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The Figure of Seth in the Vault‐Paintings in the ParishChurch of ÖstofteBarbara Baert aa Department of History of Art , Katholieke Universiteit Leuven , Belgien , Postbus 33,Blijde‐Inkomststraat 21, B‐3000 LeuvenPublished online: 01 Sep 2008.

To cite this article: Barbara Baert (1997) The Figure of Seth in the Vault‐Paintings in the Parish Church of Östofte,Konsthistorisk tidskrift/Journal of Art History, 66:2-3, 97-111, DOI: 10.1080/00233609708604426

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The Figure of Seth in theVault-Paintings in the Parish Church of ÖstofteIn Search of the Iconographical Tradition

BARBARA BAERT

The legend of the Cross was widespread in bothtext and image throughout a large geographicalarea; it also reached the Scandinavian North.Many motifs led an autonomous existence beforethey grew together with the legend of the Cross;others split off from the legend later on. Themotif of Seth in the Church of östofte in Den-mark (Lolland, 20 km northwest of Maribo) canbe related to both issues. The mural paintings onthe crossed rib vault of the Choir date fromaround 13801. The paintings of prophets andscenes from the story of Genesis were carried outby an anonymous master.

In the East one can recognize the Fall of Manand his banishment from the Garden of Eden; inthe South, the Creation of heavenly bodies andplants; in the North, the Creation of water andearth; in the West, the deeds of Adam and Eve.Each strip is subdivided by prophets and de-monic animals. The concave spaces between thepointed arches which form the transition be-tween wall and ceiling were selected for mandorlasand prophets: Christus pantoerater with two an-gels, in the East; Christ creating animals, in theSouth; Christ giving the first human couple in-structions about the trees of Paradise, in theNorth; and Christ creating Eve from Adam's rib,with scenes from the death of Adam, in the West.

In 1975 Sören Kaspersen (Copenhagen) de-voted an extensive study to the iconography ofthe prophets in these mural paintings2. Our at-tention is drawn towards one particular icono-graphical motif which was surprisingly includedin the vicinity of the scene of the Creation of Eve.

© Scandinavian University Press 1997.ISSN 0023-3609

A young man receives a twig from an angel(Fig. 1), and in the following scene places it in themouth of an ill old man (Fig. 2). The old man isAdam, and the young man is his third son, Seth.Seth had received the twig from Michael, theguardian of Paradise. We will investigate theorigins, dissemination and function of this apoc-ryphal motif.

1. The Origin of the Seth-Motif inLiterary Sources

In Genesis 4:25-26, Seth is given to Eve, and isseen as a replacement for the murdered Abel3. InGenesis 5:3-4, Seth is spoken of as the image ofAdam and the new founding father of the tengenerations before Noah4. In this last mention thus,it is suggested that Seth was Adam's first son. In IChronicles 1, indeed, he is the only son of Adammentioned; this is also the case in Luke 3:38, whichlists the generations up to the coming of Christ.

The double, and thus confusing, reference toAdam's 'first' son - Cain in Genesis 4, Seth inGenesis 5 — became further polarized. In theGcnesis-Rabbah, it is told that when the genera-tion of Seth intermarries with the descendants ofCain, they arc punished by the Flood5. Augustinecontrasts Seth, the upright ancestor, with Cain,and connects his name etymologically withresurrecticfi. Other patristic sources also make itapparent that Seth is viewed as a préfiguration ofChrist7.

However, Seth receives the most attention inthe apocryphal VitaAdae ctEvac (about 70 A.C.)8.

KonsthistoriskTidskrift, LXVI, Hafte2-3,1997

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Fig. 1. Seth receives a twig atthe gate of Paradise. Muralpainting, c. 1380. östofte(Denmark), choir.

Scth and Eve are sent to Paradise, at the request oftheir dying father/husband, to beg for the healingoil of the Tree of Life. On their arrival, they meet theguardian of Paradise, Michael, who sends them backwith the promise that Adam will be able to enjoy theoil of the Tree of Life at the coming of the Messiah.Adam dies shortly afterwards and is buried in a partof Paradise.

In the pseudo-gospel of Nicodemus (early 5th c ) ,this journey of Scth's is taken up in the context of

the 'Harrowing of Hell''. Eve, however, has dis-appeared from the scene. The Christianization ofthe motif reveals itself in the promise that Adamwill be saved after 5500 years. Then Christ willbaptize him and annoint him with the oil fromthe Tree of Paradise. The Tree of Life and/or theTree of Knowledge had long been understood asan important préfiguration of the Cross.

In the version of Johannes Belethus, however,which dates from about 1180, Seth actually does

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The figure ofSeth in the vault-paintings oföstofie 99

Fig. 2. Seth plants the twig in the mouth of Adam. Mural painting, c. 1380. östofte (Denmark), choir.

receive a twig from the Tree of Life10. His versionis standardized in the feast of the Invention of theCross (3rd May) in the Legenda Aurea (before1264)11. The twig grows on Adam's grave and isinvolved in all sorts of adventures until eventu-ally the Cross of Christ is fashioned from exactlythis 'new Tree of Life'. This is what we call thelegend of the Cross. It is striking that Jacobus deVoragine leaves the theme of Adam and Seth tothe judgement of the reader: 'the reader must beleft to judge for himself whether these things aretrue, since they are not mentioned in any chroni-cle or in any authentic history'12. The LegendaAurea was translated into German rhymed verseshortly after its composition. The so-calledPassional was intended for the areas ruled by theTeutonic Knights13. The translation could havemade its way to Southern Scandinavia along thisnorthward route.

