Ave!
Pendant, Roman Catholic, Saint Dominic and Virgin Mary, Extremely Rare!
Copper alloy, 40mm/8.1gm Struck ca. 16th-17th Cent
Con/ about As Struck; beautiful brown and green colored patina, very high relief on each side; safely wearable.
Obv/ Virgin Mary, nimbate, hooded and cloaked, hands help in the lap, her eyes gazing left towards Christ crucified on Golgotha. To lower left; head of hound.
Rev/ Saint Dominic, nimbate and cloaked, hands in prayer, gazes in adoration at flaming torch to left, which rests on a cloud.
Seller's Note/ This magnificent pendant is full of iconography that deserves a complete explanation.
The first image to greet visitors to the basilica containing the tomb of St. Dominic in Bologna, Italy is a mosaic of the saint next to a dog carrying a flaming torch in its mouth.
This is not a depiction of a pyromaniacal game of fetch, but a reference to a dream which foretold the 13th-century preacher's mission in the world -- to be the bearer of divine fire across Europe, illuminating the darkness of heresy and sin with truth and charity.
When St. Dominic's mother, Blessed Jane of Aza, was pregnant, she had a dream of a dog with a torch in its mouth, running around the world and setting everything on fire. She went to the monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos and asked a monk what it meant. He replied that the child in her womb would be a great preacher, who would set the world ablaze with the fire of his words,
In 1208, he went into a forest near Toulouse, France to pray, asking God to provide what he needed in order to overcome the Albigensian heresy. Ancient accounts tell us that, after three days of prayer and fasting, three angels appeared in the sky along with a ball of fire. When they disappeared, the Virgin Mary spoke, telling the priest that he must preach her Psalter in order to succeed in his struggle to overcome the Albigensian heresy. Mary revealed to St. Dominic which mysteries should be preached to correspond to the Psalter prayers: stories of Christ’s life which directly contradicted the heresy of the Albigensians by focusing on the incarnation, death, and triumphant resurrection of Jesus Christ.
As Fr. Reginald Garrigou-LaGrange, great Dominican theologian of the 20th century said, “What the word of the preacher was unable to do, the sweet prayer of the Hail Mary did for hearts.” Ultimately, that “sweet prayer” would come to be called the Rosary – a “wreath of roses” that would lead to countless conversions and miracles, not the least of which was overcoming the Albigensian heresy.
Throughout history St. Dominic has been depicted in paintings and statues standing beside a canine companion. Dominic founded the Order of Preachers - the Dominicans - in France in 1216, adapting the Rule of St. Augustine in obedience to the pope, with an emphasis on study and community life in poverty. He died in Bologna, Italy after several weeks of illness on Aug. 6, 1221.
WOW!
