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Alsn Elliott

@iconophilialsn

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A 52-saint project in religious icons, art, and history.
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Saint Pantaleon. What? Never heard of him? That’s not surprising, though at one point, during the Black Plague, this guy was one of the top 14 saints in Europe, called the 14 Holy Helpers, and since he is the patron saint of physicians, it makes sense. In his life, Pantaleon was an atheist doctor who worked for Emperor Maximus. A Bishop (Saint Hermolas) came to him one day and asked, “Of what use are all thou acquirements in this art since thou are ignorant of the science of salvation?” This actually became known as the Exemplum of Pantaleon. (The moral teaching of faith over science.) Long story short, Pantaleon converted to Christianity, got in big trouble with Emperor Diocletion, and was sentenced to death for not renouncing Christ. Diocletion tried to have him drowned, killed by wild beasts, stretched on the wheel, bathed in molten lead, and burned alive, but apparently Jesus intervened, and saved him every time. The last time, when they tried to behead him and the sword bent, Pantaleon told Jesus to have mercy on his executioner and let him die. That is where he gets his name: “Pantaleon” meaning “mercy to all” in Greek. FOR REASONS I CANNOT FIND- Pantaleon became the patron saint of victory. Perhaps because he was victorious over death? And also patron saint of lottery winners. Because he was so lucky to survive so many times, maybe? I decided to give Pantaleon six trophies/medals for each time he cheated death and got lucky. They are made out of erroneous rusty metal, found beads, coral, melted bottle caps, and trash scraps because when Pantaleon inherited his father’s fortune, he freed all of the slaves and gave all his money to the poor. The man lived in poverty. A poor doctor! Can you imagine? Strange, isn’t it, that poverty is such a virtue in early Christianity, and yet... nowadays that doesn’t really get addressed much in the church? The folks running the United States under the banner of Christianity sure didn’t get that memo. Well. These awards aren’t for them. #saintpantaleon by @iconophilialsn
Saint Anne is the grandmother of Jesus; the mother of Mary. She is the patron saint of grandmothers and women trying to conceive. Anne is never mentioned in the Bible. Her story comes from the apocryphal Protoevangelium of James written in the 2nd century. She is also written of in non-canonical Islamic texts! Anne was married to Joachim, and despite reaching the age of 60, the couple was never blessed with a child. Scorned, Joachim went into the desert to become a hermit out of shame. Both he and Anne, separated, prayed for a child until one day, an angel came to Anne and told her that she would have a daughter, blessed over all other women, and that child would grow up to give birth to our savior. The angel also gave this message to Joachim and told him to go home to his wife. He returned to find his wife pregnant. That’s right- Mary was conceived without sex, which means that even from her very beginning, she was without sin. This is what Catholics call the Immaculate Conception. Anne gave birth to Mary (at the age of 65?) and they raised her until Joachim died a few years later. Then, Mary went to live in the Jewish temple, and was educated there until her marriage to Joseph a decade later. I was interested in this idea of a female holy vessel that plays such an important part of Christian doctrine. It is reminiscent of Russian nesting dolls. Sometimes there are even paintings that make Anne, Mary, and Jesus look like they are nestled one inside of the other. So I brought the idea to something personal that my mother once gave me: Pyrex mixing bowls! Anne- red, Mary- blue, and Jesus -yellow. The motifs painted on the edges are copied from an Italian Renaissance halo-pattern that I thought looked vaguely 1950s in design. I added elements that were in other paintings of the trio like the cloth, the gold embellishments, and also the goldfinch. The European goldfinch, it turns out, is a symbol of Jesus. In fact, it is often a reminder of his inevitable death in paintings of him as an infant. (Why? Read on in the captions) Materials: watercolours made from plants by: @bouldercolors , gold acrylic, and Arches paper. #saintanne by @iconophilialsn
