DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14696#0190
136
The Pillar of Light
A.D.), foundress of the Ursulines at Brescia, is likewise represented
ascending a ladder with her virgins1.
Even ordinary mortals might aspire to climb the steps that led
heavenwards. A Christian sarcophagus at Burgos in Spain has Jacob's
ladder for its central subject (fig. 80)2. Herrade of Landsberg, abbess
Fig. 8,0.
of Hohenburg on Mount Saint-Odile from 1167 to 1195 A.D., included
in her Hortus Deliciarum a symbolic design representing 'The
Ladder of Virtues' (fig. 8i):i. Akin to this is the magnificent painting
in tempera (c. 1200 A.D.), which was discovered in 1870 on the
western wall of the nave in Chaldon Church, Surrey (pi. viii)4. 'The
1 C. Cahier op. cit. i. 328, M. and W. Drake op. cit. pp. 10, 188.
2 Monumenios arquitectonicos de Espana pi. without number (see S. Reinach in the
Rev. Arch. 1911 ii. 467), Index by D. Eduardo de la Rada y Mendez Madrid 1895,
Reinach Rep. Reliefs ii. 190 nos. 1—4.
3 Herrade de Landsberg Hortus Deliciarum edd. A. Straub—G. Keller Strasbourg
1879—1899 P-43 P'- 56 ( = myfig. 81) ' L'echelle des vertus' after C. M. Engelhardt Herrad
von Landsperg, Aebtissin zu Hohenburg, oder St Odilien, iiu Elsass, im zwblften Jahr-
hundert, inid ihr Werk : Hortus deliciarum Stuttgart—Tubingen 1818 p. 115 f. pi. 9. The
whole design is inscribed : Hec scala significat ascensum virtutum et religiosum sancti-
tatis exercitium, quo vite corona adipiscitur. Huic scale primum pturimi innitetites postea
diabolicis sagittis vuluerati retrahuntur, et terrenis impedimentis ac concupiscentiis suis
illecti et abstracti nequiter incurvantur. The ladder rises obliquely from earth to heaven.
Beneath its lowest step crouches the devil in the form of a dragon. Above its highest step
the hand of the Lord holds out the crown of life. Two demons shoot arrows at the
climbers and successfully overthrow a knight (miles) and his wife (laica), a nun {sandi-
monialis), a clerk (clericus), a monk (monachus), a recluse (inclusus), and a hermit
(heremita), who all fall downwards towards the objects of their desire. Two angels with
sword and shield protect the uppermost figure, that of Virtue ( Virtus, id est car it as), who
advances to take the crown. On one side of the ladder we read : Draco iste insidiatur
sca?identibus and Hos omnes periculose ab alto cadentes potest Dominus medicina penitentie
iterut?i ad virtutum culmen restituere. The happier alternative is indicated by the inscrip-
tions : Septem sunt scale quibus ascenditur ad regnum celorum: prima castitas, secunda mundi
contemptio, tertia humilitas, quartz obejientia, quinta patientia, sextafides, septima caritas
de puro corde and Hec persona virtutis significat omnes sanctos et electos, qui angelica custo-
diaperducuntur ad celestia premia. Virtus auteiu hec est caritas. Sola enim virtus caritatis,
que ceteras virtutes continet, ad accipiendam celcstis premii coronam perveniet.
4 J. G. Waller ' On a Painting recently discovered in Chaldon Church, Surrey ' in
The Pillar of Light
A.D.), foundress of the Ursulines at Brescia, is likewise represented
ascending a ladder with her virgins1.
Even ordinary mortals might aspire to climb the steps that led
heavenwards. A Christian sarcophagus at Burgos in Spain has Jacob's
ladder for its central subject (fig. 80)2. Herrade of Landsberg, abbess
Fig. 8,0.
of Hohenburg on Mount Saint-Odile from 1167 to 1195 A.D., included
in her Hortus Deliciarum a symbolic design representing 'The
Ladder of Virtues' (fig. 8i):i. Akin to this is the magnificent painting
in tempera (c. 1200 A.D.), which was discovered in 1870 on the
western wall of the nave in Chaldon Church, Surrey (pi. viii)4. 'The
1 C. Cahier op. cit. i. 328, M. and W. Drake op. cit. pp. 10, 188.
2 Monumenios arquitectonicos de Espana pi. without number (see S. Reinach in the
Rev. Arch. 1911 ii. 467), Index by D. Eduardo de la Rada y Mendez Madrid 1895,
Reinach Rep. Reliefs ii. 190 nos. 1—4.
3 Herrade de Landsberg Hortus Deliciarum edd. A. Straub—G. Keller Strasbourg
1879—1899 P-43 P'- 56 ( = myfig. 81) ' L'echelle des vertus' after C. M. Engelhardt Herrad
von Landsperg, Aebtissin zu Hohenburg, oder St Odilien, iiu Elsass, im zwblften Jahr-
hundert, inid ihr Werk : Hortus deliciarum Stuttgart—Tubingen 1818 p. 115 f. pi. 9. The
whole design is inscribed : Hec scala significat ascensum virtutum et religiosum sancti-
tatis exercitium, quo vite corona adipiscitur. Huic scale primum pturimi innitetites postea
diabolicis sagittis vuluerati retrahuntur, et terrenis impedimentis ac concupiscentiis suis
illecti et abstracti nequiter incurvantur. The ladder rises obliquely from earth to heaven.
Beneath its lowest step crouches the devil in the form of a dragon. Above its highest step
the hand of the Lord holds out the crown of life. Two demons shoot arrows at the
climbers and successfully overthrow a knight (miles) and his wife (laica), a nun {sandi-
monialis), a clerk (clericus), a monk (monachus), a recluse (inclusus), and a hermit
(heremita), who all fall downwards towards the objects of their desire. Two angels with
sword and shield protect the uppermost figure, that of Virtue ( Virtus, id est car it as), who
advances to take the crown. On one side of the ladder we read : Draco iste insidiatur
sca?identibus and Hos omnes periculose ab alto cadentes potest Dominus medicina penitentie
iterut?i ad virtutum culmen restituere. The happier alternative is indicated by the inscrip-
tions : Septem sunt scale quibus ascenditur ad regnum celorum: prima castitas, secunda mundi
contemptio, tertia humilitas, quartz obejientia, quinta patientia, sextafides, septima caritas
de puro corde and Hec persona virtutis significat omnes sanctos et electos, qui angelica custo-
diaperducuntur ad celestia premia. Virtus auteiu hec est caritas. Sola enim virtus caritatis,
que ceteras virtutes continet, ad accipiendam celcstis premii coronam perveniet.
4 J. G. Waller ' On a Painting recently discovered in Chaldon Church, Surrey ' in