2. Seth in the Iconographical Sources

a. Seth and the Legenda AureaThe Seth-motif, as it occurred in the Cross-legend of the Legenda Aurea and its derivatives,also made its way into iconography. In this con-text, Seth is first visualized in the wall-paintingsby Agnolo Gaddi in the central Choir of theFranciscan church of Santa Crocc in Florence(Fig. 3) u . This cycle from 1380 - thus actuallycontemporary with östofte - is the startingpoint for an iconographical tradition of Cross-legend cycles in Tuscany, all connected with theFranciscans, which culminates in the frescos ofPicro della Franccsca in Arezzo, approximately1460.15 But why were these Minorites so attachedto the legend?

1. Bonaventura describes the miracle of thestigmata of St. Francis on the day of the Restitu-tion of the Cross, 14th September. This liturgicalfeast is connected with the legend of Heradius,

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Fig. 3. Seth reives a twig and plants it on the dead bodyof Adam. Mural painting, Agnoli Gaddi, c. 1380. Firenze,Santa Croce (choir).

which in turn is part of the legend of the Cross.2. From 1377, Pope Gregory XI aimed for a

revaluation of the Restitution, thus for "the tak-ing up" of the Cross (imitatio Christi).

3. The content of the legend of the Crosscorresponds to the mission concept specific tothe Franciscans: conversions, especially from Is-lam, and ecumenism between the Eastern and

Western liturgy. The feast of 14th September hadoriginated in the East and the feast of 3rd May(the invention of the Cross) had originated in theWest. Both are related to the legend16.

4. The legend of the Cross belongs to the rangeof ideas concerning the Crusades, which werestill stimulated by Rome during the 14th and15th century.

5. Ever since 1342, the Franciscans had beenthe "guards" of the holy places in Jerusalem (so-called Custodes)17. - .

6. The Franciscans promoted a religiosity basedon compassio, referring to suffering and the Cross.

Seth was not only connected with the Fran-ciscan Cross-legends in Italy. He appears also ona retable of the legend of the Cross from around1400, attributed to Pedro Nicaolau, which comesfrom the Carthusian monastery of Porta Coeli inValencia, and is now in the Provincial Museum ofthat town. Seth receives the twig and plants it onAdam's body18. In a Legenda Aurea manuscriptfrom 1400, now in the Royal Library in Brussels(MS 92228, fol. 119), the feast of 3rd May- andthis is highly exceptional - is not illustrated bythe invention of the Cross, but by Seth bending

Fig. 4. Seth receives thetwig and plants it onAdam's grave. Paintedglass, c. 1410. Erfurt,cathedral, so-called Helen-window.

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The figure ofSeth in the vault-paintings oföstofie 101

Fig. 5. Seth is given his instructions by his father. Bookof Hours of Catherine of Cleves, 1442-1445. New York,Pierpont Morgan Library, M. 917, fol. 199.

Fig. 7. Seth plants the twig on his dead father. Book ofHours of Catherine of Cleves, 1442-1445. New York,Picrpont Morgan Library, M. 917, fol. 207.

Fig. 6. Seth at the gate of Paradise; in the bottom margin:Cain and Abel's sacrifice. Book of Hours of Catherine ofCleves, 1442-1445. New York, Pierpont Morgan Library,M. 917, fol. 204.

Fig. 8. The tree grows on Adam's grave; in the bottommargin: Abraham and Isaac's sacrifice. Book of Hours ofCatherine of Cleves, 1442-1445. New York, PierpontMorgan Library, M. 917, fol. 210.

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over the twig which grows on the grave". Sethappears furthermore on the so-called Helen-win-dow in the cathedral of Erfurt (from about 1410).Seth receives the twig and plants it on Adam'sgrave (Fig. 4)20. The Friday mass of the book ofHours of Catherine of Clevcs, which was pro-duced admittedly a century later, between 1442and 1445 (New York, Pierpont Morgan Library,M. 917, fols 199-210) devoted a small cycle toSeth21: Seth is given his instructions by his father(fol. 199, Fig. 5); Seth at the gate of Paradise; inthe bottom margin: Cain and Abels sacrifice (fol.204, Fig. 6); Seth plants the twig on his deadfather (fol. 207, Fig. 7); the tree grows on Adam'sgrave; in the bottom margin: Abraham and Isaac'ssacrifice (fol. 210) (Fig. 8). Both scenes in themargins are types for the Eucharist. Seth is thenew Abel and it is said that he was murdered bywood, as Christ was sacrificed by it.

In östofte too, the division into two scenes -receiving and planting the twig — concurs withFlorence, Valencia and Erfurt. The instruction ofSeth is omitted, as is the growing tree on Adam'sgrave. The planting occurs directly in Adam'smouth — as in Catherine of Cleves — and not ona tombstone as in Erfurt and Brussels. Adamsbody lies on a bed, just as in the instruction scenein Catherine of Cleves. But although the Seth-motif in östofte is related - albeit indirectly- tothe iconography above, this is not the case for thecontext in which the motif occurs, namely Gen-esis and the prophets.

Another literary and iconographical traditionmust underly it.

b. Seth and the Apocryphal Adam-Legends,the Chronicles and the Rhymed BiblesFrom the twelfth century, under the influence ofBelethus and the first legends of the Cross, theJudaeo-Christian Genesis apocrypha, such as theVitaAdae etEvae, were also augmented with themotif o f the twig from the tree of Paradise (so-called Post peccatum-group)22, and from the thir-teenth century this interpolation is also found inthe Nicpdemus traditions23. In the early four-teenth century, a certain Lutwin (from Kutten-berg, in the present-day Czech republic) put the

finishing touches to the poem that would becomethe most widespread vernacular free translationof the Vita Adae et Evae epic24. The text is onlypreserved in one manuscript from the fifteenthcentury, illustrated with 29 pen-drawings25. Heretoo Seth is not lacking.

fol. 73v: Seth meets the guardian of Paradise; hereceives a twig (Fig. 9).fol. 77r: Seth brings the twig to the dying Adam.Note that, just as in östofte, Adam is lying on abed (Fig. 10).fol. 82r: Eve and the children (including Seth) arepresent at Adams entombment,fol. 89v: The actual funeral is carried out by Sethand Eve.fol. 94v: Eve calls her children to her deathbed,fol. 98v: The children of Adam are gatheredaround the Tree of Life which grows on theirfathers grave.fol. 104v: Noah sends out the dove.Noah functions as the border figure of the right-eous generation of Seth26. It is probable thatNoah's ark was also painted in östofte, on theNorthern wall of the Choir, which is now sobadly damaged as to be almost unrecognizable.

