St. Thomas Becket in Red Chasuble (K 34) Notebook

In this glorious representation, St. Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, stands before an altar dressed for Mass. The altar is probably intended for St. Benedict’s near which—not at which--he was assassinated on 29 December 1170. It is a formal portrait, that is, the subject appears posed. Becket wears a bright red chasuble over a blue-green dalmatic and white alb. Over the chasuble, he wears his metropolitan pallium—a garment symbolic of his office as an archbishop who presides over an ecclesiastical province composed of several dioceses. The pallium is ornamented with 11 visible patée crosses rather than the more usual 5 visible crosses. (During the Middle Ages there was no definite rule regulating the number of crosses used.) St. Thomas cradles his mitre in the crook of his right arm and carries his archiepiscopal cross in his left hand. A gash in his forehead, a palm of martyrdom, and the blood-red chasuble in the liturgical colour for martyrs allude to his assassination. There is not a sword in sight—not even one laying on the floor at his feet. His name in Latin (Thomas Cantuariensis, that is Thomas of Canterbury) vertically flanks his figure in the aqua and sapphire blue chequered background. The whole is contained in a framework of Celtic design. + There are several interesting facets to this representation: 1) To look at our M 033 and P 005, you would never know that Becket was in his early 50s when he was murdered. They portray him as youthful and beardless. This image is much more age-appropriate: he wears a full beard, and his hair and beard are grey. This is a major departure from Becket’s earlier, well-established iconography. 2) While Becket is dressed for Mass, he is not dressed for Masses during the Octave of Christmas. The red of his chasuble probably refers to his own martyrdom and not to that of the ‘Saint of the day’ (then St. Trophimus of Arles?). Regardless, white or gold vestments are usually worn during the liturgical season of Christmas overriding other colours. 3) Besides, on the day of his martyrdom, Becket was celebrating Vespers—not Mass--with his clergy and wearing different dress: Several sources record Becket was dressed in a white rochet (a close-fitting ecclesiastical vestment with narrow sleeves usually made of linen) and wore a cloak and hood over his shoulders (which sounds rather like the Medieval version of a mozzetta). A rochet of Becket’s, the only surviving example from the Middle Ages, is preserved at Dommartin Abbey in the Pas-de-Calais, France. And, the Vatican has loaned to Canterbury Cathedral the bloody tunicle Becket is said to have worn when he was murdered some 850 years ago. Finally: 4) By the late 19th century when this image was originally published, Becket had been portrayed variously holding the severed crown of his head in his hands, with a sword wedged medially in his skull, with various wounds to the head and forehead, and most especially with a sword piercing his mitered head from side to side. As portrayals go, Becket’s wounds here are somewhat understated though not overlooked. In conclusion, this image seems meant as a formal portrait not for any specific time—certainly not the day of his martyrdom--but for all time. + St. Thomas Becket is patron of secular clergy. + Feast: December 29 + Image Credit (K 34): Detail of an antique image of St. Thomas of Canterbury from Henry Riancey’s La vie des Saints : illustration en or et en couleurs, d'après les manuscrits de tous les siècles par Kellerhoven (Paris: Librairie Bachelin-Deflorenne, [1874]), f. p. 405, from the designer’s private library. Franz Kellerhoven (1814-1872), the chromolithographer, was a German priest-artist who migrated to Paris and established a printshop there. He specialized in artworks based on medieval manuscripts but did lithos of paintings and ancient architectural works as well.