A Defense of Dionysius the Areopagite by Rubens

Author(s): Erick Wilberding

Source: Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 52, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1991), pp. 19-34
Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press
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 A Defense of Dionysius the
Areopagite by Rubens

Erick Wilberding

The frontispieces of Peter Paul Rubens, collected ten years ago into a
corpus by Judson and Van de Velde, have not received as much critical
attention as the painted works by the artist. As Julius Held has suggested,
the artist sought to present "in allegorical terms, and in a severely limited
space, a condensation of the contents of a given book or at least a pictorial
equivalent of its basic message."2Besides the content of the work, certainly
the reputation of a given author or book also influenced the choice of
symbols, as we see in the frontispiece executed for the OperaS. Dionysii
Areopagitae,a translation and vigorous polemic by the Jesuit patrologist
Balthasar Cordier.3In their summary of the iconography Judson and Van
de Velde refer to the salient symbols and yet do not record the controversy
surrounding Dionysius in the early seventeenth century, although this
furor demonstrably influenced the choice of images.4 By examining the
1J. Richard Judson and Carl Van de Velde, CorpusRubenianum, Ludwig Burchard:
Book Illustrations and Title Pages (2 vols.; London, 1978).
2 Rubens and the
Book, exh. cat., Williams College, May 2-31, 1977, Williamstown,
Massachusetts, ed. and intro., Julius Held, 5.
3 The full title of the book under discussion is
Opera S. Dionysii Areopagitae cum
Scholiis S. Maximi et ParaphrasiPachymerae a Balthasare CorderioSoc. Iesu Doct. Theol.
Latine Interpretata et Notis Theologicis Illustrata. Antverpiae. Ex Officina Plantiniana
Balthasaris Moreti. M.DC.XXXIII. Cum Privilegis Caesario et Regio. More information
concerning the author and translator of these works will be provided below. For conve-
nience I refer to the reproduction of the Cordier edition in J.-P. Migne, Patrologia Graeca,
III and IV (Turnholt [Belgium], 1857 and 1889). Librarieswhich possess the book do not
have the facilities for photography. The reader is referred to the illustration in the corpus
by Judson and Van de Velde.
4
Knipping is mistaken in his study on Baroque iconography when he declares that
the debate on Dionysius had subsided by the early seventeenth century, with scholars
realizing that the writer of the spiritual works was not the same as the convert of Saint
Paul and the martyr venerated in France. As proof for this assertion, Knipping tells us
that Dionysius "is not present among the four Eastern Fathers in Rubens' cycle of
ceiling-paintings for the Antwerp Jesuit Church: there are representedSt. Athanasius, St.
Gregory of Nazianzus, St. John Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great" (Iconographyof the
Counter-Reformationin the Netherlands [Nieuwkoop, 1974], II, 375-76). Besides being
unaware of the polemics concerning the saint in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth
centuries, Knipping also confuses the terms "Father of the Church" and "Doctor of the

19

Copyright 1991 by JOURNALOF THE HISTORYOF IDEAS, INC.

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20 Erick Wilberding

controversy and by investigating more closely the contents of the Cordier

volumes, a more complete understanding of the frontispiece may be ac-
quired. In a time when the authenticity of Dionysius was correctly con-
tested by Protestants and vigorously defended by Catholics, the artist, as
we shall see, crafted a cogent argument in favor of authenticity.5
In the center of the engraving we see Saint Dionysius seated, clothed
in an omophorion, supporting a tablet which bears the title to the book.
Two angels form the topmost part of the throne. On his left stands Saint
Paul, identifiable by his sword, who looks at Dionysius; on Dionysius's
right stands Saint Peter who looks toward heaven, his book under his
arm, his keys of authority in his right hand. Both saints reach toward
Dionysius, Saint Peter as if he were presenting the Greek saint to heaven,
Saint Paul as if he were contemplating a friend. Above this group of three
saints are the three theological virtues, Faith, Hope, and Charity, each
recognizable by its distinctive attribute: Hope bears a lotus blossom and
anchor, Faith a cross and chalice, and Charity holds two children. Above
this group, ringed by angels, is a downward pointing triangle inscribed