The Christherrechronik— often combined withthe slightly earlier Weltchronik of Rudolfvon Ems(1254) - also incorporates a Seth motif which isformulated according to the Vita17. This versifi-cation of the Bible was probably written inThüringen in the 13th century28. A Bavarianmanuscript from 1410 illustrates this interpola-tion2', (fol. 19": Seth receives the twig fromMichael the Archangel, fol. 20T: The burial ofAdam).

Around 1400, thus, Seth and the wood of theCross also operate iconographically outside thetradition of the legend of the Cross, as an illustra-tion for Genesis passages in world chronicles andverse Bibles30. These German manuscripts couldhave reached Denmark along trading-routes31.

The question here, however, is whether, inabout the same period, Seth also penetrated the'traditional' and monumental Genesis iconogra-phy, where the motif would thus not stand in adirect, illustrative relation to the text. We could

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The figure ofSeth in the vault-paintings oföstofte 103

Fig. 9. Seth meets the guardian of Paradise; he receives atwig. Eva und Adam, Lutwin, 15th c. Vienna,Nationalbibliothek, Codex Vindob. 2980, fol. 73v.

find few examples, but these in themselves arcsufficient to confirm that, iconographically speak-ing, östoftc is not isolated.

3. The Iconographical Tradition ofÖstofte: Seth and the MonumentalIconography of Genesis

A first example is found in the church of the HolyCross in Schwäbisch-Gmünd, in the south portalof the choir, which was consecrated in 141032.The archivolts around the south tympanum,which depicts the Last Judgement, represent acycle of pictures relating to the six days of Crea-tion, on the right, and the generations before theFlood, on the left. These depict, from top tobottom: 1. the Fall, 2. the Banishment fromParadise, 3. the Human Couple Labouring, 4. the

Fig. 10. Seth brings the twig to the dying Adam. Eva undAdam, Lutwin, 15th c. Vienna, Nationalbibliothek,Codex Vindob. 2980, fol. 77r.

Death of Adam and Seth at the Gate of Paradise,5. the Ark33, 6. Cain and Abels sacrifices andCain's fratricide

In the fourth scene, Michael is handing overthe twig at the gate of Paradise34. On the right,there is a representation of Eve mourning andAdam lying down; behind them there is a tree.Adam leans on his elbow with his eyes open; thisrefers conventionally to melancholy and suffer-ing3'.

Further evidence is found in the late four-teenth- or early fifteenth-century reliefs aroundthe North end of the choir in the Cathedral ofToledo (Fig. 11)36. Again following on a represen-tation of the human couple labouring, a separatescene is devoted to1. Adam's instructions.2. Afterwards Seth is depicted at the gate ofParadise. The interesting motif of a child in the

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Fig. 11. Seth-episodc. end 14th c. or early 15th c. Toledo, exterior choir, north end.

tree is beyond the scope of the present article;moreover, it is not relevant to östofte37.3. Finally, the burial of Adam.

The scenes of the funeral and the gatheringaround the Tree are iconographically related tothe Lutwin-tradition. This points to a North-South connection between the iconographicaland literary types.

4. Seth as a Child. A Hypothesisfor Consideration

Finally, we wish to dwell on a peculiarity whichstruck us in östofte: the child wrapped in blan-kets lying near the labouring Adam and Eve(Fig. 12).

A Florentine Speculum Humanae Salvationisfrom the end of the fourteenth century, now inthe Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris (Ms. lat.9584), contains, on fol. 6 recto, a scene in whichEve is spinning and Adam is chopping wood (Fig.

13)38. At the same time, Eve is looking after threechildren. The two eldest, Cain and Abel, aredepicted quarrelling39: the seeds of the fratricidearc therefore present from the early years ofchildhood. Close by Eve's feet, a child lies sleep-ing in a cradle. This can be none other than Seth.The labouring couple are seldom depicted withthree children (Seth was born after the fratricide,after all40). The child wrapped in swaddling clothesis reminiscent of the Christ-child. It was re-marked above that Seth functioned as a préfigu-ration of Christ, in this continuing the functionof Abel. The Speculum links the original familywith Noahs ark, as do Lutwin and the chronicles.One can even question whether the twig of thedove might not allude to that of Seth.

A second Speculum, in a fourteenth-centurymanuscript, now Darmstadt, Landesbibliothek,Ms. 2505, shows a similar scene on fol. 5, buthere there is only one baby and one toddler (Fig.14)41. Could this perhaps be a question of Seth

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The figure ofSeth in the vault-paintings oföstofie 105

Fig. 12. Adam and Evelabouring. Mural painting,c. 1380. östofte (Denmark),choir.

versus Cain? Cain is older, naked and trouble-some. Seal is still a baby, wrapped in blankets,which is reminiscent of the Speculum in Paris.Furthermore, he lies in his mother's lap, whichstrengthens the association with Mary42. As in theexample in Paris, the scene is linked with Noah.

The iconography of the childhood of Seth ispossibly of Byzantine origin43. A Greek manu-script from St. Catherine's monastery on MountSinai shows the birth of a son, with the heading

'SETH' (Fig. 15)". Cain and Abel are not present,as in Genesis 5,345. Eve is portrayed lying down,as in the Byzantine iconography of the birth ofChrist46.

