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Duccio's Maesta |
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Front view
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And then the apostles took the body
honourably and laid it on the bier, and John said to Peter, ‘carry
this palm before the bier, for our Lord hath ordained thee above us, and
hath made thee pastor and prince of his sheep.’ To whom Peter replied,
‘it is better for you to bear it, for you are the chosen virgin of our
Lord, and you should carry the virgin’s palm. I shall bear the holy
body with the bier, and the other apostles, our brethren, shall go round
about the body yielding thanks to God. Then St. Paul said to him: I, that am least of the apostles and of you all, shall bear it with you. So Peter and Paul lifted up the bier, and Peter sang, ‘Israel is issued out of Egypt!’ and the other apostles followed him in the same song. (The Golden Legend) Note: the characters without haloes following the procession are Jews. In a tradition originating perhaps in the fragmentary text known as the Pseudo-Evigius of Rome, quoted in Mother of God - A history of the Virgin Mary (Miri Rubin) angry Jews followed the procession determined to attack it; one of them, Zephania, reached for the bier, whereupon his hand was cut off by an Angel. This led to the conversion of many of the Jews. |
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