Aspicientes in Auctorem Fidei (Looking on the Author of Faith)

Resource added
Sepia-toned reproduction of Jesus bearing cross on a hill. Ten artists at easels, below: one of them paints Jesus bearing the cross; the other paint different scenes. Latin text above and below image.
Theodoor Galle (Flemish, 1571–1633)

ca. 1601. Frontispiece to Jan David, S.J. (Flemish, 1545–1613), Orbita probitatis ad Christi imitationem Veridico Christiano subserviens (Wheel of Probity, Serving [to Facilitate] the True Christian’s Imitation of Christ).34 Antwerp: Ex officina Plantiniana (Plantin workshop), 1606. Engraving, 22 cm. Lent by Walter S. Melion.

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Christ stands on a hill at center, bearing the heavy burden of the cross. Ten painters gather round to paint his portrait after the life, but only one, seated in the foreground, directly opposite Christ, paints him precisely as he appears. The others choose to paint happier episodes from his life: the Adoration of the Magi, the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes, Christ as a Boy among the Doctors, the Wedding Feast at Cana, the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, and the Ascension. Three painters paint more sinister scenes: Judas with the purse of coins; the devil; and an allegory of heresy, symbolized by a temptress accompanied by barking dogs.

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    Theodoor Galle (Flemish, 1571–1633)
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