vo. 222,1. COLLECTION OF ECCLESIASTICAL ART—CASANOWICZ. 619 



To the right of the vertical beam a hand, and to its left a vase. 

 These, with the bundle or tuft fastened to a staff seen next to the 

 sphinx, may either refer to the episode of the alabaster vase with 

 prev ious ointment which Mary of Bethany poured upon the feet of 

 Jesus and dried them with her hair, shortly before the Passion 

 (John xii, 3), or to that of the washing of the feet of the disciples by 

 Jesus (John xiii, 4-5), while next to the griffin is the lance with which 

 Jesus' side was pierced (Matthevv' xxvii, 49). On the front of the 

 transverse beam is in the center the crown of thorns (Matthew xxvii, 

 28), and to its sides the hammer and tongs, respectively, and a nail 

 at either side of them. Beneath the transverse beam are, in suc- 

 cession, the seamless coat of Jesus and the dice which the soldiei-s 

 used in castinglotsforit (John xix, 23-24) ; two swords (Luke xxii, 38 

 and 50) ; the lantern which the officials used in their search for Jesus 

 (John xviii, 3) ; and the handkerchief, or sudarium of Veronica. This 

 refers to the story that when Jesus passed her door, bearing his cross, 

 Veronica, touched with compassion, wiped the drops of agony from 

 his face, and the features of Jesus were imprinted upon the cloth. 

 According to another account Veronica was the woman that was 

 healed by touching Christ's robe (Matthew ix, 20-21). Desiring a 

 portrait of him, St. Luke thrice painted it. Then Jesus said to her, 

 "Unless I aid you, Luke's art is in vain, for my face is only known 

 to him who sent me." Afterwards, being at her house, he asked for 

 water to wash his face, and returned to her the napkin with the por- 

 trait. Five cities claim the possession of the genuine sudarium of 

 Veronica — Turin in Italy, Toulouse, Besan^on, and Campiegne in 

 France, and Sorlat in Spain (?). Veronica herself is honored by a 

 shrine at the right hand of the high altar of St. Peter's in Rome, and 

 her festival is observed on the 4th of February. 



Farther down, a cherub; skull and crossbones, emblematic of 

 Christ's triumph over death and the grave, or it may be intended to 

 indicate Golgotha, the place of skulls (Matthew xxvii, 33). It is also 

 explained as the skull of Adam, according to the tradition that the 

 cross was placed on the resting place of the first father of mankind. 

 Upon a sort of platform underneath is placed the cock of St. Peter 

 (Matthew xxvi, 34 and 74). From the platform rise on staffs to the 

 right the cup of vinegar and to the left the sponge which was dipped 

 into it and reached up to Jesus on the cross (Matthew xxvii, 48). 

 Diagonally placed are the ladder for mounting up to the cross, and 

 the pillar, with the rope wound around it, with which Jesus was 

 bound to the pillar to be scourged (Matthew xxvii, 26). Lastly, 

 the vase and basin which rest on the base may either be intended for 

 the vessels wh ch Jesus used in washing the feet of the disciples 

 (John xiii, 4-5), or for those in which the spices were brought to the 

 grave to anoint the body of Jesus (John xix, 39; Comp. Mark xvi, 1). 



