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拍品專文
Saint Thomas Aquinas (1224/25-1274) was known as a master theologian, philosopher, and champion of the Catholic church. Born in Naples in 1225 to a noble family, at the age of nineteen he joined the Dominican order of Preachers. Opposed to his choosing a mendicant life of piety, Thomas’ family kidnapped him, holding him captive for several years in an attempt to sway him to choose another path in life. Despite his family’s appeals, threats, and tempting proposals, Thomas remained committed to a life of purity and service to the Lord. According to legend, at one point during his confinement, his brothers hired a prostitute to lure him to sin. Not giving in, Thomas chased the woman from his room with a burning fireplace poker. Kneeling down in ecstatic prayer, he was then visited by an angel who, girding him, blessed him with a life free of carnal sin. Unfettered by temptation, Tomas’ story provides proof of the spiritual bounty one may attain through a life of virtue. Dubbed the “Universal Doctor,” Saint Thomas Aquinas went on to become one of most influential scholars of his time. His most well-known work, the Summa Theologiae written in 1265–1274, contains his detailed philosophy on God, Creation and Man, and provides guiding principles for those following a life of devotion. Considered among the canon of Western literature, his ideas and religious doctrine inspired a school of thought called Thomism and continues to influence Catholic Church today.
In colonial Latin America, Catholic missionaries used Saint Thomas’ teachings to guide their faith. One such proponent of his work was Fray Cristóbal de Torres (1573-1654). Spanish-born and member of the Dominican order, in 1635 Torres was appointed Archbishop of Santafé de Nueva Granada in modern-day Colombia. A forward thinker, he was the first bishop to allow the local indigenous peoples to take communion, and noting the absence of higher education in the New World, in 1653 he founded the Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario in Bogotá—what today is known as the Universidad del Rosario. From the very beginning, Fray Cristóbal built Thomist philosophy into the founding of the university, citing in the constitution the necessity for all who study to be versed in the teachings of the saint.1 It was for the library of the university that Fray Cristóbal requested a copy of the Cursus Philosophicus Thomisticus, an interpretation and commentary on Saint Thomas’s ideas, written by the Dominican friar John of Saint Thomas. Printed in Spain in 1635 by Antonio Vázquez, on the inside front cover of the book is an image of Saint Thomas Aquinas by Jean de Courbes (c. 1592- 1637 or later), a French printmaker active in Spain from 1620 until his death.2
With only a few minor changes, the similarities between the European print and the painting are undeniable. In the center of the composition is Saint Thomas wearing the habit of a Dominican friar, but with small adornments along the edges of his robes, consistent with the print. He wears a golden chain with a sun pendant around his neck, his most common attribute and a symbol of his divine intellect as well as an reference to his writings on the Gospels, entitled Catena Aurea or Golden Chain.3 In keeping with iconographic tradition for the saint, a dove is pictured above him and he is fitted with the wings of an angel—reference to his title as “Doctor Angelicus” (Angelic Doctor). With pen and book in hand, heavenly rays spring from the quill illuminating the church below. The Virgin Mary is pictured on the right, and Christ on the crucifix to his left, with a banderole that reads Bene Scripsisti De Me Thoma: “You have written well of me, Thomas.”4 Along the edges of the work, are images and passages relating The Wisdom of Ben Sira, text that certainly resonated with Saint Thomas’ belief that God is the source of all knowledge. Further confirming this point, is the cartouche on the lower register that reads: Aeternae sapientie libro in sinu Patris aeternis, “The eternal wisdom of the Father’s eternal book” confirming the notion that Saint Thomas’ writings were of divine inspiration.
A deviation from the European print is the bishop’s mitre and crosier noted in the bottom register, a reference to his declining the offer of episcopacy from Pope Innocent IV in favor of further scholarly pursuits.4 Noting the similarities between printed source and the painting, and the fact that the printed image did indeed make its way to the New World, it is quite probable then that the work was commissioned for local admiration in Nueva Granada. The inscription along the lower edge of the painting seems to confirm this, noting that the painting was given in devotion for the benefit of the Church.
In colonial Latin America, Catholic missionaries used Saint Thomas’ teachings to guide their faith. One such proponent of his work was Fray Cristóbal de Torres (1573-1654). Spanish-born and member of the Dominican order, in 1635 Torres was appointed Archbishop of Santafé de Nueva Granada in modern-day Colombia. A forward thinker, he was the first bishop to allow the local indigenous peoples to take communion, and noting the absence of higher education in the New World, in 1653 he founded the Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario in Bogotá—what today is known as the Universidad del Rosario. From the very beginning, Fray Cristóbal built Thomist philosophy into the founding of the university, citing in the constitution the necessity for all who study to be versed in the teachings of the saint.1 It was for the library of the university that Fray Cristóbal requested a copy of the Cursus Philosophicus Thomisticus, an interpretation and commentary on Saint Thomas’s ideas, written by the Dominican friar John of Saint Thomas. Printed in Spain in 1635 by Antonio Vázquez, on the inside front cover of the book is an image of Saint Thomas Aquinas by Jean de Courbes (c. 1592- 1637 or later), a French printmaker active in Spain from 1620 until his death.2
With only a few minor changes, the similarities between the European print and the painting are undeniable. In the center of the composition is Saint Thomas wearing the habit of a Dominican friar, but with small adornments along the edges of his robes, consistent with the print. He wears a golden chain with a sun pendant around his neck, his most common attribute and a symbol of his divine intellect as well as an reference to his writings on the Gospels, entitled Catena Aurea or Golden Chain.3 In keeping with iconographic tradition for the saint, a dove is pictured above him and he is fitted with the wings of an angel—reference to his title as “Doctor Angelicus” (Angelic Doctor). With pen and book in hand, heavenly rays spring from the quill illuminating the church below. The Virgin Mary is pictured on the right, and Christ on the crucifix to his left, with a banderole that reads Bene Scripsisti De Me Thoma: “You have written well of me, Thomas.”4 Along the edges of the work, are images and passages relating The Wisdom of Ben Sira, text that certainly resonated with Saint Thomas’ belief that God is the source of all knowledge. Further confirming this point, is the cartouche on the lower register that reads: Aeternae sapientie libro in sinu Patris aeternis, “The eternal wisdom of the Father’s eternal book” confirming the notion that Saint Thomas’ writings were of divine inspiration.
A deviation from the European print is the bishop’s mitre and crosier noted in the bottom register, a reference to his declining the offer of episcopacy from Pope Innocent IV in favor of further scholarly pursuits.4 Noting the similarities between printed source and the painting, and the fact that the printed image did indeed make its way to the New World, it is quite probable then that the work was commissioned for local admiration in Nueva Granada. The inscription along the lower edge of the painting seems to confirm this, noting that the painting was given in devotion for the benefit of the Church.