Can one then recognize the young Seth in aline-drawing of Eve with a child in her lap (Marianconnotations) in the Alcuin Bible from Bamberg(Fig. 16)47? The motif does occur in the far rightof a register depicting Cain's fratricide or buryingof Abel and can thus be interpreted as chrono-

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Fig. 13. Adam and Eve labouring.Speculum Humanae Salvationis,Firenze, end of the 14th c. Parijs,Bibliothèque Nationale, Ms. lat.9584, fol. 6.

Fig. 14. Adam and Eve labouring. Speculum HumanaeSalvationis, 14th c Darmstadt, Landesbibliothek, Ms.2505, fol. 5.

Fig. 15. Seth as a baby and as a teenager. Byzantinemanuscript, 16th c. Mount SinaT, Saint Catherine'smonastery.

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The figure ofSeth in the vault-paintings oföstofie 107

Fig. 16. Genesis, Alcuinus-Bible, 9th c. Bamberg,Staatsbibliothek, Misc. bibl. 1, fol. 7v.

logically correct. The hand of God appears rightabove the scene with the child: Seth was inter-preted as given by God to be a new Abel and aforeshadowing of Christ.

And in that case, can one not equally identifythe child wrapped in blankets beside the spinningEve in östofte as Seth? Considering the fact thatSeth here takes up an important place, and thatthis manner of presentation is strongly reminis-cent of the Speculum from Paris?

5- Concluding Remarks

Schwäbisch-Gmünd and Toledo share withöstofte the context of Genesis and the Fall. Extramotifs in the former two - the presence, of Eveand the digression about the actual burial ofAdam respectively - point to the tradition of theVitaAdae etEvae. In östofte the Seth-motif wasinterpreted soberly, in accordance with the exam-

ples drawn from the Legenda Aurea, as has beenshown. Seth appears again in Denmark later on,also in the context of Genesis, in the murals from1450 in the nave of the Norra Strö church onSkâne48.

The church in Schwäbisch-Gmünd was dedi-cated to the Holy Cross, and documents from thecathedral in Toledo confirm that, from Moorish-Arabian times, a relic of the Cross was displayedat the main altar every Good Friday49. But östoftewas dedicated to St. Peter..Experience has shown,however, that the cult of the Holy Cross is not anexclusive indication for iconography related tothe wood of the Cross. And the reverse is alsotrue; truely a crux in Cross-legend research.

From this iconographical material it is appar-ent, furthermore, that no clear geographical nu-cleus can be discerned. The Seth motif is scat-tered finely over all of Western Europe, and itcertainly remains rare as far as its integration intoGenesis cycles is concerned. Did it remain soscarce because of the doubts harboured about thisfigure, as voiced by Jacobus?

What is noticeable, is that the Seth motif inGenesis is concentrated round about 1400, whichis precisely the time when the apocryphal legendsabout Adam enjoyed their greatest popularity,were most frequently copied and most wide-spread. From the late fourteenth century there istalk about a reform movement and theories relat-ing to the original, Augustinian Church50. Thereform aims at restoring the ecclesia primitiver,that is the Church of the Martyrs, but also theundefiled Adamite status of Man. Seth is, as itwere, the personification of this original Church.

In addition, around this period an increasingallegorization of nature can be observed51. Interms of cultural history this development issometimes interpreted in the light of the death ofpantheism (which was still very much in evidencein St Francis, for example). Seth's unique rela-tionship with respect to Paradise and the tree ofLife is indicative of the increasing metaphorizationand personalization of the old religion of natureand magic52.

The Seth-figure in the mural paintings oföstofte remains interesting, because of its North-

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cm contribution to the iconographical map, andalso because it provides early evidence of theoccurrence of this figure in the iconographicalcontamination between Genesis and the Cross-legend.

Notes1. The vault in the choir was restored in 1973 by R. Smalley

and C. Gallefant; S. KASPERSEN, Adams Ded and KristiProfeter, in U. HAASTRUP et al. (eds), Danske Kalkmalrei.Gotik 1375-1475, Kopenhagen, 1985, pp. 42-43, no. 1,pp. 44-45, no. 2 and cat. p. XV. The paintings in the apseand on the triumphal arch were restored in 1910 and 1912by Eigil Rothe, but have since been lost. They representedthe mercy-seat and the Majestas Domini; U. HAASTRUP,Ibid, and E. ROTHE, Kalkmalerier i Östofte Kirke, inLolland-Falster historiske Samfund,Aarbog, 1915, pp. 1-15.

2. S. KASPERSEN, Kristi Profeter i danske kalkmalerier, in FraSankt Olav til Martin Luther. Foredrag fremlagt ved det tredjenordiske Symposion for ikonografiske studier, Bårdshaug, den21.-24. august 1972,Oslo, 1975, pp. 95-139, pp. 115-119.

3. 'And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, andcalled his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed meanother seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew'. (All Biblequotations are taken from the Authorized Version of 1611).

4. 'And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat ason in his own likeness, after his image; and called his nameSeth'

5. J. RABBINOWITZ, Midrasj Rabbah 10, s.l., 1961, pp.183f.

6. AUGUSTINUS, De civitate Dei, 15, 17-18, CCSL 67,p. 479: 'Seth interpretatur resurrectio'; G. WIJDEVELD(trans.), Aurelius Augustinus. De stad van God, 2nd edn,Baarn, 1984, p. 706. Philo of Alexandria calls Seth the'drinking water' and 'seed' of Adam, which expresses thefact that Seth stands for an entire (Adamite) generation;Philo of Alexandria, De posteritate Caini, 10 and 124-125.(13-50 A.D.); R. ARNALDEZ (ed. and trans.), DeposteritateCaini, (Les oeuvres de Philo d'Alexandrie, 6), Paris, 1972,p. 50 (Greek) and p. 51 (French): 'ce sera un rejeton måle,Seth, l'acte d'abreuver' (10) and p. 118 (Greek) and p. 119(French): 'Seth se traduit par "abreuvement* (124). Doncde måme que sur la terre les semences et les plantes lèvent'(125); English translation: C.D. YONGE, The Works ofPhilo, 10 vols, 1968ff., Harvard, 1993, pp. 333 and 401.Jerome interprets Seth as semen and positio; HIERONYMUS,Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum, 20,17, CCSL72, p. 71 : 'Seth positio sive positus aut poculum vel gramenaut semen seu resurrectio'. John Cassian accords him thequalities of pietas and justitia; JOHANNES CASSIANUS,Collationes, 21, CSEL 13, p. 237.

