Today (Dec. 14th) is the Feast of St. John of the Cross, Dr. of the Church

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

A profound mystic and Carmelite monk. His poetry is unsurpassed in its beautiful interpretation of the mystical journey to God.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08480a.htm

That's him with the sword thrugh his breast.

[TexasProgresive]

1. And Teresa with the lance-but

who are the other two? Look to be Carmelites also.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

2. I don't know who the other woman is but I'm pretty sure the older man is

The Prophet Elijah from whom the Carmelites get their name.

Though it could be the Carmelite founder, St Simon of Stock whom received the scapular from the Blessed Virgin - which is what this scene seems to portray

Come to think of it - it must be St Simon as Elijah is depicted in rough fur clothing as is John the Baptist who is the "new Elijah"

[DemBones DemBones]

3. Could it be St. Therese of Lisieux? The

"Little Flower" was another famous Carmelite.

[DemBones DemBones]

4. Also, Sts. John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, and

Therese of Lisieux are all Doctors of the Church, though I don't think that St. Simon Stock is.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

6. No he is not but the time of painting doesn't fit Therese

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

5. Nope she was in the 19th century - this painting was done in 1671

[DemBones DemBones]

8. Then Therese is out because she wasn't even born when it was

painted. Maybe St. Rose of Lima? Seems like she wears a Carmelite habit in pictures I've seen and she may be early enough.

[CBHagman]

7. I love the statue of St. John of the Cross in D.C.

A year or so ago the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., acquired an amazing statue of St. John of the Cross. It's polychromed wood, and the detail is such that you can see the veins in his hands, the fingernails and toenails, and the five o'clock shadow on his face!

Here's an article in NCR explaining the statue and the background of the saint:

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_22_40/ai_115405717

I haven't found an image on the Web to do it justice, but I'll try to post the National Gallery's online feature on the statue.

On edit: Here's the link, to give you some idea:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://www.nga.gov/press/2003/releases/imagebank/stjohn/img.htm&h=140&w=99&sz=5&tbnid=YhejfQRA9iAJ:&tbnh=87&tbnw=62&start=4&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522saint%2Bjohn%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bcross%2522%2B%252B%2B%2522national%2Bgallery%2522%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN


St. John of the Cross certainly has an interesting and broad influence. Loreena McKennitt's album "Mask and Mirror" includes a work inspired by him, "The Dark Night of the Soul." Very beautiful.

[DemBones DemBones]

9. I'd like to see that statue, have always liked

old polychromed wood sculptures and, really, all sorts of art, religious and secular. Much of the best art has always been religious, though, up until the last couple of centuries.

[CBHagman]

10. I love this particular statue and try to visit it as often as possible.

It's a moving experience to see it.

The Museum of American Art (currently closed for renovation, alas) displayed some fantastic santos from Puerto Rico in a special Puerto Rican exhibit. Hopefully we'll get to see those again soon.

And when the National Gallery put on an exhibit of Tilman Riemenschneider's work a couple of years back, I was in heaven. For those of you who don't know him, he was one of the finest German sculptors of the Renaissance era, working in both stone and wood. The city of Wuerzburg in Bavaria has a whole museum of his work. He depicted various saints, the Annunciation, the Last Supper, Bible scenes, etc.