ABOUT THE ART
Master of Saint Augustine. Scenes from the Life of Saint Augustine of Hippo. 1490. Oil, gold, and silver on wood. Framed: 59 7/8 × 64 1/2 × 2 3/4 in., 98 lb. (152.1 × 163.8 × 7 cm, 44.5 kg) 54 1/4 × 59 in. (137.8 × 149.9 cm) Other (greatest thickness): 3/8 in. (1 cm). New York. The Cloisters Collection.
This artwork served as the center panel of a triptych that was dedicated to Saint Augustine, a highly revered Christian theologian often referred to as a Doctor of the Church. The composition is comprised of five scenes. In the middle, Saint Augustine is being consecrated as the bishop of Hippo Regius, a Roman city in modern-day Algeria. In the upper left, he is being ordained as a priest, while in the lower left, he is depicted preaching to a congregation while his mother, Monica, who is out of place in the scene, says the rosary, which was a prayer regimen from the late Middle Ages. In the upper right, Saint Augustine is having a conversation with a boy who says that explaining the Trinity is no harder than filling a hole in the sand with the sea. In the lower right, Saint Augustine is again preaching. There are also kneeling figures of a man and a woman, along with coats of arms, in the windows behind the altar on the right. These figures may provide clues as to the original location for which the triptych was created, or they may simply be imaginative creations. The panel is notable for its intricate and highly-detailed depictions of various types of ecclesiastical vestments and altar implements.
St. Augustine of Hippo – August 28th
Augustine is likely the greatest theologian in church history. He was a famous pagan and promoter of paganism. But one day while children were playing, he heard a child’s voice saying, “take up and read.” After hearing this, he began reading the letters of Paul and became a Christian. In his Confessions, the first autobiography ever written, he defines sin and grace in ways that continue to shape the church’s theology of salvation. His most remembered line is, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”
Augustine, like many of our saints, was African. He was from the town of Hippo in modern-day Tunisia. His family was Berber, so we are making the famous Berber dish, Tchakchouka. It is not as hard as it sounds. It includes grilled onions, tomatoes, peppers, garlic, and zucchini, which are all very abundant this time of year. It is made into a stew, with eggs, and sometimes sausage added for additional protein.