You think you’re having a bad day?
July 9, 2010, 8:07 am
Posted by Joseph A. Komonchak
I rediscovered this the other day on my computer. It was copied from a large book on Romanesque art in Spain. I didn’t take note of the name of this martyr. May it be of some comfort on difficult days! (Below is how it fit into context.)
I find myself divided about that picture.
Is this the fate that awaits those who divide people into twos?
As W. C. Fields said (or should have): “All things being equal, I’ll settle for Limbo.”
That martyr could be Simon the Zealot.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_the_Zealot
Being sawn in two is mentioned in Hebrews.
http://bible.cc/hebrews/11-37.htm
The allusion is, I suspect, to Hebrews 11:37: “They were stoned, sawn in two, put to death at swords point… The world was not worthy of them.”
But of course there could be some Christian martyr who was sawn in two, too.
What was the text of the manuscript?
Ouch!
There are those who identify with the martyr, and those with the executioners
Today at lunch a fly fell in my wine glass. I promptly rescued it. “You would not hurt a fly, would you?” asked my daughter. Then, watching me speculatively as I was drinking the rest of my wine, in a deliberate manner she picked up the struggling fly from my napkin, called the house cat and fed it to him. Oh, horror!
How horrible!
The only antidote to seeing the artwork of a person (saint?) being split in two (in addition to a strong faith in God), is a viewing of Monty Python’s Ode to Sir Robin the Not-So-Brave, with its list of nasty demises.
I’d include a link to a clip of the song, but there are too many naughty bits on that YouTube site for a Catholic website.
I would think that it is the prophet Isaiah, who was sawed in two.
Was Isaiah really sawed in two?
Ann,
Surely you have heard of Deutero Isaiah?
The Ascension of Isaiah reports that Isaiah was “sawn asunder” under Manasseh, which would indicate that the tradition was at least present in Christianity (the Talmud also reports this).
Retrospectively, I’d be more conservative: it’s by no means clear that Hebrews’ talk of martyrs being sawed depends upon the Isaiah trad (and I have no idea what other “sawed” martyrs might be out there).
Joe Pettit,
Triplicate is even better: trito-Isaiah — like the t’s in PeTTiT
Wouldn’t it have happened cross-wise rather than length-wise?
Joe Tri-T,
No, I didn’t know that. I know very little about the Bible.
Abe –
Thanks for the information, but it makes me really sad.
Claire–
I think length-wise was probably a more effective teaching tool in the CCD classes of the day. ;)
And let’s not forget those poor souls being cooked in the kettle. That would also likely be classified as having a bad day.
Unagidon……..In the final analysis your feelings are relative. This martyr could possibly have ended his life as somebody’s half-brother.
Cross-wise would not have been so dramatic! It looks to me as if there are four martyrdom’s framing the central figure of the Virgin and child. I’m kicking myself that I didn’t jot down the provenance of the piece. I gave the book to the CUA library when I moved.
The artist here does not have any experience of this method of execution, that much is clear. I remember reading somewhere about the use of “sawing” with a wheel in Medici Florence as a method of execution, and a nasty one at that. Something about a conspiracy to overthrow the Medici that failed.
Further research convinces me that I was either misinformed or misremembered the story about he Medici.
“Traditional Catholic markers” – coming soon…again
When I looked at the first picture I immediately thought of the Inquisition.
This gives a new meaning to the idea of a splitting headache!