THE CONTENTS OF THE PASSION-PLAY 389 



sufferings orders his servant to place his spear upon 

 the prophet's side. Longinus thrusts it in, and the 

 blood and water rushing out fall upon the blind eyes 

 and give them sight again. Longinus is afterwards 

 found assisting at the entombment. 1 Meanwhile the 

 limbs of the thieves are broken, and devils and angels 

 come to fetch their apportioned souls. 2 



The begging of Christ's body from Pilate, the lower- 

 ing of it from the cross by Nicodemus, Longinus, Joseph 

 of Arimathaea, and their servants present nothing of 

 special note. The body is usually placed in the lap of 

 Mary seated at the foot of the cross, an incident often 

 dealt with in mediaeval painting. 3 It is then carried 

 on a bier to the grave while the chorus chant the 

 response, Ecce quomodo moritur Justus. 4 Some plays 

 show even more strongly the influence of the old Church 

 ritual. Thus in Gundelfinger's Entombment we have 



1 See B, vol. ii. pp. 224-226, 326-327, 331 ; F, p. 259 ; K, p. 65 ; D, p. 70 ; per- 

 verted in Kriiger's play, H, vol. ii. p. 66. As to how the wound was represented 

 we may note the stage-direction, "Vulnus autem lateris et alia vulnera sirai- 

 liter sint prius depicta ut quasi vulnera videantur" (S, p. 151). A still more 

 painfully realistic method was adopted in the recent Brixlegg passion-play. 

 The question of the first appearance of Longinus's blindness in mediaeval tradition 

 has been raised by G. Stephens (Studies on Northern Mythology, 1883, p. 326, 

 and Appendix, p. 43). I may note that Longinus is not blind in the fourth- 

 century X/HOTOS irdffx^f (H. 1080 et seq., 1212), nor in the tenth-century Homily 

 of JElfric (Legends of Holy Hood, p. 106). Not even in the thirteenth-century 

 Passion of our Lord (Old English Miscellany, E.E.T.S., p. 51) is the blindness 

 mentioned. This may serve to illustrate how continuous was the growth of 

 mediaeval tradition. 



2 Compare two pictures by Altorfer (Augsburg Gallery, Nos. 48, 49), and 

 another from the early Cologne School (Cologne Gallery, No. 37). 



3 The notion, the Pieta, is as old as the fourth-century XpioTds ir&<rx,uv (11. 

 1295-1309). See the copper engraving of Christ in the Virgin's lap by the 

 master E. S. about 1467, and many woodcuts. It is as much a favourite with 

 miniaturists as painters, e.g. a fifteenth-century Metz MS. Horae B. Virginis, 

 once in my hands, Miniature vi., etc. In sculpture we have Michael Angelo's 

 work in St. Peter's, Rome. 4 See C, p. 214 ; E, p. 260. 