Church." Complementing the four Latin Doctors (Saints Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome,
and Gregory the Great), Pius V in 1568 recognized the four saints who were depicted on
the Antwerp ceiling as being the Four Eastern Doctors (Saints Athanasius, Gregory of
Nazianzus, John Chrysostom, and Basil the Great). A Doctor of the Church must manifest
"great sanctity, eminent learning, and [be proclaimed] as a Doctor of the Church by a pope
or ecumenical council" (The New CatholicEncyclopedia,s.v "Doctor of the Church"). Not
to include Dionysius among the Four Eastern Doctors is not a declaration that the Jesuits,
or Rubens, doubted him to be among the earliest of saints.
5 There are two works of art concerning the frontispiece: the first is the drawing by
Rubens, executed in grey and brownish pigment, heightened with bodycolor over black
chalk, which is now preserved at the Ashmolean Museum; see Karl T. Parker, Catalogue
of the Collection of Drawings in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford, 1938), 86-87, no. 202,
pl. xliii (Judson and Van de Velde 64a). In this preparatory drawing, we find a few
differences in the iconography. Most significantly, the artist, or perhaps the publisher, has
chosen to abandon the symbols used at the bottom of the drawing, two circles, one
containing the image of an owl within a crown of laurel, the other the head of Athena.
On either side of these images we see two mythological animals whose heads have been
removed to bear oil lamps. In place of these the engraver has incised the name and place
of the publisher, information perhaps originally intended for the tablet that Dionysius
supports. This change obviously allows the title greater prominence. The second work is
the engraving by Cornelis Galle after the design (Judson and Van de Velde, no. 64). Of
course, the discrepanciesbetween the drawing and the engraving raise the question of who
made the decision for the finished work of art. Depending on the commission, the role of
the artist in designing a frontispiece varied. Typically Rubens took six months, working
on Sundays and holidays, to design his works. Naturally the publisher and author each
had to approve the final design; however, given the fact that Rubens was a highly educated
man, I am assuming that he had much to say about the design of this frontispiece. Parker
believes that "the execution of the drawing may not be entirely by Rubens's own hand,
but it was certainly carried out under his supervision and with his active cooperation"
(87). Judson and Van de Velde suggest that Rubens drew the work, but that the engraver
strengthened some details, such as the facial features, with pen and ink (I 276).

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Rubens and Dionysius the Areopagite 21

within a circle, from which radiates a brilliant light whose sharp rays
descend most directly over Dionysius.6 In the tradition of divinely inspired
saints, Dionysius gazes upward into the light.
In their brief analysis of this image Judson and Van de Velde identify
each of the symbols and go on to explain the presence of Saints Peter and
Paul by their relationship to the narrative of Dionysius's life. Saint Paul
had corrected the Greek saint's worship of the Virgin Mary, informing
him that God alone deserves such adoration, and Saint Peter had sent
Dionysius to carry the message of Christianity into Gaul, the land where
he eventually was martyred. The two scholars state that Saints Peter and
Paul had been depicted by Rubens in an earlierpainting in which the saints
are seen beneath a portico, suggesting that this perhaps made reference to
a vision of Dionysius related in The Golden Legend.7 Moreover, Judson
and Van de Velde also acknowledge that Cordier confuses two different
saints, one a Dionysius of the first century, the second a missionary of the
third century.
However, what the scholars have overlooked, or at any rate have failed
to mention, is that three separate persons bearing the name Dionysius
exist and that Cordier has accepted these three different men as one
extraordinarySaint Dionysius, as had been common in the Catholic tradi-
tion for several hundred years.8The first Dionysius, of course, is the saint
mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles (17:34). While in Athens Saint Paul
delivered a speech to the unconverted people about an altar dedicated to
a "God Unknown." Among the few converts was Dionysius, "a member
of the court of the Areopagus." The second Dionysius is the missionary
who was beheaded at Montmartre, the famous patron of the French royal
abbey. The third Dionysius, commonly accepted in the Catholic tradition
since the late nineteenth century, after the demonstration by H. Koch and
J. Stiglmayr (who each established the fact separately), is a writer of the
fifth century who composed several beautiful and enigmatic treatises on
mysticism.9 This tripartite identity of Dionysius is highly significant and
6 Judson and Van de Velde
merely describe the Trinity symbol as a triangle radiating
I
light (Corpus, 274). Deborah-Irene Coy, in her entry for the 1977 exhibition Rubens and
the Book (89), describes the symbol as "an upside down pyramid, encircled by an aureole."
As we shall see, while it may be argued that the symbol is a tetrahedron, it is highly
relevant that the symbol should be a triangle within a circle.
7 Ibid. The authors refer to the
study by H. Vlieghe, Saints, Corpus Rubenianum
Ludwig Burchard, VIII (2 vols., Brussels, 1972-73), I, 67.
8 Deborah-Irene Coy also confuses the issue of the identity of the writer, simply writing

(84) that "St. Dionysius Areopagites [sic] (d. 95 A.D.) was an early Christian theologian
and first bishop of Athens." The significance of this extraordinarywriter in the seventeenth
century is not addressed.
9 For
bibliography see Pseudo-Dionysius: The Complete Works, tr. Colm Luibheid;
foreword, notes, and translation collaborated by Paul Rorem; preface by Rene Roques;
introductions by Jaroslav Pelikan, Jean Leclercq, Karlfried Froehlich (New York, 1987),
including (291-93) a brief essay on bibliography;also R. Roques, M. Cappuyns, R. Aubert,
"Denys le Pseudo-Areopagite," Dictionnaire d'histoire et de geographie ecclesiastiques,