Saint Felix of Nola is not a saint I would have chosen to make art about of my own volition (being squeamish), but a good friend of mine is basically Saint Felix incarnate, so I had to make this in her honor. Saint Felix was born in the early 3rd century, and unlike most saints, he did not have a tragic death. That’s all thanks to... spiders. Yup. Spiders. Holy spiders, perhaps, but spiders nonetheless. In your typical saint narrative, Felix was a normal guy who one day decided to give all of his worldly possessions to the poor, and joined the clergy. It was not a great time to be Christian, and Emperor Decius of Rome sent troops after him and his mentor, Bishop Maximus of Nola. Felix distracted the guards and allowed Bishop Maximus to flee. Felix was beaten and imprisoned for some time, but an angel was sent to help him escape in order to help Bishop Maximus, who had been hiding in a cave and had grown ill. Felix nursed his mentor back to health whilst keeping him hidden away in the cave. On one of his runs into town for supplies, Felix was spotted by the Roman guards. He was chased into the woods and was certain he would be caught, so he ran in the opposite direction from the cave where Maximus stayed. After he could not run any more, he ducked into a hole in a rock, and prayed for God to hide him. Maybe it was thanks to God, but it was definitely thanks to the spiders that Felix was hidden. A cluster of spiders quickly spun a thick web over Felix and completely hid him from the guards. Felix was saved! From that day on, Felix revered spiders. He became a priest and he taught everyone he met that spiders were sacred and should not be killed. For this reason, he is the patron saint of spiders and lost animals, and his compassion is frequently cited when practitioners hesitate to remember God’s commandment to love everything and everyone despite their appearances. His feast day is January 14th. Materials: Grocery store sushi containers, and plastic ramen to-go lids, stick, wire, fishing line, clear gloss, and black glue. (In the collection of Sarah Bullock) #saintfelix #saintfelixofnola by @iconophilialsn
Saint Andrew: One of the 12 apostles, Andrew was originally a fisherman. One day, while fishing out on the Sea of Galilee with his brother, Simon-Peter, Jesus walked by them, and, according to Matthew 4:19 in the King James Bible, He said unto them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately put down their nets and followed Jesus as disciples from that day onward. As with most saints, Andrew’s life did not end well. After spreading the gospel around the Black Sea, and up into Russia, he was imprisoned, and then crucified. According to legend, as they were nailing St. Andrew to the cross, he cried out that he was not worthy enough to die in the way that Jesus had died, and so he asked that the cross be lain on its side, turning it into an X-shape. This X-leaning cross is called a saltire, and now, more commonly known as “St. Andrew’s Cross.” The Xs I chose to work with are in reference to the city of Amsterdam which I recently got to visit on my travels. Everywhere you go in Amsterdam, the crest of the city (and the flag)is on display. 3 Xs stacked vertically on a coat of arms. They are St Andrew’s crosses, meant to represent how he saved them from 3 fates: From fire, flooding, and the black plague. Though I searched, I could find no correlation between the 3 Xs of Amsterdam and the modern adult-movie XXX rating system, but I still have my suspicions. This piece is primarily worked in “Filet Lace.” Filet in French, meaning “net.” More importantly, this kind of lace was invented by fishermen, like Andrew, who would sometimes embellish their nets with simple designs whilst in the process of mending them. For the base net I chose a plastic grocery potato sack. The filet lacework is done by weaving in wool thread between the gaps. As these Xs are responsible for saving Amsterdam from fire, flood, and plague, I put the piece through some hard times, and left it in ruin. The hanging chain and light-pull are to incubate thoughts of neon signs- a nod to the modern Amsterdam. St. Andrew’s feast day is November 30th, and he patronizes fishermen, rope makers, textile workers, butchers, singers, miners… etc. #saintandrew #religiousiconography by @iconophilialsn
Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music, is depicted so heavily in art that I was certain her origin story would be inspiring. Disappointedly, however, I learned that almost all of the paintings of Saint Cecilia are lies. They generally show her playing a harpsichord, or a violin, or a lute, or strumming a harp, and yet NOWHERE in her origin story does one find a musical instrument of any kind mentioned, save her voice. The story goes something like this: Cecilia believed in God. Cecilia wanted to devote her life to God, but her family had other plans and married her off to a lord. On her wedding day, Cecila didn't partake in the revelry, and instead stayed apart from the party and "sang to God in her heart." That's it. God heard her and was moved, and protected her from her husband's advances, keeping her a virgin. Cecilia eventually converted her husband to Christianity with an angel's help, and then he converted his army to Christianity, and it was a whole thing. Eventually she was put to death for her beliefs, still a virgin. That's it. No harpsichord. No organ. No violin. She just sang to God. Silently. But I guess it was a really good silent concert because it impressed all the right people. Despite