Page:Textile fabrics; a descriptive catalogue of the collection of church-vestments, dresses, silk stuffs, needle-work and tapestries, forming that section of the Museum (IA textilefabricsde00soutrich).pdf/468



No. 8358, for throwing over the deacon's and subdeacon's lectern at high mass; and, from the fact that, in both instances, the subjects figured are in especial honour of the B. V. Mary, it would seem that, in many German churches, and following a very ancient tradition that the Blessed Virgin wrought during all her girlhood days ornaments for the Temple of Jerusalem with her needle, the custom was to have for the "Mary Mass," and for altars dedicated under her name, as many liturgical appliances as might be of this sort of white needlework, and done by maidens' hands.

In the centre we have the coronation of the B. V. Mary, executed after the ordinary fashion, with her hair falling down her shoulders, and a crown upon her head; she is sitting with arms uplifted in prayer, upon a Gothic throne, by her Divine Son, who, while holding the mund in His left, is blessing His mother with raised right hand; over-*head is hovering an angel with a thurible; at each of the four corners is an Evangelist represented, not only by his usual emblem, but announced by his name in Latin. At first sight the angel, the emblem of St. Matthew might be taken for Gabriel announcing the Incarnation to the B. V. Mary. Above and around are circles formed of the Northern Kraken, four in number, put in orb, and running round an elaborately floriated Greek cross, symbolizing the victory of Christianity over heathenism. In many places, within a gracefully twining wreath of trefoil leaves and roses barbed, is the letter G, very probably the initial of the fair hand who wrought and gave this beautiful work to our Lady's altar; and the spaces between the subjects are filled in with well-managed branches of the oak bearing acorns. To the left is seen a hind or countryman hooded, carrying, hung down from a long club borne on his shoulder, a dead hare; and further on, still to the left, an old man who with a lance is trying to slay an unicorn that is running at full speed to a maiden who is sitting with her hair hanging about her shoulders, and stroking the forehead of the animal with her left hand. The symbolism of this curious group, not often to be met with, significative of the mystery of the Incarnation, is thus explained by the Anglo-Norman poet, Phillippe de Thaun, who wrote his valuable "Bestiary" in England for the instruction of his patroness, Adelaide of Louvaine, Queen to our Henry I:—"Monoceros is an animal which has one horn on its head; it is caught by means of a virgin: now hear in what manner. When a man intends to hunt it and to take and ensnare it, he goes to the forest where is its repair, there he places a virgin with her breast uncovered, and by its smell the monoceros perceives it; then it comes to the virgin and kisses her breast, falls asleep on her lap, and so comes to its death: the man arrives immediately, and kills it in its