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22 Erick Wilberding

deserves mention in a discussion of the Rubens frontispiece, for the possi-

bility that the spiritual works of Saint Dionysius were actually penned by
another person was already suspected in the fifteenth century, igniting a
debate that continued through the next hundred years. When Rubens
received his commission in the early 1630s, doubts concerning the authen-
ticity of Dionysius were both well established and well known.
In examining the frontispiece, several questions suggest themselves.
Why would Rubens, whom Wittkower acknowledges felt close to the
Jesuits?1and whom Erik Larsen and Vernon Hyde Minor declare to be a
Jesuit-educated, Jesuit-guided artist,1 include such an abstract, non-
anthropomorphic symbol as a triangle inscribed within a circle for the
Trinity? Why, in other words, is this symbol especially appropriate for
Dionysius? Why are the three theological virtues included in the frontis-
piece, and why are they out of order, with Faith, not Hope, placed in the
center?12Do Saints Peter and Paul have any relevance other than the link
with the biography proposed by Judson and Van de Velde? An investiga-
tion of each of these questions will demonstrate that the image is a wonder-
fully succinct statement of the importance of Dionysius to the Catholic
theology of the early seventeenth century. What is more, it will demon-
strate that the image is an eloquent polemic for the acceptance of a
traditional view of Dionysius, a view that fuses the three separate persons
into one, forming the image of a biblical missionary who wrote Neopla-
tonic treatises on mysticism.
The history of the reputation of Pseudo-Dionysius, marked by fervent
commentaries and vitriolic denunciations, is nearly as enthralling as the
writer's own works. In the ninth century Louis the Pious asked Hilduin,
abbot of Saint Denys, to compose a biography of the patron of the abbey
and the monk responded with the Passio sanctissimi Dionysii, a work
which braids three strands of biography, the apostolic saint, the martyr,
the Neoplatonic writer, creating the Dionysius whom Cordier later re-

XIV (Paris, 1960), 290-303, and "Denys l'Areopagite (Le Pseudo-)," Dictionnaire de
Spiritualite, IV (Paris, 1957), 244-430.
10Rudolph Wittkower and Irma B. Jaffe, Baroque Art: The Jesuit Contribution(New
York, 1972), 10.
I Erik Larsen and Vernon Hyde Minor, "Peter Paul Rubens and the Society of Jesus,"
Konsthistoriktidskrift, XLVI (1977), 48-54.
12 Saint Paul names these three in
sequence (1 Cor. 13:13). Undoubtedly from the habit
of hearing the three chimed in correct sequence, Rooses in his description quickly writes
that "on voit la Foi, l'Esperance et la Charite, symbolisees par trois femmes," not men-
tioning the new order given by Rubens: L'Oeuvre de P. P. Rubens, 1886-1892 (Soest,
Holland, 1977), V, 74, no. 1266. Similarly, Evers does not remark on the change of order
and in fact writes of the "christliche Tugenden, Glaube, Liebe und Hoffnung," providing
a new arrangementthat is neither found in Saint Paul nor in the frontispiece;H. G. Evers,
Rubens und sein Werk, neue Forschungen (Brussels, 1943), 187. Deborah-Irene Coy
mentions the new arrangement (Rubens and the Book, 84).

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Rubens and Dionysius the Areopagite 23

vered so deeply.13This confusion remained virtually unchallenged in the

West, save for the isolated warning of Abelard, until the fifteenth century.
In the intervening centuries, his works translated and dispersed through-
out Europe, Pseudo-Dionysius extended roots deeply into the soil of reli-
gious imagination and thought.14 Perhaps most significant for the purposes
of this thesis is the enthusiasm about the Neoplatonic writer on the part
of Thomas Aquinas, who wrote a commentary on the treatise on The
Divine Names and often cited the Greek writer in his other works.15It is
not surprising that in the fifteenth century many Italian Neoplatonic
philosophers were attracted by the calm and profound doctrine of
Pseudo-Dionysius and found in him the bridge between the pagan and
Christian philosophies. Ambrogio Traversaritranslated the entire corpus,
and Marsilio Ficino, besides translating The Divine Names and The Mysti-
cal Theology,also commented on these works. Furthermore, several writ-
ers later important to the Jesuits, men such as Denis the Carthusian and
John Gerson, composed commentarieson the treatises.16 For many writers
the Areopagite represented the most sublime ascent to God.
For others of the fifteenth century, however, the authenticity of Diony-
sius was not at all certain. As Monfasani has demonstrated, a group of
humanists became aware of doubts in the Eastern Tradition, as expressed
in a colloquy by Hypatius of Ephesus, a passage in Photius's Bibliotheca,
and in a sentence in the commentary by Maximus the Confessor on the
Ecclesiastical Hierarchy.17 Lorenzo Valla was the first to express freely