being let down by this story, I knew what I wanted to create, which is rare, so I went ahead and devoted myself to crocheting and beading a long lace veil of sorts cascading off a silent violin bow. The bow belonged to my elementary school-aged mother, and had long since broken. The local music store told me it was more expensive to rehair it than to get a new one, and the idea of a bow that could never make music again resonated with me, so I gave it a new purpose. I liked the idea of music made into lace dripping off its strings, tying in to the tears and veil of Cecilia on her wedding day. Silent singing. Fun fact- I read that it is very likely that Simon and Garfunkel's song "Cecilia" is about the songwriters' struggle with the muse of music. Listening to the lyrics with Saint Cecilia in mind definitely puts a new spin on it. Materials: Violin bow, pearl cotton, gold thread, glass beads, chandelier crystals, tacky glue. #saintcecilia #saint by @iconophilialsn
Saint Helena (Helen), might be one of the most pivotal women in the history of Christianity after Mary. She was the first to influence a Roman emperor into embracing Christianity instead of trying to destroy it. If it weren’t for her, Christianity may never have grown to the world religion it is today. Married to Emperor Constantius, she gave birth to Constantine I in 272 AD. Despite being cast off by her husband in favor of a younger bride, she was so loved by her son that she was re-instated as monarchy as soon as Constantine The Great took power, and he took up her Christian ways. Her acts to empower Christianity were many, and there are numerous stories of her bravery and self-sacrifice towards this goal. Favorite tales include how she went to Israel in search of the cross that Jesus was crucified on. When she found it, she brought back to Rome splinters of this cross and the nails that hung Jesus. One was fashioned into Constantine’s helmet/crown, making him unstoppable. After she died, in 331AD, Constantine I had 50 Bibles made in her memory. 50 Bibles! Think about that really hard. We’re talking about a time when books had to be copied entirely by hand and the velum pages had to be bound with thread and pasted into folios, and then bound by leather into a book. (There is some disagreement whether these looked like the books of our day, or they were more scroll-like) None of these Bibles are known to have survived today, but we do know that this version of the Bible included the female-empowering book of Judith, a book strangely missing from the modern NIV. Maybe the idea of women cutting off the heads of men was too much for the church? My point is this: Saint Helen was a powerful, independent woman who valued freedom of religion, education, and love of her son over all else. I think she deserves a lot more credit than history has given her. In honor of her, I have made 50 tiny facsimiles of Bibles. May she rest in power. Materials: Old book pages, basal wood, recycled drinking straws, tacky glue, gold paint, washi paper, fabric, gold embossing powder, and wood. Feast Day: August 18th #SaintHelena #saintart (See comments for bonus fact) by @iconophilialsn
Saint Dismas More commonly known as “The Penitent Thief,” Saint Dismas is written about in the Gospel of Luke as the criminal being hung on the cross to the right of Jesus at The Crucifixion. The criminal hanging to the left of Jesus sneers at Him, basically saying, “Aren’t you the son of God? Can’t you save us?” Jesus doesn’t answer, but Dismas defends Him, saying, “Don’t mock Him. You and I deserve this punishment, but Jesus hasn’t done anything to deserve this. Pray for me, Jesus.” Jesus looks at Dismas and tells him that he’ll see him in Heaven later that day. This may sound like some chill end-of-life chit-chat, but it is officially the first time that Jesus has forgiven someone for their sins and invited them into heaven. And not just anyone! A convicted criminal, forgiven at the ninth hour. This is why Dismas is the patron saint of those sentenced to death for their crimes and convicted criminals. He is the symbol of absolution. In my research, I discovered that Dismas gets his name from the Gospel of Nicodemus: meaning “Sunset” in Latin. I loved this idea. The sun setting on a man’s sin-filled life, and the sun rising on his eternal life in heaven. The problem I faced was: how do you depict a sunset without being cheesy? I opted for planks of cedar, reminiscent of the cross Dismas died on, the knots of wood representing the sun, and the cathedral window a frame for reference. I chose to illustrate the blood of Jesus with 3 coral beads, representing His death, and His gift to Saint Dismas. Feast Day: March 25th #saintdismas #saintart #catholicart by @iconophilialsn
