Saint James Major Patron Saint of Pilgrims

Carlo Crivelli (Italian, Venetian, circa 1430/5–1494). Saint James Major, 1472. Tempera and gold on panel. Brooklyn Museum

Please click on the photo above and enlarge? You can see the scallop shell on Saint James' garment and also the lead pilgrim's badges sewn to his wide brimmed hat. The scallop shell is the traditional emblem of Saint James the Greater and is popular with pilgrims on the Way of St James to the apostle's shrine at Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

Medieval Christians making the pilgrimage to his shrine often wore a scallop shell symbol on their hat or clothes. The pilgrim also carried a scallop shell with him and would present himself at churches, castles, abbeys etc. where he could expect to be given as much sustenance as he could pick up with one scoop. Probably he would be given oats, barley, and perhaps beer or wine. Thus even the poorest household could give charity without being overburdened. The association of Saint James with the scallop can most likely be traced to the legend that the apostle once rescued a knight covered in scallops. An alternate version of the legend holds that while St. James' remains were being transported to Spain from Jerusalem, the horse of a knight fell into the water, and emerged covered in the shells.

"The pilgrim with his scrip, staff and leaden badges, was a familiar sight on medieval roads throughout Britain, Europe and the Holy Land from the early 1200's through the 1500's when the rising tide of Protestantism closed many shrines and places of sanctuary. Pilgrims were a varied lot. Some were seeking help for a particular affliction, some wished to honor a vow or atone for a sin. Many simply set out to see something of the world and find some adventure in distant or foreign lands. Whatever the reason for their travels, pilgrims choked the roads from spring to fall and sometimes doubled the populations of shrine towns, giving a much needed boost to local economies who depended on the sale of food, lodging and souvenirs."
http://www.fetteredcockpewters.com/page_pilgrimage.htm

In Scotland, the Christian faith found it harder to gain a major influence until the sixth century with the arrival of St Columba from Ireland. He set up a community on the island of Iona from where he and his followers spread the Gospels into the Pictish communities. The island is the perfect place for a retreat and today is a major ecumenical centre. This is one of the most beautiful places I have had the privilege to visit.

Although St Columba’s arrival was a major influence, there had long been an element of Christianity in Scotland, which had crept in as a result of the numerous Roman invasions. In the late fourth century the first Bishop from north of Hadrian’s Wall, (St) Ninian, set up the first Celtic monastic community in the small fishing port of Whithorn. In the 1990s this site was excavated to find traces of his Candida Casa (White House), and numerous early Christian graves and artifacts and is now a fascinating place to visit during a journey to Scotland.

Queen Margaret (1045 – 1093) the wife of King Malcolm III spread a more organized, almost, state-sanctioned Christianity and established the Cistercians in Scotland. You can visit Saint Margaret's cave in Dunfermline where she went to pray. I found it very interesting and moving. It's quite small. There is a link below where you can take a virtual tour if you like.


Photo I took of Saint Margaret's Cave in 2005.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scallop

http://www.electricscotland.com/history/articles/saints.htm

http://openlibrary.org/b/OL94612M

http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/localhistory/nc_loc/loc_archkirk_wk25.asp

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/reference/saint-iconography.htm

http://www.wantamedia.com/virtual_tours/st_margarets_cave.asp

http://www.fetteredcockpewters.com/page_pilgrimage.htm

http://www.fife.50megs.com/medieval-abbeys.htm

http://www.electricscotland.com/history/st_andrew.htm

Carlo Crivelli, Italian Renaissance Painter

Carlo Crivelli
The Crucifixion, c. 1487

Carlo Crivelli ( 1435 –1495) was an Italian Renaissance painter of the conservative Late Gothic, decorative style. He spent his career mostly in the Marche, where he absorbed early influences from the Vivarini, Squarcione and Mantegna. He developed a unique personal style that was very different from his Venetian contemporary Giovanni Bellini.

Crivelli was born around 1430-35 in Venice to a family of painters. He developed his style and technique there and in Padua. Unfortunately the details of Crivelli's career are not known. The first appearance of anything about Crivelli that can be found begins when he was already a master of his own shop, in 1457. He was convicted of adultery for which he was imprisoned for six months, we know. The earliest and the latest years signed on his works are 1468 on an altarpiece in the church of San Silvestro at Massa Fermana, near Fermo, and 1493 on The Dead Christ between St John, the Virgin and Mary Magdalene. This work is now in Brera Gallery, Milan, Italy.

Though Carlo Crivelli advertised his Venetian origin in his constant signatures varying upon Carolus Crivellus Venetos ("Carlo Crivelli of Venice"),Crivelli seems to have worked chiefly in Le Marche of Ancona. Most often he worked in and near Ascoli Piceno. There are only two pictures remaining in Venice, in the church of San Sebastiano. He is said to have studied under Jacobello del Fiore, who was painting as late as 1436, however, at that time Crivelli was probably only a boy. He also studied at the school of Vivarini in Venice, then left Venice, initially. It is most likely he went to Padua, where he is believed to have worked in the workshop of Francesco Squarcione and then for Zara in Dalmatia. These regions are now part of Croatia.

He painted in tempera only, despite the increasing popularity of oil painting during his life-time, and on panels, though some of his paintings have been transferred to canvas. His predilection for decoratively punched gilded backgrounds is one of the marks of the conservative taste, in part imposed by his patrons. He was a vegetarian! Of his early polyptychs, only one, the altarpiece from Ascoli Piceno, survives complete in its original frame, sadly. All the others have been taken apart and their panels and predella scenes are scattered today among the world's museums.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Crivelli