Csornay Boldizsár - Hubai Péter szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 96. (Budapest, 2002)

KOVÁCS, ZOLTÁN: A New Representation of the Salvator Mundi from the workshop of Quentin Massys

orb on His knees.

52 Another one among the rare depictions of the Saviour in this iconographie tradition is the huge panel by the Spanish Fernando Gallegos (14661507), coming from the San Lorenzo church in Toro around 1480-90. It shows the Salvator Mundi enthroned within an architectural setting which resembles the inside of a tower, surrounded by the allegorical figures of Ecclesia and Synagogue and the floating symbols of the Evangelists (fig. 47).

53 In His left He holds a translucent crystal globe, surmounted by a long-stemmed patriarchal cross; inside the globe there is another, smaller sphere showing through, an unusual device that is found in the Budapest panel, too. A metaphor of Earth, the dark ball inside the sphere is surrounded by concentric lines, one of which is the orbit of a gleaming planet, a star. This motif must refer to the passage in Revelations (22:16), which calls Christ the morning star. Just as a star illuminates the night, Christ disperses the darkness of the soul.

54 RAISED HAND AND GLOBE - BLESSING AND SALVATION As it has been referred to earlier in this article, the most important attributes of the iconographie type of the Salvator Mundi are the right hand raised in blessing and the globe, surmounted by a cross, held in the left. As both motifs have long been known and employed in religious art, the appearance of the new type in the iconography of the Salvator Mundi can be interpreted only as an indication of the change in the meaning of the motifs and in the theological concept behind it. There are several textual references to the arm of God being "stretched out" in blessing or punishment, including in the Old Testament (Ex. 6:6 and 15:16, etc.). At the same time, the raising of the hand can be a gesture of majesty, teaching, or simply of calling attention or greeting."'

5 Similarly to the action of praying, the gestures of almightiness and greeting can be expressed in two ways, with an open palm or bent fingers; the latter, however, was more practical in Christian symbolism, since magical signs (crosses or Christograms) could be formed with the variously rendered fingers. 52 The Illustrated Bartsch 8 (6/1). Early German Artists, ed. J. C. Hutchinson, New York 1980, 81, fig. 83. 53 Prado, Madrid, inv. 2.647, 169 by 132 cm. S. A. Blanch, The Prado, Madrid 1991, 145, fig. 6; J. R. Buendia and others, Die Sammlungen des Prado. Malerei vom 12.-18. Jahrhundert, Barcelona 1994,48-9. Cf. Gottlieb, op. cit. (cfr. n. 10), 328, fig. 13. A full-length, seated figure of the Salvator, dating from 1480, can be found in the main altar of the Salvator Church, Heiligenstadt, Lower Bavaria. Cf. Vor Leinberger. Landshuter Skulptur im Zeitalter der Reichen Herzöge 2, exh. cat., Museen der Stadt Landshut, Landshut 2001,428-30, no. 65. 54 The motif of the globe consisting of concentric spheres is an iconographie innovation of the Spanish painting. Such depictions of the universe may derive from ancient Greek philosophy. Cf. Gottlieb, op. cit. (cfr. n.10), 325-6, n. 34. A globe of this type appears in the hands of the Saviour Christ in the Frechilla Altarpiece by Pedro Berruguete (Gottlieb, op. cit. (cfr. n.10), figs. 15-6), and in that of the Salvator by Cristobal Ramirez (d. 1577), now in the Prado (inv. 1.060, Museo del Prado. Inventario general de pinturas I., La collection real, Madrid 1990, no. 405.) 55 LCI 4. 145-6. Cf. F. X. Kraus, Real-Enzyklopädie der christlichen Alterthümer 2, Freiburg i. B. 1886,750-3.