Saint Veronica. Dollars to doughnuts you know Saint Veronica, even if you don’t know her name. Do you remember that part of the crucifixion story where Jesus is carrying his cross to Golgotha with the crown of thorns on His head? After a particularly nasty fall, Jesus looks up and there’s a woman who wipes the dirt, sweat, and blood from His face with the veil from her head. (This is where I lose some Protestants, because that def wasn’t in the canonical Bible, but in the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus.) Anyway, that’s Saint Veronica! This saint, who was probably called Berenike back in her day, is known for her strength of sympathy and kindness at a time when the majority of the masses were cruel. The veil that she used that day came away with an image of Jesus’ face imbued on its threads. This is considered her miracle. You may also recognize her from the 6th station of the cross which countless artists have depicted for churches to help Catholics meditate on the gravity of what Jesus did for us that day. Does the Veil of Veronica still exist? Yes! The Vatican claims to keep this relic in its vaults away from sunlight, oxygen, and dubious non-believers. As a bonus, I also learned that Spanish bullfighters call their infamous pose of holding their capes to the side a “Veronica” because all paintings of St Veronica show her holding her face-emblazoned veil out at arm’s length, like a bullfighter. Deep trivia! (I tried to get a Toro Bravo skull for this piece, but it didn’t happen, so I had to let the bull concept go.) Unsurprisingly, she is the patron saint of photographers and weavers. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to play on a loom, so this piece depicts the blood and sweat from the brow of Jesus, stylized as lace flowers, dripping down an empty loom of golden threads. Weave in meaning where you may. Veronica’s feast day is July 12th. Lace motifs are made from cotton lace thread on a size 14 (0.4mm) crochet hook. #saintveronica #catholicart by @iconophilialsn
Saint Jerome, patron saint of librarians and translators, was born in modern-day Croatia as Eusebius Hieronymous. He lived a scholastic life and cared nothing for religion or morals until one day he stood in a crypt and faced his own mortality, causing him to convert to Christianity immediately, and leading him to become a monastic hermit. He is most famous for spending the last 34 years of his life creating The Vulgate. This was the first Latin translation of the Bible in which the original texts of the Bible written in Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic, were referenced (Jerome spoke a dozen languages) and instead of translating the texts merely word for word, he included the style, tone, and feeling of the original text in his work. He coined the term for this kind of translation:“Dynamic Equivalence.” He felt very strongly that the idiomatic rendering of meaning was just as important as the literal meaning. Perhaps for this reason, The Vulgate is still the most popular Latin translation of the Bible used in Catholicism today. Jerome is frequently depicted in art as a bedraggled hermit scholar, and with a skull on his desk to illustrate his moment of conversion. In more simple depictions, he is shown merely as an owl. Wise and ever-watchful. Jerome died of natural causes in Bethlehem in 420AD. My version of Saint Jerome is fairly straight-forward. An owl perched on an exterior windowsill of a church. In my whimsical mind I like to wonder what Jerome would think if he knew we were still using his translation in Catholic Mass, 1,600 years later. Oil paint on canvas board. (Board was trimmed from original size after I felt the composition too weak) *Gifted to my librarian mother who loves owls. #saintjerome by @iconophilialsn
Santa Justa and Rufina, the patron saints of pottery and potters, are a pair of sister saints who crop up every now and then in art, and who I personally find to be fascinating. I first came across them walking through Lisbon, Portugal where I saw the beautiful outdoor lift named Santa Justa, and later read about them in the novel, "The Muse" by Jesse Burton. These sisters were potters in Seville, Spain in roughly 270AD. They were asked to sell their wares in a pagan festival, but being good Christians, they declined. The participants of the festival were angry, and retaliated by destroying their pottery. Justa and Rufina got even by smashing a sculpture of Venus. ...it did not go well for them after that. Some dude in charge of that area, Diogenianus, had them arrested. He told them to renounce their faith, and the sisters refused. He tortured them, but they still refused. Stories vary, here, but some sources say that in order to break Rufina, they threw Justa's body down the well where her body broke into pieces like the pottery she spent her life making. Her sister still stayed true to her faith, so Diogenaianus fed her to the lions. Luckily, just like David, the lions weren't interested in eating Rufina. Infuriated, they hauled her out, broke her neck, and burned her remains. Yikes! For this Saint project, I started with the frame of a palm leaf (made from crepe paper). The Palm leaf is a symbol of martyrs and you frequently see them holding their fronds in imagery. That's how you know they died for their faith. From the palm I have suspended shards of pottery. I didn't go into the deepest research, but I found an image of an example of a Seville pitcher in the 3rd century, and I went to my local pottery-painting place to make the closest copy I could manage. After smashing the pitcher, I dyed the shards in tea to make them appear to be made from earthenware as opposed to white clay. Then I drilled holes in each piece and attached with wire. This piece has been in the back of my mind for so long, it feels great to be complete. 📸 by @heymanjaws #saintjusta #santarufina #catholicart by @iconophilialsn