13
Panofsky, in a famous essay, discusses the influence of Dionysius on the later
construction by Abbot Suger; see Abbot Suger and the Abbey Church of St.-Denis and its
Art Treasures(2nd ed.; Princeton, 1979), 18-21. See also a more recent essay, Grover A.
Zinn, Jr., "Suger, Theology, and the Pseudo-Dionysian Tradition," Abbot Suger and
Saint-Denis, A Symposium, ed. Paula Lieber Gerson (New York, 1986), 33-40.
14
Cappuyns writes that "since the period of John Scotus Eriugena (who died toward
870), there has been practically no thinker, philosopher, theologian, or mystic who is not
in some manner dependent on Pseudo-Dionysius" (295).
15For the influence of Pseudo-Dionysius on Saint Thomas, see Joseph Turbessi, "Saint
Thomas d'Aquin," "Denys L'Areopagite: En Occident," Dictionnaire de Spiritualit6,
349-56.
16
Joseph de Guibert, S.J., La Spiritualitkde la Compagniede Jesus: esquissehistorique
(Rome, 1953). The English translation is entitled The Jesuits: TheirSpiritual Doctrine and
Practice, tr. William J. Young, S.J., ed. George E. Ganss, S.J. (St. Louis, 1972). Guibert
lists the required reading of early Jesuit novices, which included the works of Denis the
Carthusian and John Gerson (216 and 217, n. 86). For the influence of Dionysius on
Gerson, see Andre Combes, "Jean Gerson," "Denys l'Areopagite: En Occident," Dic-
tionnaire de Spiritualit6, III, 365-75. For the influence on Denis the Carthusian, see
Anselme Stoelen, "Denys le Chartreux," Dictionnaire de Spiritualite, III, 446-49.
17 John Monfasani, "Pseudo-Dionysius the
Areopagite in mid-Quattrocento Rome,"
eds. James Hankins, John Monfasani, Frederick Purnell, Jr., Supplementum Festivum:
Studies in Honor of Paul Oskar Kristeller (Binghamton, N.Y., 1987), 204-5, 210 and n.
101. Maximus the Confessor rejected the doubt concerning Dionysius but does mention
that some wished to attribute the corpus to Apollinaris.

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24 Erick Wilberding

his reservationsabout the identityof the saint;18in his commentaryon

the New Testament,later editedby Erasmus,the passagein the Acts of
the Apostlesconcerningthe conversionof the saint becomesthe peg on
whichVallahangsa list of questions.He mentionsthe Neoplatoniccharac-
ter of the works,the silenceof Eusebiusand Jeromeon the existenceof
the corpus,the disturbingfact that the dispersionof the texts can only be
tracedto the sixth century,and he finallydeclaresthat manycontempo-
raryscholarswish to attributethe corpusto Apollinaris.19 WhenErasmus
finallypublished his own annotated New Testament in 1516,he recalled
the objectionsof Vallaandcontributedtwo more,namely,thatthe biblical
areopagiteswere judges, not philosophers,and that the descriptionof
ritualsfoundin thecorpuswastoo sophisticatedforthe primitivechurch.20
In the second edition, publishedin 1519, Erasmusnoted that William
Grocyn had also expresseddoubts in a series of lecturesin London.21
BecauseDionysiuswas often used by Catholicpolemiciststo establish
the divineorderingof the Church,these highly articulatedoubts,which
gnawedat the foundationof apostolicauthority,were repeatedby the
Protestantreformers,includingLutherand Zwingli.22Perhapsmost im-
portantly,the primaryhistorianfor the reformers,FlaciusIllyricus,also
supportedErasmus'sclaim, addingto the attackby mentioningDiony-
sius's apparentuse of the Stromataof Clementof Alexandria.Aubert
writesthat "fromthat momentthe apocryphalcharacterof the writings
of Dionysiuswas not even believedto be worth debatingby the Protes-
tants."23TheseProtestantscholars,freefromthe burdenof defendingthe
hierarchyof the church,easily embracedthe truth that Dionysius was
not authenticallyapostolic.
Once the reputationof Dionysius had been assaulted,there was no
lack of Catholicdefenders.In everycountryin Europetractsappearedto
testifyto the reliabilityof the saint'swritings,and the French,drivenby
a fusionof nationalisticandreligiousardor,wereparticularlyvehement.24
Most germanefor this articleis the defenseby CaesarBaronius,the most
importantCatholichistorianof the late sixteenthand early seventeenth
centuries.25For Baroniusto defend the apostolic origins of Dionysius
18
Erasmus published the notes under the title, Laurentii Vallensis... in latinam Novi
Testamenti interpretationemex collatione graecorum exemplarium Adnotationes (Paris,
1505); Aubert, 296.
19This list of characteristics is summarized Aubert
by (ibid.).
20
Aubert, 297.
21
Monfasani, 190 and n.4.
22Aubert mentions Luther's change of heart over Dionysius, and how Zwingli quoted
Erasmus (297-98).
23
Aubert, 298.
24For a list of the
many defenders, see Aubert 298-99.
25 Emile Male calls Baronius "le
grand historien de l'Eglise" (L'Art Religieux de la
Fin du XVIe Siecle, du XVIIe Siecle, et du XVIIIe Siecle [Paris, 1951], 68). See Cyriac
Pullapilly, Caesar Baronius, Counter-ReformationHistorian (Notre Dame, Ind., 1975);

