Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 5.djvu/663

 EUCHARIST

591

EUCHARIST

as now, diviiled the Sacred Host. And, as though to exchideall doubt as to the character of his subject, the artist added a detail found in no other representation of the Eucharist; in front of the celebrant he placed a two-handled cup, evidently the chalice {calix minis- terialis) of the second century. Such is the earliest representation in Christian art of the offering of the Mass. K recent writer regards the scene as represent- ing the celebration of the Eucharist in connexion with the funeral agape on the anniversary of some person interred in the chapel. The guests partaking of the banquet, in this view, represent the relations of the deceased assisting at an anniversary Mass (sacrificium pro dormitione) for the repose of his soul (Wieland, Mensa und Confessio, p. 139). In addition to these unique details showing a real celebration of the Mass in the early second century, the author of this fresco depicted, side by side with the reality, a symbol of the Eucharist. In the centre of the table are two plates, one containing five loaves, the other two fishes, while on the right and left of the divan seven baskets of bread are distributed symmetrically.

.\fter the " Fractio Panis" the most remarkable frescoes in which the miraculous multiplication is

fish, somewhat after the manner of a priest holding his hands over the chalice before the Consecration. Wil- pert's interpretation of the scene is that the figure with extended hands represents Christ performing the mir- acle of the multiplication, which act, in the intention of the artist, is symbolic of the Consecration. The orans, on the other hand, is a symbol of the deceased, who, through the reception of Holy Communion, has ob- tained eternal happiness: " He that eateth this bread shall live forever" (St. John, vi, 59). The representation described forms one of a series comprising three sub- jects, all relating to the Eucharist. The second of the series is the usual banquet of seven persons, symboliz- ing Communion, while the third depicts Abraham and Isaac in the orans attitude. In the symbolism of the time Isaac was regarded as a figure of Christ, whence the inference that this representation of Abraham's sacrifice was figurative of the Sacrifice of the Cross.

II. — The Banquet op the Seven Disciples. — The repast of the seven Disciples by the Sea of Galilee is recorded by the Evangelist St. John (x.xi, 9 sqq.). St. Peter and his fellow-fishermen, seven altogether, after taking the miraculous draught of fishes, drew their boats on shore, where they found "hot coals

End of second century, Sacrament Chapel, Catacomb of St. Callistus

ernployeti as a symbol of the Eucharist are two in the crypt of Lucina, the most ancient part of the cata- comb of St. Callistus. Each consists of a fish and a basket of bread on a green field. At first view it would seem as though the fishes were represented each carrying a basket of bread, in the act of swim- ming. X closer examination of the frescoes made by Wilpcrt, however, has shown that the baskets are placed very close to, but not on, the fishes, and that the supposed blue surface is really green. The sub- ject, therefore, is the miraculous multiplication, the green surface representing a field. As a symbol these [lictures are particularly striking from the introduc- tion of two glasses, containing a red substance, into the baskets. Evidently the artist in this detail had in mind the Eucharistic matter of wine. Consequently, the frescoes as a whole conveyed to an onlooker in the second century a meaning somewhat as follows: the miraculously multiplied bread, together with wine, formed the matter of the Eucharist, which, in turn, by a still greater miracle, became the substance of the Body and Blood of the Divine Ichthys, Jesus Christ.

The various Eucharistic ban(|uet scenes of the cata- combs appropriately symbolized the reception of Holy Communion. In one early instance the artist por- trayed, besides a representation of this character, a new symbol having special reference to the Consecra- tion. This consist,? of a scene showing two persons be- si<le a tripod, on which are placed a loaf and fish. One of the figures is clad in the tunic and pallium reserved in early (^hri.stian art to persons of sacred character, while the other, at the opposite side of the tripod, stands in the attitude of an orans. The sacred per- sonage iiokls his hands extended over the loaf and the

lying, and a fish laid thereon, and bread ". The risen Saviour then invited them to eat, " and none of them. . . durst ask him: Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord". The incident thus recorded was just as ap- propriate a symbol of the Eucharist as the miracle of the multiplication, and as such it is once depicted in a painting of the second century. In this, as in all Eucharistic frescoes, the symbol of Communion ap- pears in close proximity with a baptismal symbol. The banquet scene itself at first view seems in no wise different from the category of Eucharistic representa- tions already described; seven persons are partaking of food, which consists of loaves and fishes. Two de- tails, however, differentiate this particular picture (Sacrament Chapel X 2, cemetery of Callistus), from the symbolic banquets based on the miraculous multi- plication. The first of these details is the absence of the basket of fragments always present in frescoes inspired by the latter subject, and the second consists in the fact that the seven banqueters are depicted nude, the manner in which fishermen were invariably repre- sented in classic art. The author of this fresco, we may safely conclude, drew his inspiration from the repast by the Sea of Galilee, which he depicted as a symbol of the Eucharist. St. Augustine alludes to this symbol when he speaks of the "roasted fish" on the hot coals as representing Christ crucified {Piscis assua Christiis ext paasus, Tract, cxxiii, in Joan.).

During the first and second centuries, with the one exception noted, the only symbol of the Eucharist adopted in Christian art was that inspired by the miraculous multiplication. The mode of representing the symbol, also, during this period scarcely varied: seven guests partake of the symbolic loaves and