19. ^ "Stamp showing a crown of immortality" (JPG).
  20. ^ (in French). Archived from the original on 2007-02-17.
  21. ^ . Archived from the original on 2007-02-03. Retrieved 2007-02-26.
  22. ^ "Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem The Revolt of Islam".
  23. ^ "Doctrine and Covenants 81:6".

External links edit

  • Symbolism concerning Immortality

January 01, 1970
crown, immortality, literary, religious, metaphor, traditionally, represented, first, laurel, wreath, later, symbolic, circle, stars, often, crown, tiara, halo, aureola, crown, appears, number, baroque, iconographic, allegoric, works, indicate, wearer, immorta. The Crown of Immortality is a literary and religious metaphor traditionally represented in art first as a laurel wreath and later as a symbolic circle of stars often a crown tiara halo or aureola The Crown appears in a number of Baroque iconographic and allegoric works of art to indicate the wearer s immortality The Crown of Immortality held by the allegorical figure Eterna Eternity on the Swedish House of Knights fresco by David Klocker Ehrenstrahl Contents 1 Wreath crowns 1 1 Advent wreath 2 Crown of martyrdom 3 Crown of stars 4 Allegorical development 5 Poems texts and writing 6 Gallery 7 See also 8 References 9 External linksWreath crowns edit nbsp Wreathed worshipper of Apollo from Cyprus 475 450 BC In ancient Egypt the crown of justification was a wreath placed on the deceased to represent victory over death in the afterlife in emulation of the resurrecting god Osiris It was made of various materials including laurel palm feathers papyrus roses or precious metals with numerous examples represented on the Fayum mummy portraits of the Roman Imperial period 1 nbsp Gold wreath from ancient Macedonia In ancient Greece a wreath of laurel or olive was awarded to victorious athletes and later poets Among the Romans generals celebrating a formal triumph wore a laurel wreath an honor that during the Empire was restricted to the Imperial family The placing of the wreath was often called a crowning and its relation to immortality was problematic it was supposed to secure the wearer immortality in the form of enduring fame but the triumphator was also reminded of his place within the mortal world in the traditional tableaux an accompanying slave whispered continually in the general s ear Memento mori Remember you are mortal 2 Funerary wreaths of gold leaf were associated particularly with initiates into the mystery religions 3 From the Early Christian era the phrase crown of immortality was widely used by the Church Fathers in writing about martyrs the immortality was now both of reputation on earth and of eternal life in heaven The usual visual attribute of a martyr in art was a palm frond not a wreath citation needed The phrase may have originated in scriptural references or from incidents such as this reported by Eusebius Bk V of History describing the persecution in Lyon in 177 in which he refers to literal crowns and also brings in an athletic metaphor of the victor s crown at the end From that time on their martyrdoms embraced death in all its forms From flowers of every shape and color they wove a crown to offer to the Father and so it was fitting that the valiant champions should endure an ever changing conflict and having triumphed gloriously should win the mighty crown of immortality Maturus Sanctus Blandina and Attalus were taken into the amphitheater to face the wild beasts and to furnish open proof of the inhumanity of the heathen the day of fighting wild beasts being purposely arranged for our people There before the eyes of all Maturus and Sanctus were again taken through the whole series of punishments as if they had suffered nothing at all before or rather as if they had already defeated their opponent in bout after bout and were now battling for the victor s crown 4 The first use seems to be that attributed to the martyr Ignatius of Antioch in 107 citation needed Advent wreath edit nbsp Candle crowned Danish girls in a Lucia procession 2001 An Advent wreath is a ring of candles usually made with evergreen cuttings and used for household devotion by some Christians during the season of Advent The wreath is meant to represent God s eternity citation needed On Saint Lucy s Day December 13 it is common to wear crowns of candles in Sweden Denmark Norway Finland Italy Bosnia Iceland and Croatia Before the reform of the Gregorian calendar in the 16th century St Lucy s Day fell on the winter solstice The representation of Saint Lucy seems to derive from the Roman goddess Lucina who is connected to the solstice 5 6 Crown of martyrdom edit nbsp Blandina with a martyr s crown Martyrs often are idealized as combatants with the spectacle of the arena transposed to the martyr s struggle with Satan Ignatius of Antioch condemned to fight beasts in the year 107 asked his friends not to try to save him and so rob him of the crown of immortality 7 In 155 Polycarp Christian bishop of Smyrna was stabbed after a failed attempt to burn him at the stake He is said to have been crowned with the wreath of immortality having through patience overcome the unjust governor and thus acquired the crown of immortality 8 Eusebius uses similar imagery to speak of Blandina martyred in the arena at Lyon in 177 A small weak despised woman who had put on Christ the great invincible champion and in bout after bout had defeated her adversary and through conflict had won the crown of immortality 9 Emblem of Christian martyrs The Crown or wreath of Immortality is a reward for those who stayed faithful until death 1 Corinthians 9 24 27 James 1 12 and Revelation 2 10 10 Crown of stars edit nbsp Carlo Dolci Madonna in Glory c 1670 oil on canvas Stanford Museum California For the iconographical motif represented above the head see circle of stars The crown of stars representing immortality may derive from the story of Ariadne especially as told by Ovid in which the unhappy Ariadne is turned into a constellation of stars the Corona Borealis Crown of the North modelled on a jewelled crown she