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Rubens and Dionysius the Areopagite 25

was tantamount to papal approval. In the early seventeenth century the

publication of new translations of the corpus first by Lanssel and later by
Cordier signaled further approval, for both were members of the Jesuit
order, which often wielded papal authority.26Indeed, Dionysius's writings
were not used defensively but on the contrary were aggressively quoted
to defend the ancientness of Catholic practices and doctrine. Aubert in-
forms us that "during the first decades of the seventeenth century, the
authority of the Areopagite was not contested by Catholic theologians
and apologists."27
For the Catholic defenders it was greatly significant, as Balthasar
Cordier himself proudly points out, that Thomas Aquinas had made
liberal use of the Greek author's works, for Aquinas was the most highly
praised theologian of the Counter-Reformation.28Pius V proclaimed him
a Doctor of the Church in 1567, lauding him as "the most brilliant light
of the Church."29Nearly forty years later Clement VIII went further and
stated that no error could be discovered in his works.30In 1614 Paul V
called him "the defender of the Catholic Church and conqueror of here-
tics."31The Jesuits, it should be noted, were quite active in disseminating
the doctrine of Aquinas, especially as interpreted by the brilliant and
prolific Francesco Suarez.32
Therefore, we can see that Dionysius occupied a special place for the
conservative Catholic authorities. Not to accept Dionysius as authentic
was to question the most eminent theologian of the Church, Thomas
Aquinas. Not to accept Dionysius as authentic was also to question a
writer who often was used in the debates at Trent as a justification for the
hierarchicalstructure of the Church which placed the pope at his pinnacle

and for the importance of Baronius with regard to the arts, Elizabeth Cropperand Charles
Dempsey, "The State of Research in Italian Painting of the Seventeenth Century," Art
Bulletin, 69 (1987), 505. They also mention two collections, Baronio storico e la Controri-
forma: Atti del ConvegnoInternazionale di Studi, Fonti e studi Baroniani, I, ed. R. de
Maio, L. Giulia, A. Mazzacane (Sora, 1982); and Baronio e I'arte: Atti del Convegno
Internazionale di Studi, Fonti e studi Baroniani, II, ed. R. de Maio (Sora, 1985), 505, n.
62, tracing the influence of the Cardinal in both the visual arts and in music. Rubens
designed a frontispiece for the Annales (Judson and Van de Velde, no. 53).
26 Aubert comments that "the sole fact that these were two Jesuit theologians, Fathers

Lanssel and Cordier, who produced major translations of the corpus, is indicative of the
interest that the works of the Areopagite continued to command" (304).
27
Aubert, 304.
28 Cordier includes a
long index of the places in Aquinas's works where the Angelic
Doctor supported himself with references to Dionysius (see PG, III, 88-96).
29 The New Catholic Encyclopedia, "Thomas Aquinas."
30 Ibid.
31 Ibid.
32 Suarez was born in Lisbon in 1548, entered the Society in 1564, died in 1617, and

wrote, among other works, an enormous commentary on the Summa of St. Thomas; for
a brief overview of his career, see New Catholic Encyclopedia, "Francesco Suarez."

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26 Erick Wilberding

of power.33The need to defend Dionysius, then, was keenly felt by Catholic

hierarchy of the early seventeenth century.
With this understanding of the place of Dionysius in the thought of
the Catholic church of the early Baroque period, it becomes easier to
assess the importance of the translation by Balthasar Cordier.34His com-
pendium of translations, lives of the saint, and additional commentary
functions very clearly as prolonged and passionate polemic, drawing upon
both Eastern and Western sources, in favor of the supposedly apostolic
saint. Since several scholars have drawn attention to the fact that Rubens
attempted in his frontispieces to reproduce in visual terms the contents of
a given work, it is worthwhile and indeed essential to examine the contents
of the Cordier volumes.
Cordier first wrote two brief essays as introductions to the works so
that the reader might fully appreciate the sublime wisdom of Dionysius.35
His purpose in his "Observationes" is to reveal the scriptural basis for
much of what Dionysius claims. He also takes pains to reveal the similari-
ties in doctrine between Dionysius and other revered saints, such as Saint
Basil the Great, Saint Bernard, and Saint Thomas Aquinas.36In his pas-
sion for the works of Dionysius, Cordier in his eleventh observation even
goes so far as to assert that Dionysius is the first author of scholastic
theology.37
In Cordier's "Isagoge ad mysticam theologiam S. Dionysii Areopagi-
tae" there is an attempt to explain the basic mysticism of Dionysius, which
is described as "experienced wisdom ... a divine infusion, purifying the
mind ... and through supernatural acts of faith, hope and charity [the

