to the church: it is the vision of St. John on the
isle of Patmos. Looking up into the dome, one seems to be looking
directly into the open sky, upon the figure of Christ ascending into
heaven. The apostles sit in a circle on the clouds, and beneath them
the aged St. John kneels on the mountain top, gazing upwards upon the
vision. The heavenly spaces are alive with angels, for, as Browning
writes:--
"Correggio loves to mass, in rifts
Of heaven, his angel faces, orb on orb."
The little creatures are sporting among the clouds and, in the poet's
phrase, "waiting to see some wonder momently grow out."
Where the dome rests upon the four arches which support it, are four
triangular corner-pieces called pendentives, which also belong to
Correggio's decorative plan. They are devoted respectively to the
figures of the four Evangelists, each one accompanied by one of the
four Fathers of the Church. The Christian Fathers were the men whose
writings and teachings shaped the doctrines of the faith in the early
centuries of our era. They interpreted for the people the meaning of
the Scriptures and the Gospels.
The pendentive of our illustration contains St. John with St.
Augustine. The two sit side by side, engaged in a discussion over the
book which they hold together. St. John is young and beautiful, as the
painters always represent him, except in the subject of the vision of
Patmos. The face is perhaps less strong and the expression less
exalted than in the lunette we have studied. There is a boyish
eagerness in his manner. The symbolic eagle is beside him, peeping out
from the folds of the drapery. St. Augustine is a handsome old man
with finely cut features. To understand how well the figure fits his
character, we must know something of his life.[16]
[Footnote 16: The life of St. Augustine, also called St. Austin, is
related in the _Golden Legend_. See Caxton's translation in the
_Temple Classics_, vol. 5, page 44. Mrs. Jameson gives a condensed
account of the life in _Sacred and Legendary Art_, p. 303.]
He was born in Numidia near the middle of the fourth century, and
showed in his boyhood brilliant powers of mind. Without the help of
any teacher he read and mastered all the books necessary to an
education in the liberal arts. His mother, Monica, was a devout
Christian, and sought to lead her son to a godly life. For a long time
her efforts seemed in vain. Augustine would make no profession of the
Chris
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