7. Ephraem compares Seth with Christ: Commentatio inGenesim et Exodum; EPHRAEM, Commentatio in Genesimet Exodum, 5, 1, CSCO, 152, p. 54; Latin translation, ibid.,153, 5, 1, p. 43: 'In Seth autem, qui omnino similis fuitAdae, similitudo Filii figurata est qui signatus est a patresuo genitore, sicut Seth ab Adam qui progenuit cum. Seth(...) est: Populus iustus Domini'.

8. Critical edition: W. MEYER, Vita Adae et Evae, o.e., herepp. 231-243. This Vita Adae et Evae is found in severalvariants and translations, e.g. the Apocalypse of Moses (1stcentury B.C.). See also: P. RIESSLER, Altjüdische Schrifftumausserhalb der Bibe, Augsburg, 1928, pp. 674-681; M.E.STONE, The Penitence of Adam, CSCO 429-430. Scriptores

Armeniaci, 13-14, Louvain, 1981; H.F.D. SPARKS, TheApocryphal Old Testament, Oxford, 1984, p. 141-143; F.MORARD, L'apocalypse d'Adam, Québec, 1985; D.A.BERTRAND, La vie grècque d'Adam et Eva, Parijs, 1987;G.A. ANDERSON and M.E. STONE, A Synopsis of theBooks of Adam and Eve, (Society of Biblical Literature),Atlanta, 1994.

9. M.VANDONI and T.ORLANDI, Vangelo di Nicodemo, 2vols, Milan, 1968, vol. 1: the original Coptic text, vol. 2:commentary and Italian translation; F. SCHEIDWEILER,Nikodemusevangelium. Pilatusakten und Höllenfahrt Christi,in Neutestamentliche Apokryphen in deutscher Übersetzung,ed. W. SCHNEEMELCHER and E. HENNECKE, 1.Evangelien, 6th ed., Tübingen, 1990, pp. 398f.

10. Rationalt divinorum officiorum, PL, 202, cols 131-133.What is not mentioned by a single study, but is indicativeof the further development of the legend, is that Belethustreats the motif as an excursus from the legend of Heradius(legend of the exaltation of the Cross). Probably an OldSlavonic tradition from the circle of Pope Jeremiah, leaderof the Bogomils, is the earliest example of a narrative which'fills in' the link between the tree of Paradise and the Crossof Christ. This eighth-century sect, which can be called avariant of gnosis because of its dualistic teachings (H.G.BECK, 'Bogomilen', in Die Religion in Geschichte undGegenwart, 1, Tübingen, 1957, col. 1345) and which be-came widespread mainly in the Balkans, developed a leg-end/myth in which Satanäel (one of the many names of theDevil) plants three trees in Paradise: one for Adam, one forEve, and one for God. God's tree will survive until the Crossof Christ is fashioned from it (M. GASTER, IlchesterLectures on Greeko-Slavonic Literature, London, 1887, pp.23, 25, 29, 35-37; E.C. QUINN, op. cit., p. 53). Given thatthis Bulgarian sect spread among the Cathare in SouthernFrance and the Albigensians in Northern Italy, this maywell have been the route along which the legend of theCross found a European outlet. The influence of Bogomilpopular Bibles in Western Europe is well known (R. NELLI,Le phénomène Cathare, s.I., 1964, pp. 133-139 and J.R.SMEETS, Joden en Catharen. Hun invloed op de Franserijmbijbels uit de twaalfde en dertiende eeuw,Tilbutg, 1966).In non-dualistic circles legends of the Cross can only betraced from the eleventh century at the earliest, but interms of content they show as yet no convincing introduc-tory scenes. Anti-dualist censorship, i.e. the 'cutting out' ofan unacceptable character who forms the starting-point(understood, for example, as a devil), can be considered asa possible explanation. Thus in Oxford a version is pre-served which starts with Moses, who 'happened' to find alittle bit of wood (Bodleian Library, MS 343). Although itis written down in a twelfth-century manuscript, the textapparently dates back to an original from the first half ofthe eleventh century (A.S. NAPIER, History of the HolyRood-Tree. A twelfth Century Version of the Cross-Legend,London, 1894, p. IX). Moses' staff was also explained as thetree of Life and thus as a préfiguration of the Cross (c.f.:P. STOCKMEIER, Theologie und Kult des Kreuzes beiJohannes Chrysostemos. Ein Beitrag zum Verständnis desKreuzes im 4. Jahrhundert, in Trierer theologische Studien,18, 1966, pp. 212-217). In a manuscript which came fromRegensburg, the tree then develops further through theinfluence of David (Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek,CLM 14442, fol. 1, dated before 1150; W.MEYER, op.cit.,pp. 103-106; On the basis of codicological evidence A.WILMART, La légende du bois de la croix, RB 2, pp. 226-236, dates the core of the text back to the Carolingianperiod). In his De imagine mundi, HonoriusAugustodunensis (1145-1159) gives the legend a true start-

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The figure of Sah in the vault-paintings oföstofie 109

ing-point: on Adam's death an angel plants a seed from thetree of Life in his mouth. (PL, 172, col. 165). •