33 For
example, in the discussion on the sacrament of ordination on November 16,
1562, one bishop declared that "Dixit Dionysius....Deus ordinem divinitus institutum
conservare et omnes suo in officio: papam, episcopos, sacerdotes et alios omnes illuminare
dignaretur"; Concilium Tridentinum Diariorum, ed. Sebastian Merkle (Freiburg, 1965),
II, 726. Other prelates in the discussion quote from the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, 762, 771.
34 Born at Antwerp in 1592, Cordier entered the Society in 1612; and after teaching
Greek for three years and moral theology for eight, he taught scripture in Vienna and in
1650 died in Rome (Carlos Sommervogel,Bibliothequede la Compagniede Jesus, Premiere
partie, Bibliographie par Les PP. Augustin et Aloys de Backer, Nouvelle edition, Index
par Bliard [12 vols., Heverle-Louvain, 1960], II, 1438-43). During his life time he edited
several collections of the writings on the Fathers, one of which, Catena Sexaginta Graec-
orum Patrum in S. Lucam, published in Antwerp in 1628, was illustrated by Rubens; see
Judson and Van de Velde, I, 249-53, nos. 58 and 58a. The artist also designed a vignette
for the title page of Cordier's Catena Patrum Graecorum in S. Ioannem, published in
Antwerp in 1630; see Judson and Van de Velde, I, 253-55, n.59 and 59a.
35 Cordier's "Observationes Generales Pro Faciliori
Intelligentia S. Dionysii" is re-
printed in PG, III, 77-96, and 95-108, "Ad Mystica Theologiam S. Dionysii Areopagitae."
36 For example, he compares a passage from Dionysius with a passage on the attributes
of God taken from Bernard'sDe consideratione(PG, III, 83-84). For the comparison with
Aquinas, see PG, III, 86; for Basil the Great, PG, III, 87-88.
37 "S.
Dionysius primus auctor theologiae scholasticae" (PG, III, 85).

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Rubens and Dionysius the Areopagite 27

soul] is intimately joined to God."38This essay is a more sustained and

interesting account of the dynamics of Dionysian mysticism as understood
in the early seventeenth century. For Cordier the special kind of prayer
that Dionysius advocates representsthe most purifying means for the soul
to reach God, and those to whom it is granted are highly blessed.39
Somewhat surprisingly, in view of the difference in spiritual outlooks
between the Carmelites and the Jesuits, or in other words between a
contemplative and an active order, Cordier at one point lavishes praise
upon the modern exemplar of Dionysian mysticism, John of the Cross,
"rerum mysticarum expertissimus."
The contents of the rest of the volume are culled from a variety of
sources, Eastern and Western, in an effort to show the reverence accorded
to Dionysius in two very old and deeply rooted traditions. Cordier takes
the scholia of Saint Maximus, a figure from the seventh century, as well
as the saint's more extended commentary on the works of Dionysius.40
These works succeeded in slipping the ideas of Dionysius into the larger
stream of Byzantine theology.41 From George Pachymeres, a medieval
Byzantine historian who died in Constantinople c. 1310, Cordier takes his
"proemium" as well as his "paraphrasis."42Other shorter writings from
the Byzantine tradition are quoted by Cordier.43
From the western tradition, in order to support his case for Dionysius
even further, Cordier includes several works also written by Jesuits. A
lengthy life of the saint as well as a polemical work written by his confrere
Pierre Halloix. In his polemical work Halloix very directly addresses the
questions of the identity of Dionysius and the character of his works,
drawing upon the writings of the early Greek and Latin Fathers.44To
38
"Theologica mystica est sapientia experimentalis, Dei affectiva, divinitus infusa,
quae mentem ab omni inordinatione puram, per actus supernaturalesfidei, spei et chari-
tatis, cum Deo intime conjungit" (PG, III, 97).
39The places where Cordier becomes quite excited about the intimate contact possible
with God are quite numerous;e.g., after detailing the special grace given, he exclaims, "O
felicem illam horam!" "O happy is that hour!" (PG, III, 107).
40 These are reproduced in PG, IV, 15-432, 527-75. M. Hermaniuk tells us that the
scholia are no longer regarded as authentic (New Catholic Encyclopedia, s.v. "Saint Max-
imus the Confessor").
41 "Pseudo-Dionysius is taken into the Greek Church through Maximus," writes A.

Ehrhard. "Pseudodionys ist durch Maximos in die griechische Kirche eingefuhrt worden"
(quoted in Dictionnaire de Spiritualite, 295).
42 New Catholic Encyclopedia, "George Pachymeres." The "Proemium" is reproduced
in PG, III, 107-16, the "Paraphrasis"to the works in PG, III, following the notes that
Cordier appended to the text, and the "Paraphrasis"to the letters in PG, IV, 433-510.
43
Space disallows my describing of each of these works.
44
"De S. Dionysii Vita et Operibus Quaestiones Quatuor," PG, IV, 869-954. The first
question concerns the identity of Dionysius as both disciple of Paul and Bishop of Paris
and the second the works of Dionysius, the third demonstrates that Timothy, to whom
Dionysius addresses many of his works, was indeed the disciple of Saint Paul, and the
fourth question concerns the place of the body of the Dionysius.

