THORNS 129 



There is a ' Coronation of the Virgin ' by 

 Hans Burgkmair/ painted in 1507, where be- 

 neath a cross-surmounted imperial crown Christ 

 wears the Crown of Thorns. In several of the 

 French fifteenth-century miniatures of the 

 Trinity in Glory, God the Son still wears the 

 Crown of Thorns, but this combination of the 

 two crowns is rare. It was, however, in reverent 

 remembrance of the thorn-crowned King of 

 the Jews that the Crusader, Godfrey de Bouillon, 

 twisted a thorn-branch round his coronet when 

 he was crowned King of Jerusalem. His bronze 

 statue, wearing this double crown, stands with 

 those of the other Christian kings guarding the 

 tomb of MaximiUan in Innsbruck Cathedral. 



Among modern symbohsts, Holman Hunt 

 has used thorns with finest effect. In his 

 ' Light of the World ' the Saviour wears again 

 the double crown, the thorns which symbolize 

 His sufferings intertwisted with the golden 

 crown of His divinity. He stands with the 

 lantern, which is the light of His Gospel, before 

 the closed door of the human heart, a door all 

 overgrown and blocked by the weeds and briars 



' Koyal Gallery, Augsburg. 