11. An intermediate step was perhaps Godfrey of Viterbo(Pantheon, XIV, 1180, PL, 198, col. 872), who connects thegrowth of the tree with Jonitus, son of Noah. Jonitus mayhave been confused with Enoch, who was repeatedly fusedwith Seth; E.C. QUINN, op. cit., p. 71. Th. CRAESSE(ed.), Jacobi a Voragine legen Ja aurea. Vulgo hiitorialombardica dicta, Osnabrück, 1969 (reprint from 1890),pp. 303-311; W.G. RYAN, The Golden Legend, trans, fromLatin into English, 2 vols, New York, 1993, vol. 1, pp. 277-284. For the legend of St. Helen, which will not be treatedhere, see the two excellent studies by S. BORGEHAMMAR,How the Holy Cross Was Found. From Event to MedievalLegend, Stockholm, 1991 and J.W. DRIJVERS, HelenaAugusta. The Mother of Constantine the Great and the Legendof HerFindingofthe True Cross, Leiden-Cologne, 1992. TheWestern liturgy includes two important feast-days of theCross, 3rd May and 14th September. Already in the 4thcentury in Jerusalem the finding of the relic of the Crosswas commemorated on 14th September. In the West thisevent is celebrated on 3rd May (at its earliest in the seventh-century Gallican rite). When, in the seventh century, theByzantine emperor Heraclius drew the attention of theChristian world by restoring the relic of the Cross, whichhad been stolen by the Persian prince Chosroës, to Jerusa-lem, the Western liturgy took over 14th September (cf.Th. GRAESSE; op. cit., pp. 605-611; W.G. RYAN, op. cit.,vol. 2, pp. 168-173). From that period onwards this daycommemorates exclusively the restitution or exaltation ofthe Cross, and the invention of the Cross is remembered on3rd May. For the liturgy, see La Maison Dieu 75, 1963,which is entirely devoted to the liturgy of the Cross in Eastand West; for Heraclius, see A. FROLOW, La vraie croix etles expéditions d'Héraclius en Perse, in Revue des étudesByzantines, 11, 1953, pp. 88-105.

12. Translated from the French, JACOBUS DE VORAGINE,op. cit., vol. 1, p. 342: 'mais il faut laisser au lecteur à jugersi ces choses sont vraies, puisqu'on n'en fait mention dansaucune chronique, ni dans aucune histoire authentique'.

13. H.-G. RICHERT, 'Passional, in Die deutsche Literatur desMittelalters. Verfasserlexikon, 2nd edn, 7, Berlin-New York,1989, cols 332-340; A.R. MILLER, German and DutchVersions of the Legend of the wood of the Cross. A Descriptiveand Analytical Catalogue, vol. 1, (unpublished doctoralthesis, Oxford University, 1992), pp. 180-184, no. 31; Afull critical edition is in preparation (H.-G. RICHERT, art.cit., col. 333). In the meantime one must rely on theantiquated edition of K.A. HAHN, Das alte Passional,Frankfurt, 1845.

14. B. COLE, Agnolo Gaddi, Oxford, 1977; U. BALDINI,B. NARDINI, Santa Croce. La basilica, le capelle, i chiostri,il museo, Florence, 1983 pp. 185-209; R. VAN MARLE,The Florentine School of the 14th Century, vol. 3, TheHague, s.d., pp. 538-561; S. PFLEGER, Eine Legende undihre Erzählformen. Studien zur Rezeption der Kreuzlegendenin der italienischen Monumentalmalerei des Tre- undQuattrocento, (Europäische Hochschulschriften, 28), Frank-furt am Main, 1994, pp. 53-72.

15. Here the scenes from the Legenda Aurea are 'rearranged'typologically; L. SCHNEIDER, The Iconography of Pierodelta Francesca's Frescoes Illustrating the Legend of the TrueCross in the Church of San Francesco in Arezzo, in The ArtQuarterly, 31, 1969, pp. 32-48; See also the frescos of thelegend of the Cross in Empoli (sinopie of Masolino in SantoStefano, early 15th century); in Volterra (Santa Crocechapel in the church of San Francesco, Cenni di Francesco,early 15 th c.) and in Montegiorgio (church of San Francesco,

mid-15th c) ; S. PFLEGER, op. cit., who pays little atten-tion to the figure of Seth (review by B. BAERT in BelgischeTijdschrift voor Oudheidkunde en Kunstgeschiedenis, 64,1995, pp. 145-146; B. BAERT, The iconography of theCross-legend in the sinopie of Masolino da Panicale at Empoli.Twilight Between Tradition and Innovation, in Le Dessinsous-jacenu Acta Colloquium 14-16 september 7995, Louvain-la-Neuve, 1997.

16. L. LEHMANN, Prinzipien Franziskanischer Mission nachden frühen Quellen, in Francescanesimo e profezia, ed. E.COVI, Rome, 1985, p. 144, also with relation to theByzantine-Orthodox Church; G. SPIERIS, Francescod'Assisi. Profeta dell' incontro tra Occident: ed Oriente, inFrancescanesimo e profezia, ed. E. COVI, Rome, 1985, pp.453-489.

17. G. ODOARDI, La custodia di Terra Santa nel VI. centenariodella sua costituzione, in Miscellanea francescana, 43, 1943,pp. 217-256.

18. Around a central Crucifixion, the Legenda Aurea version istold from Seth at the Earthly Paradise and planting the twigin Adam's navel (1), up to and including the humblerestitution of the relic by Heraclius (6). Both in terms ofstyle and iconography this retable is frequently reminiscentof the Franciscan cycle by Agnoli Gaddi; A. MICHEL,Histoire de l'art, vol. 3, Paris, s.d., pp. 767-769 and fig.;A.L. MAYER, Geschichte der Spanischen Malerei, vol. I,Leipzig 1913, pp. 53-61 and fig.; C.R. POST, A Historyof Spanish Painting, vol. 3, Cambridge, 1930, p. 70.,fig. 273.