wore and thus becoming immortal In Titian s Bacchus and Ariadne 1520 23 National Gallery London the constellation is shown above Ariadne s head as a circle of eight stars though Ovid specifies nine very similar to what would become the standard depiction of the motif Although the crown was probably depicted in classical art and is described in several literary sources no classical visual depictions have survived 11 The Titian therefore appears to be the earliest such representation to survive and it was also at this period that illustrations in prints of the Apocalypse by artists such as Durer 12 13 and Jean Duvet were receiving very wide circulation In Ariadne Venus and Bacchus by Tintoretto 1576 Doge s Palace Venice a flying Venus crowns Ariadne with a circle of stars and many similar compositions exist such as the ceiling of the Egyptian Hall at Boughton House of 1695 Allegorical development editThe first use of the crown of stars as an allegorical Crown of Immortality may be the ceiling fresco Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power 1633 39 in the Palazzo Barberini in Rome by Pietro da Cortona Here a figure identified as Immortality is flying with her crown of stars held out in front of her near the centre of the large ceiling According to the earliest descriptions she is about to crown the Barberini emblems representing Pope Urban VIII who was also a poet 14 15 16 Immortality seems to have been a preoccupation of Urban his funeral monument by Bernini in St Peter s Basilica in Rome has Death as a life size skeleton writing his name on a scroll Two further examples of the Crown of Immortality can be found in Sweden firstly in the great hall ceiling fresco of the Swedish House of Knights by David Klocker Ehrenstrahl between 1670 1675 which pictures among many allegoric figures Eterna eternity who holds in her hands the Crown of Immortality 17 The second is in Drottningholm Palace the home of the Swedish Royal Family in a ceiling fresco named The Great Deeds of The Swedish Kings painted in 1695 by David Klocker Ehrenstrahl 18 This has the same motif as the fresco in the House of Knights mentioned above The Drottningholm fresco was shown in the 1000th stamp 19 by Czeslaw Slania the Polish postage stamp and banknote engraver The crown was also painted by the French Neoclassical painter Louis Jean Francois Lagrenee 1725 1805 in his Allegory on the Death of the Dauphin where the crown was held by a young son who had pre deceased the father alternative titles specifically mention the crown of Immortality 20 Poems texts and writing editEdward Grim wrote about Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury who was murdered on December 29 1170 as the person promised by God to be the next to receive the crown of immortality 21 The preface to Percy Bysshe Shelley s 1818 poem The Revolt of Islam contain Should the public judge that my composition is worthless I shall indeed bow before the tribunal from which Milton received his crown of immortality 22 A Latter Day Saints scripture Doctrine and Covenants 81 6 contain And if thou art faithful unto the end thou shalt have a crown of immortality and eternal life in the mansions which I have prepared in the house of my Father 23 Gallery edit nbsp Fontainbleau nbsp Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power by Pietro da Cortona 1633 1639 nbsp Christ Carrying the Cross detail Jesus with Crown of Thorns by El Greco 1580See also edit nbsp Religion portal Allegory Halo religious iconography Circle of stars Astral crown Celestial crown Five Crowns IconographyReferences edit Lorelei H Corcoran Marie Svoboda 2010 Herakleides A Portrait Mummy from Roman Egypt Getty Publications p 32 For a full discussion see Mary Beard 2007 The Roman Triumph Harvard University Press ISBN 9780674020597 passim Mark J Johnson 1997 Pagan Christian Burial Practices of the Fourth Century Shared Tombs Vol 5 p 45 citing Minucius Felix Octavius 28 3 4 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a work ignored help The metaphor of the athlete of Christ gaining the Crown of Immortality is developed further by St John Cassian in On Gluttony Archived from the original on 2005 05 05 chapter 18 amp 19 13th of December and related gods and goddesses Archived from the original on 2007 12 10 About Lucina About Martyrdom containing his words 24 January 2018 Archived from the original on 23 September 2015 Retrieved 6 March 2007 The words in Chapter 17 19 of The Martyrdom of Polycarp The martyrdom of Blandina Archived from the original on 2007 03 08 About symbolism Archived from the original on 2009 08 08 Philolog Titian s BACCHUS AND ARIADNE 1520 23 from Classical Art and Literature Archived from the original on 2015 02 20 Retrieved 2015 04 03 Paper by Patrick Hunt Stanford U Albrecht Durer s Madonna on the Crescent Archived from the original on 2007 01 02 Apocalype artworks beginning with Albrecht Durer s Madonna Appears to St John German The Palazzo Barberini fresco Archived from the original on 2007 03 14 Retrieved 2007 02 27 Palazzo Barberini fresco simplified Archived from the original on 2007 03 14 Retrieved 2007 02 27 Vitzthum Walter October 1961 A Comment on the Iconography of Pietro da Cortona s Barberini Ceiling Burlington Magazine 103 703 427 433 ISSN 0007 6287 JSTOR 873383 Swedish article published by Swedish House of Knights naming the Crown PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2006 12 31 Fresco at Drottningholm castle permanent dead link Stamp showing a crown of immortality JPG Utpictura18 Allegorie a la mort du Dauphin Lagrenee in French Archived from the original on 2007 02 17 His text included Archived from the original on 2007 02 03 Retrieved 2007 02 26 Percy Bysshe Shelley s poem The Revolt of Islam Doctrine and Covenants 81 6 External links editSymbolism concerning Immortality Crown of Thorn Weapon of Christ Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Crown of Immortality amp oldid 1192579358 Crown of martyrdom, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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