"St. Margaret" (the Pearl)

RAPHAEL, 1483-1520. THE LOUVRE.

The name Margaret means Pearl in Greek, and the legend of St. Margaret is of Greek origin. It became known in Europe as early as the fifth century. In 494 it was repudiated by Pope Gelasius as apocryphal; from that time we hear little of it, until the eleventh century, when it was introduced into Europe by the first crusaders.

Margaret, the wife of Malcolm III., of Scotland, the first person of distinction who bore the name, was born in Hungary in 1046. According to the legend, St. Margaret was the daughter of a priest of Antioch, named Theodosius. Being a delicate infant, she was sent to a nurse in the country; this woman was a Christian, and she secretly instructed Margaret in the true faith.

One day while Margaret was attending sheep, Olybrius, the governor of Antioch, passed by; attracted by her beauty he ordered that the girl should be brought to his palace, intending, if she were of noble birth, to marry her; but she resisted all his offers, finally declaring herself to be the servant of the Lord Jesus. Upon this, her father and all her relatives fled, leaving her in the power of the governor.

In order to make her recant he caused her to be put to the most cruel tortures; but Margaret did not quail. Then she was dragged to a dungeon, where Satan, in the form of a terrible dragon, came upon her, with his mouth wide open to receive her, but when she held up the Cross he took to flight--another instance, in allegorical art, of the power of sin being overcome by the power of the Cross.

She was again brought before the tyrant, but still refusing to abjure her faith, he ordered her to be beheaded by the sword.

When they led her forth to execution, she rejoiced that her sorrows were ended, and, glorifying God, she received joyfully the crown of martyrdom.

Such constancy in one so young won many converts to the faith. Five thousand of these were baptized in one day, and declared themselves ready to die with her.

In art the attributes of St. Margaret are a dragon, a cross, a crown, and a palm branch. The crown is usually of pearls, in allusion to her name. Sometimes she carries daisies, then the picture is called Marguerite, the French name for those flowers. The palm branch, or the crown, serves to distinguish her from St. Martha, whose attributes are also a dragon and a cross.

As a devotional picture the subject is allegorically founded upon certain texts of Scripture: Psalm XCI., 13; Rev. XII., 7 and 8. See also the Apocrypha, "Bel and the Dragon," and "Lives of the Saints" (Guerin's), for many dragon miracles. They are considered as allegories.

Raphael in his famous "St. Margaret," in the Louvre, evidently presents to us the allegory of faith triumphing over the powers of evil. The beautiful maiden in graceful attire steps fearlessly upon the wing of the dragon, who lies on his back, with his hideous mouth expanded, his eyes dilated, and his tail coiled, evidently eager for mischief, yet powerless to move.

St. Margaret bears the palm of victory in one hand, and with the other holds back the drapery of her garments from the coils of the dragon's tail.

This picture was ordered by Francis I., of France, and the saint is said to be a likeness of his sister Margaret, of Navarre.

The background represents a beautifully wooded land-scape.

The beauty, simplicity, and grace of Raphael's "St. Margaret" have given it a high rank among celebrated pictures; but it has been greatly injured by being transferred from wood to canvas.

In Christian art, the dragon is the emblem of sin, the usual form given to the monster being that of a winged crocodile.

In the mystical history and legendary poetry of almost every nation the dragon is a minister of evil.