19. With grateful thanks to the Centre for the Flemish Minia-turists under the direction of Prof. M. Smeyers (Louvain,Belgium).

20. Seth at the Earthly Paradise and Seth planting the twig onAdam's grave (1), followed by Moses and the brazen serpentbeside the Crucifixion (well-known typology) (2),Constantine sees the Cross in a dream (3), the invention ofthe Cross (4), the test of the Cross (5) and Heraclius onhorseback with the Cross before the gates of Jerusalem(not a humble attitude) (6); the iconography may beliturgically motivated (presence of a relic of the true Cross),but perhaps it illustrates the saints who are revered locally(a stained glass window in the Choir is also devoted toSt Boniface and St Eustace; K. BECKER, et al., Die StadtErfurt. Dom. Severikirche. Peterskloster. Zitadelle, vol. 1,Burg, 1928, pp. 148-153 and fig.; E. DRACHENBERG,Die mittelalterliche Glasmalerei im Erfurter Dom, 2 vols,(Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi. Deutsche DemokratischeRepublik 1 2), Vienna-Graz, 1983, vol. 2, pp. 340-370.

21. F. GORISSEN, Das Stundenbuch der Katharina von Kleve.Analyse und Kommentar, Berlin, 1973, p. 105, pp. 494-525,pp. 959-961 and pp. 999-1001; J. PLUMMER, DieMinia-turen aus dem Stundenbuch der Katharina von Kleve, Berlin,1966, nos. 79-87. The author supposes (op. cit., p. 505)that there was a lost title-page illustrated with the tree ofLife on fol. 198v, and a lost title-page for the mass of theCross on fol. 221v (op. cit., p. 523).

22. E.C. QUINN, op. cit., p. 88; W. MEYER, Vita, op. cit., so-called Class III of the Vita; see also the list of most of themanuscripts which contain a variant, translation or inter-polation of the Vita; M.E.B. HALFORD, The ApocryphalVita Adae et Evae. Some Comments on the Manuscript Tradi-tion, in Neuphilologische Mitteilungen, 82, 1981, pp. 417-427.

23. R.P. WÜLCKER, Das Evangelium Nicodemi in derAbendländische Literatur, Marburg, 1872; W. MEYER,Geschichte, op. cit., p. 118.

24. M.B. HALFORD, Illustration and Text in Lutwin's Eva undAdam. Codex Vmdob. 2980, Stuttgart, 1980; IDEM, Lutwin's

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110 Barbara Baert

Eva und Adam. Study. Text. Translation, Göppingen, 1984;B. MURDOCH, art. Lutwin, in Die deutsche Literatur desMittelalters. Verfasserlexikon, 2nd edn, 1, Berlin-New York,1978, cols 1087-1089. Lutwin drafted the text in thefollowing order: the Creation, the Fall, the labours of Adamand Eve, the parting of the two, their atonement in theTigris (Eve) and the Jordan (Adam) respectively, the secondsin of Adam and Eve, Adam and Eve united in love, Eveworships the sun, Eve receives her first son Cain from theangels, an angel teaches Adam how to till the ground, theFratricide, Adam must appear before God in Paradise, andsubsequently the legend of the wood of the Cross.

25. Vienna, Nationalbibliothek, Codex Vindob. 2980.26. M.B. HALFORD, Lutwins Eva, op. cit., p. 37.27. M.B. HALFORD, Lutwins Eva, op. cit., p. 14.28. N.H. OTT, art. Christherre-Chronik, in Die deutsche

Literatur des Mittelalters. Verfasserlexikon, 2nd edn, 1, Ber-lin-New York, 1978, cols 1213-1217.

29. Berlin, Preussische Staatsbibliothek, Ms. Germ. fol. 1416;H. WEGENER, Beschreibende Verzeichnisse der Miniatur-Handschriften der Preussiscben Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin,vol. 5, Leipzig, 1928, pp. 16-21.

30. W. MEYER, Geschichte, op. cit., p. 127; A.R. MILLER, op.cit., vol. 1, 372, no. 72d. The two scenes of accepting andplanting the Tree appear also in a illustrated manuscript ofMandeville's Travels from around 1400, preserved in theBritish Library (MS 24189, 13r-13v).

31. Seth is is also present in the Cursor Mundi (1320), in theOld English Canticum de Creatione (1375), in the 14th-century Livre de Passion and the Passion de Jongleurs amongmany others. We want to mention though, that Seth doesnot have a role in the 12th-century Anglo-Norman playMystère d'Adam, which is nevertheless a possible source forthe prophets in Östofte; see table in S. KASPERSEN, Kristiprojeter, op. cit., p. 104.

32. O. SCHMITT, Das Heiligkreuzmünster in Schwäbisch-Gmund, S.l., (1951); H. SCHADE, an. Adam und Eva, inLexikon der christlichen Ikonographie, ed. by E. KIRSCH-BAUM et al., 1, Rome-Vienna, 1968, col. 69.

33. Seth's crucial role between Adam's death and the Flood isalready indicated in Genesis 5, his role as a replacement forthe righteous Abel, in Genesis 4.

34. There are some remarkable mistakes in the ordering of events.35. F. GARNIER, Le language de l'image au moyen âge, 2.

Grammaire des gestes, s.l., 1982, p. 114.36. L. VASGUEZ DE PARGA, La leycnda de la muerte de Adan

en la catedralde Toledo, in Archivo Espanol del arte, 1957,pp. 21-28.