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28 Erick Wilberding

buttress many of his assertions, Halloix frequently refers to the lives and
commentaries written by the Greek Fathers.45Cordier also includes the
polemical works written by the Jesuits Martin Delrio and Peter Lanssel.
These works compile daunting lists of the erudite men of the past, many
of them saints and important to the thought of the Church, who quote
Dionysius and comment on the wisdom of his works.46
From this we can see that the "translation" by Cordier, which was
dedicated to a Jesuit Cardinal active in the Counter-Reformation,47was
in reality much more than a simple new Latin version of the works of the
saint with a helpful onomasticon. Given the stringent criticism of the
Protestants, the Jesuit felt compelled to answer by collecting the writings
of the Byzantine tradition, which extended its roots several centuries
beyond the birth of Protestantism. By using the writings of revered Byzan-
tine historians and saints, as well as by showing the parallels and bor-
rowings in the Western Fathers, especially in the works of Aquinas,
Cordier must have felt he had constructed an unassailable argument in
favor of the legitimacy of Saint Dionysius the Areopagite.
This unassailable argument is what Rubens wished to duplicate in
visual terms when he began to plan his frontispiece for the works of
Dionysius. As mentioned above, the most extraordinary and seemingly
uncharacteristicsymbol of the frontispiece is the triangle inscribed within
a circle. On examination the abstract symbol is entirely appropriate for
Dionysius, because its origin is within the history of Platonic and Pytha-
gorean philosophy, a history which was well known in Rubens's day.48
For Pythagoras, renowned as the man who transported geometry from
Egypt to Greece, numbers were "the ultimate constituents of reality."49

45 For example, see PG, III, 709.

46 Martin "Vindiciis
Delrio, Areopagiticis," PG, III, 953-82. Peter Lanssel, "De S.
Dionysio Areopagita Ejusque Scriptis Disputation Apologetica," PG, III, 981-1012.
47
The volumes are dedicated to Franz Cardinal Dietrichstein, Bishop of Olmutz, a
diocese in Moravia. During the Reformation, Protestantism was well-received by the
Moravians, and the Jesuits worked assiduously to regain the populace. Dietrichstein is
called "the most important bishop of this see" during the early seventeenth century; see
The Catholic Encyclopedia [1911], "Olmutz."
48 The literature on the symbol of the triangle is not extensive but as yet has not been
unified within a single examination. The most helpful articles are the following: J. J. M.
Timmers, "Dreieck," Lexicon de ChristlichenIkonographie, ed. Engelbert Kirschbaum,
S.J. (Rome, 1968), A. Stuiber, "Dreieck," Reallexikon fur Antike und Christentum, ed.
Theodor Klauser (Stuttgart, 1959), and especially Richard Teufel, "Dreieck," Reallexikon
zur Deutchen Kunstgeschichte(Stuttgart, 1958)-all, however, making mention of Georg
Stuhlfauth, Das Dreieck, Die Geschichteeines religiosen Symbols (Stuttgart, 1937). Note
that in a depiction of the Trinity, the symbol of the triangle is used as the nimbus of God
the Father; see the engraving by Cornelis Galle after a drawing by the master, "La Gloria
Celeste dei Beati," Rubens e l'Incisione, exh. cat., 1977, Villa della Farnesina alla Lungara,
Roma, no. 14.
49 On Pythagoras see S. K. Heninger, Jr., Touches of Sweet Harmony (San Marino,
1974), especially 104-7, for Pythagoras as the carrier of geometry.

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Rubens and Dionysius the Areopagite 29

