DEVIL IN ART AND SYMBOLISM. All representations of the Devil during the first four centuries of our era appear to have been that of a serpent tempting Eve. In a fresco in the cemetery of Sainte-Agnes Satan is figured in the form of a human bust termi nating in a serpent's tail. On several early Christian sarcophagi is seen a serpent twined around the trunk of a tree, the head is erect and threatens some doves, whose nest reposes on the tree, M. Le Blant declares that it is an error to consider this, as is frequently done, as a representation of the Devil threatening Inno cence; this scene, he says, has nothing of the symbolic, but is an ornamental motif borrowed from antiquity by Christian art. As a rule, in the temptation of Adam and Eve, the serpent, with his body encircling a tree, is depicted with an apple in his jaws. In the Middle Ages artists frequently placed the head of a young man or women on the serpent form. Again, in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, is an Italian miniature which displays a serpent with two human heads, one looking at Adam, the other at Eve. In a 14th century manuscript ("Speculum humane salvation's") Didron found the "tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil" surrounded by two serpents, each offering a fig, one to Adam, the other to Eve. The use of the serpent form to symbolize the Devil is confined to the "temp tation" scene, the depiction otherwise being given the conventional demon of grotesque form. Hulme describes an illustration of the Devil in a 14th century missal, in which Satan has great tusks protruding from his mouth and curling up nearly to the eyes; his ears are long and pointed. Other heads appear at shoulders and thighs, and from the mouths of these heads issue the figure's arms and legs; the arms terminate in bear's claws, the legs in eagle's talons. This figure's body is open at the waist exposing a nest of serpents darting forth; large scales cover the rest of the body. In old works of art we find the Devil given the same form as his imps, half man, half beast, and furnished with a tail and horns. Incidents in the lives of the saints are gen erally depicted with the devil in such form. Horses' hoofs or a cloven foot are commonly a part of the personality; and the wings of a bat are often added to increase the Satanic hideousness. When picturing the Devil as "the devouring monster" he generally takes on the form of a dragon. In pictures of Saint Michael in combat with the Devil Satan is depicted in a dragon's form; except rarely, when he is a two-legged creature having a monstrous head with a bird's beak, and is covered with scales. The German Renaissance artists were fond of giving the Devil a crow or raven form. In order to give Satan a special personality the painters of the Middle Ages frequently de picted him as black, but he is found also as red, blue and even green. Besides the above impersonations the evil spirit has been por trayed as lion, hog, boar and monkey, also basilisk. Another variation used in the Middle Ages was that of a monster with three heads each devouring one of the damned; a statue dating from the 12th century in Sainte-Basile d'Etampes has this form. Byzantine artists frequently pictured Satan as "cast out of Heaven') in which case he takes on a person ality of black-winged demon. More adapted to modern conceptions are the depictions of the Devil in the form of a young gallant, or of a young girl. A few pictures by great masters which contain Satan are: One by Niccola of Pisa, in which the Devil has the form of a satyr; Orcagna's 'Hell' in Saint Maria Novelle, Florence, depicts the prince of demons as Pluto; Saint Michael's combat with Satan has been painted by Raphael (in Louvre) ; by Guido (in the Capucine Church, Rome); by Jacobello del Fiore (in Berlin Museum) ; by Lucas Giordano (in Belvedere, Vienna). An
other favorite subject with artists is the 'Temptation of Christ.> According to Husenbeth the following saints have been pictured in connection with the Devil: Saint Demetrius (martyr) has been represented with the Devil appearing to him in prison as a scorpion; Saint Goar (confessor) has been depicted with the Devil on his shoulder; Saint Albert (Carmelite) has been pictured driving away the Devil in the form of a young woman, but with horns and a fish's tail; Saint Anthony (abbot) has been portrayed having the Devil at his feet, or with the Devil in the form of a goat; Saint Apollinaris (bishop martyr) has been represented beating the Devil with a club, as also Saint Nicholas of Tolentinum; Saint Hilarion has been depicted mounted on an ass, driving the Devil away with the sign of the cross; Saint Hidulphus has been pictured casting the Devil out of a boy; Saint Zeno of Verona has been portrayed casting the Devil out of a woman; Saint Hermes has been represented on horseback casting the Devil out of a woman led by a man with a rope, or with the Devil issuing out of the mouth of a child; Saint Melanins also has been depicted driving out the Devil ; Saint Germanianus has been pictured casting out the Devil standing near him; Saint Anthony of Padua has been portrayed vanquishing the Devil; Saint Norbert has been represented with the Devil at his feet, or chained up; Saint Oswald (bishop confessor) has been pictured driving the Devil off a large stone; Saint John Thaumaturgus has been depicted driving the Devil out of people; Saint Gaudentius of Rimini has been portrayed administering Holy Communion to a man while the Devil is issuing from him; Saint Theodore (bishop confessor) has been represented trampling on the Devil; Saint John Gtialbert has been depicted standing on the Devil, a cross and tau staff set on the Devil's head; Saint Benedict has been portrayed with the Devil on each side of him, he piercing one of them through the head with the foot of his pastoral staff Saint Theodulus has been represented with the Devil at his feet having a great bell; Saint Cyriacus has been depicted with the Devil or dragon under him, or chained near him; Saint Wulstan has been pictured fixing his pastoral staff in Saint Edward's tomb, the Devil behind him with a hook; Saint Dunstan has been por trayed seizing the Devil by the nose with red hot pincers; Saint Justin has been represented vanquishing the Devil by the cross; Saint Euphrasia (410 not of 1534) has been depicted trampling on the Devil, or the Devil throwing her into a well; Saint Dympna has been pictured leading the Devil bound; Saint Gertrude of Nivelles has been portrayed with two mice at her feet and the Devil mocking at her side; Saint Juliana has been represented as scourging the Devil, held by a rope round his neck, or holding the Devil in chains; Saint Theodora (empress) has been pictured with the Devil taking hold of her hand; Saint 'Genevieve has been pictured with the Devil on her shoulder blowing out her lighted candle with a bellows.