37. It is the meeting in Paradise which points to an unusualsource. For Seth is permitted to throw a glance into Paradiseand sees there, at the roots of a dried up tree, a crying child.In the top of the tree too a baby is hiding. This vision is aconstant in the so-called Lcgenda-group, which has a twelth-century, Latin, prototype. W. MEYER (Geschichte, op. cit.)has collected most of these texts and has grouped themthematically and chronologically. The most importantLegenda-texts are: The Story of the Holy Rood (14th c.)(London, British Library, HC 4196, 14th c.; complete textin R. MORRIS, Legends of the Holy Rood. Symbols of thePassion and Cross-Poems. In Old English of the Eleventh,Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, 1871, pp. 62-86); alegend of the wood of the Cross included in the anonymouscompilation Cursor Mundi (1320) (R. MORRIS, CursorMundi (The Cursor of the World). A Northumbrian Poem ofthe XIVth Century in Four Versions, Two of Them Midland,(Early English Text Society, 1, 3), London, 1874-1877, pp.79-90, pp. 364-371, pp. 460-477 and pp. 504-517); andvarious Icelandic versions; M. OVERGAARD, The History

of the Cross-Tree down to Christ Passion. Icelandic LegendVersions, Copenhagen, 1968. Particularly the so-calledHauksbok ('Haukr's book'), a compilation ascribed to theIcelander Haukr Erlendsson (1310). The manuscript isnow divided into three parts: AM 371 4to in the AmiMagnusson Institute in Iceland; AM 544 4to and AM 6754to in the Arnamagnaean Institute in Copenhagen;G. HARDARSON and S. KARLSSON, art. Hauksbok, inMedieval Scandinavia. An Encyclopedia, New York, 1993,pp. 271-272; J. HELGASON introduction and facsimile),Manuscripta Islandica, 5. Hauksbok, Copenhagen, 1960, p.XIV; W. MEYER, Geschichte, op. cit., pp. 151-152. Thestained glass windows in St Neot (Cornwall) are illustrativeof the subsequent history of the Seth-motif. They arethought to be based on a Cornish drama, 'The Creacion ofthe World', and both the play and the windows date fromaround 1530. Here too Seth's vision of the child in the treeis alluded to; E.S. NEWLYN, The Stained and Painted Glassof St. Neat's Church and the Staging of the Middle CornishDrama, in The Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies,24, 1, 1994, pp. 89-11.

38. A. and J.L. WILSON, A Medieval Mirror. SpeculumHumanae Salvationis. 1324-1500, Berkeley-London, 1985,fig. II-5; Ph.R. BERK, Et Adam dilexit Abel. Jan Mostaert'sFirst Family, in Oud Holland, 96, 1982, pp. 201-212.

39. L. REAU, Iconogaphiede l'art chrétien, 2. Iconographie de laBible, 1. Ancien Testament, Paris, 1956, p. 94, notes what hesupposes to be a unique example of a jealous Cain. It isfound on a capital in the monastery of Tarragona, whereCain tries to wrench Abel out of Eve's arms. According toRéau, the motif was thought up by the artist himself in thelight of the subsequent fratricide.

40. We wish to point out that Syriac versions of the 'Testamentof Adam' mention that Cain was jealous of Abel's sister;A.F.J. KLIJN, op. cit., p. 55.

41. F.M. BISCOGLIO, "Unspon" Heroes. Iconography of theSpinning Woman in the Middle Ages, in The Journal ofMedieval and Renaissance Studies, 25, 2, 1995, pp. 164-176and fig. 3.

42. At the bottom of the distaff are two crossed bones. Thispoints to the iconography of the Crucifixion.

43. A. and J.L. WILSON, op. cit.- Probably this 16th-centuryminiature goes back to older, Byzantine, prototypes.

44. RED., art. Seth, in Encyclopaedia Judaica, 14, Jerusalem,1972, with fig.; at the. bottom of the miniature he isportrayed as a young man.

45. It is also striking that Adam and Eve are portrayed in anembrace; possibly this refers to the idea that only Seth wasborn from the physical love-union of both parents. Cainand Abel were believed to be the result of demonic impreg-nation; this motif also occurs in Lutwin (angels); M.B.HALFORD, Illustration, op. cit., fig. 17.

46. The illustration below shows Adam and Eve with theirchild as he grows up.

47. Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek, Misc. bibl. 1, 9th century;A. ULRICH, op. cit., p. 105.

48. S. KASPERSEN, Kristi profeter, op. cit., p. 116.49. D. FEROTIN, Le liber ordinum de l'église wisigothique et

mozarabique en Espagne, Paris, 1904, pp. XXII, 194 and199.

50. P. VANDENBROECK, Over wilden en narren, boeren enbedelaars. Beeld van de andere, vertoog over het zelf, (exhib.cat.), 1987, p. 18; R. DIECKHOFF, Antiqui-moderni.Zeitbewußtsein und Naturerfahrung im 14. Jahrhundert, inDie Parler und der schöne Stil 1350-1400. Europäische Kunstunter den Luxemburgern, 3, Cologne, 1978, pp. 888-912.

51. E. RANDOLPH DANIEL, Joachim di Fiore. Patterns ofHistory in the Apocalypse, in The Apocalypse in the Middle

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The figure ofSeth in the vault-paintings oföstofie 111

Ages, ed. by R. K. EMMERSON and B. McGINN et al.,London, 1992, pp. 72-88; P. VANDENBROECK, Ibid.

52. That Seth still demonstrates cultural characteristics derivedfrom the figure of the shaman, cannot, unfortunately, beexplored in detail here; Rogan P. TAYLOR, The Death andResurrection Show. From Shaman to Superstar, London, 1983.

Similarities between Seth and the shaman:— healing— initiation into sacred knowledge (by Adam and Michael)— journey to another, higher, world— impact on nature: the growing of young shoots— In a Russian saga the shaman receives three twigs which can

heal everyone.

Differences between Seth and the shaman:- does not really heal: postponed for 5000 years. In Christian-

ity magic is related to Salvation History.- no motif of dance (ritual) or disguise- Seth is not distinguished by a physical abnormality

Barbara BaertDepartment of History of ArtKatholieke Universiteit LeuvenPostbus 33Blijde-Inkomststraat 21B-3000 LeuvenBelgien

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