Saint Isidore is not a saint I was familiar with when I started this project, but upon completion, I marvel that this saint should be so ill-known. He is, after all, the patron saint of the internet! Born in 560AD, Isidore was a Spanish scholar. He was the Archbishop of Seville for 30years, but that did not seem to keep him from his philosophies and studies. He spoke Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Spanish. He wrote books like “Etymologiae” which was basically the first Christian Wikipedia, collecting all known Christian knowledge in one place. It was 448 chapters- a whopping 20 volumes long. It was the most popular encyclopedia of the middle ages. As if that weren’t enough, he illustrated our oldest known map of the world. Replicated (with artistic liberties) here, this is an Isidoran Map, aka a TO map. TO stands for Terra Orbis, or “round earth.” While explorers had not yet discovered the Americas or Antarctica and Australia, this was the known world, and Isidore knew it was round. The TO map is not an exact geographical representation, but a very simple way to explain the essence of the globe to people. It shows that Asia is very large. That Europe is divided from Africa by the Mediterranean. That there are 4 cardinal directions with the East (Oriens) at the top of the map where the sun rises, and the West (Occidens) at the bottom. At the center of the map, where I have placed the compass rose, is Jerusalem, the birthplace of Christ. Over 1,000 versions of this map exist throughout texts of the middle ages, but they all follow those same basic principles. Can you imagine learning this map in school compared to the one we have now? I find Isidore a fascinating historical figure, and worthy of knowing outside of his Catholic saintliness for his contributions to the spread of knowledge, and giving more people access to it. His feast day is April 4th. As a side note, I really enjoyed learning the Latin names of the direction. Oriens/East=The rising sun, Occidens/West= The setting sun, Meridies/South=The mid-day sun. Septenrio/North= The seven-star constellation of Ursa Major. Materials: Gesso board, acrylic. #saintisidore #oldmaps by @iconophilialsn
Born in 456AD in Salency, France, Saint Medardus was a famous Bishop who is commonly prayed to in order to stop bad weather, or ask for rain, or even relieve toothaches. When he was a child caught out in the rain, it is said that an eagle hovered above him and kept him dry, hence his association with weather. By some folks in Northern France and Western Germany, it is believed that whatever the weather is on his feast day, June 8th, that weather will persist for 40 days straight. He’s basically a Catholic Groundhog! (No disrespect intended) In Salency they hold a festival on his feast day to celebrate him and, of course, pray for good weather in the coming farming days. Every year they elect the most virtuous girl in town to be the Rosière. She is clothed in white and given a wreath of 12 roses to wear on her head. Escorted by 12 of her female peers and 12 boys, she is presented tokens by the mayor of the town in an act of supplication to the weather forces and He who controls them. Obviously some years it works and some years it does not- but they still do it! ... Materials: Grapevines, Crepe paper, ink, tacky glue, wire, gold thread, and repurposed grocery-store sushi to-go plastic containers. . . . Trigger Warning- The following rant touches on religious beliefs and may be triggering. It has come to my attention that people who don’t come from a Catholic background may misunderstand saints and why they are prayed to. Saint Medardus doesn’t have the power to stop the rain. At the end of the day he’s just a man. In Christianity, God is the only one with power. People pray to Saint Medardus in the same way that people write to their senator if they want something done on a federal level. You don’t write directly to the president. A lot of Christians dislike this order of operations and claim you don’t need to go through a saint. That God hears your prayers directly. Well. Maybe he does. I am not in a position to argue that. But I kind of like the idea that God has a little help in his office, and he’s not doing it all by himself. #saintmedardus by @iconophilialsn

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