Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 1.djvu/74

56 Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler; Petri de Natalibus Catalogus Sanctorum, Lugd. 1542; Haræi Vitæ Sanctorum, Antw., 1690; and Grassii Vitæ Sanctorum, Cologne, 1616. With respect to the Roman Breviary, preference should be given to the editions which were printed before the Council of Trent; and with reference to the Saints of any particular country, to the local Breviaries.

1. In cases of doubt, recollect that the Apostles, the most popular Saints in the Christian world, and in that particular country or neighbourhood, the patron Saint of the Church itself, or those whose reliques are known to have been deposited there in ancient times, are more likely to have been depicted than others. In addition to which I would remark, that connected with some Churches, there were guilds dedicated to particular Saints.

2. When two or more Saints bear the same emblem, those who are most popular ought to have the benefit of the doubt: and observe carefully the quality of the Saint; whether he was a Bishop, Abbot, or so forth, for this will often supply a certain criterion.

3. Observe well the juxtaposition, for this will be often a clue to your interpretation. Thus, if you discover two or three Apostles, you may reasonably expect to find the others also.

4. In applying this catalogue to the interpretation of ancient art, abstract as much as possible the emblem from its unimportant circumstances, making a logical distinction between the proprium and the accidens. Even in cases where they rigorously adhered to the ancient symbolism, the painters varied considerably in the detail. Of this many examples could be given. The same martyr is sometimes represented as transfixed with arrows, and sometimes he bears an arrow in his hand.

5. We have no reason for supposing that the inferior Saints (many of whom were martyred in exactly the same way) had any emblem exclusively assigned to them. In early printed books, (the Legenda Aurea, for example,) the same wood-cut is