The harmony within the cosmos was expressed in mathematical ratios,

which was reproduced in musical ratios. What is especially relevant to
our discussion is that Pythagoras was also famous as the discoverer of the
five regular solids, the tetrahedron, octohedron, cube, icosahedron, and
dodecahedron. The first of these, the tetrahedron or pyramid, which is
produced by interlocking triangles, is composed of four points. This was
the first possible three-dimensional form and was associated with the
element of fire. 0 Because of its association with the numbers four and ten,
the triangle was held in great esteem. Pythagorean doctrine concerning the
cosmos and the governing ratios, together with the doctrine of the regular
solids, is expressed in Plato's Timaeus (53C-55C). Later it was Xenocrates
who proposed that an equilateral triangle was a symbol for divinity.51
Although in the time of Saint Augustine the symbol was associated
with the Manichean heresy, by the fifteenth century its Trinitarianmean-
ing was well known. In the early seventeenth century, intellectuals were
well aware of the great antiquity of the image. For example, the symbol
and its significance in antiquity were commented on by Valerianus in his
famous work, Hieroglyphica, a book owned by the artist.52From these
facts, we can assume that the artist was entirely conscious of choosing a
highly appropriate symbol to represent the Trinity for Dionysius the
Areopagite. Dionysius does not comment at all on the triangle as symbol
of God, but nonetheless he was a Greek who according to the legend had
lived for a short period in Egypt.53Halloix declares that Dionysius was
highly educated and indeed had travelled to Egypt in the same way that
Pythagoras, Plato, and other eminent men of learning had done.54Given
the fact that Dionysius was considered an educated Platonist convert and
someone suspicious of anthropomorphic symbolism,55the choice of the
triangle seems completely appropriate.
50Each solid was associated with one of the four elements; the fifth, the dodecahedron,
was regarded as the sum of all the previous solids and representedthe heavens in eternity
(Heninger, 107). For Dionysius, despite his abundant use of the metaphor of light, the
metaphor of fire was best suited for representing how the angels seem like God; Celestial
Hierarchy, XV, 2 (183).
51 See
Plutarch, def. orac., 31 (Stuiber, 310).
52 An
analysis of the library of Rubens was undertakenby Sigrid von Hoyingen-Huene
MacRae in Rubens'Library(M.A. Thesis, Columbia University, 1965). Valerianus'sHiero-
glyphica, a study of the symbols used by the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, is mentioned
as being in the library of the artist in the edition printed at Lyons, 1610 (125, no. 301).
For Valerianus's commentary on the Triangle, see Les Hieroglyphiques(Lyons, 1615),
520-23.
53Dionysius in his seventh letter speaks of having been in Heliopolis, where he wit-
nesses an eclipse at the time of the crucifixion of Christ (Letter Seven, 2 [268]). Halloix
includes a diagram of the eclipse in his vita which is reproduced in Cordier (PG, IV,
705-6).
54Halloix mentions this early on in his account (PG, IV, 698).
55
Dionysius speaks of the problem of symbolism and God in The Celestial Hierarchy
(II, 1-5 [147-53]). This is briefly discussed in an article by E. H. Gombrich, "Icones

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30 Erick Wilberding

As mentioned above, it is quite significant that the triangle should be

inscribed within a circle. Not commented on by Judson and Van de
Velde, this symbol seems entirely appropriate for Pseudo-Dionysius. In
examining the writings of Dionysius, we can see that diversity within
unity is a fundamental Dionysian concept. Unity emanated from the
Trinity to all of creation. The triangle with its three equal sides obviously
represents diversity, while the circle, by unifying all within its unbroken
contour, symbolizes the unifying influence of God. The fact that the circle
is defined by darkness also is significant, because the passage through
darkness, beyond the senses, is again a fundamental Dionysian concept,
and Rubens has expressed this with admirable subtlety. Moreover, it was
well known that the circle was an ancient image and known to the Egyp-
tians as a symbol of eternity.56
However, it must be noted that for the artist the circle may have had
more meaning within this work. In 1983 Jeffrey Muller published a short
article on the entry Rubens contributed to the Album Amicorum of Philips
van Valckenisse, an eminent businessman and collector of Antwerp.57
Within this friendship book, Rubens very simply drew a circle with a
compass, dotted its center, and wrote above the symbol, "Medio Deus
omnia campo," or "God is all things in the middle of the field,"58an
abbreviatedquotation from Lucan. Muller traces the belief of Plato and
Cicero, which was known to Rubens and recorded in his theoretical
notebook, that the circle was the most beautiful of all forms, for it ex-
pressed the divine harmony. Basing himself on the work of Mahnke,
Muller follows this belief through Hermes Trismegistus and Marsilio
Ficino,59overlooking the fact that Dionysius, so highly praised and valued
by Ficino, also assimilated the Platonic concept and wrote ardently of this
symbol within his works. For example, in The Divine Names he writes:
He is yearningon the move, simple,self-moved,self-acting,preexistentin the
Good, flowingout from the Good onto all that is and returningonce againto
the Good. In this divineyearningshowsespeciallyits unbeginningandunending
naturetravelingin an endlesscircle throughthe Good, from the Good, in the
Good and to the Good, unerringlyturning,ever on the samecenter,everin the
same direction,alwaysproceeding,alwaysremaining,alwaysbeing restoredto
itself.60

Symbolicae: Philosophies of Symbolism and their Bearing on Art," Symbolic Images:

Studies in the Art of the Renaissance (London, 1972), 150-51.
56Valerianus, 512.
57
Jeffrey Muller, "Rubens' Divine Circle," Ringling Museum of Art Journal, 1 (1983),
220-25.
58 De Bello Civili
(VII, 348); see Muller, 220.
59Dietrich Mahnke, Unendliche Sphare und Allmittelpunkt (Halle, 1937). Mahnke
does indeed treat the views of Dionysius and Ficino's awareness of them (66-68).
60
Divine Names, IV, 14 (83).

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Rubens and Dionysius the Areopagite 31

This is not the only place where Dionysius makes use of the symbol of
the circle.61Rubens might have been aware of this Dionysian interpreta-
tion, and indeed in view of his religiosity it is highly likely that he realized,
as Ficino had, that Dionysius could represent a bridge between the pagan
and Christian philosophies. Elsewhere in his theoretical notebook Rubens
wrote that "God is the harmony of all things. A circle including all,
Outside of which there is nothing."62It is true, as Muller comments, that
Rubens embraced a Platonic concept of beauty revealing "a strong faith
in the imminence of God and in the divine order of the universe,"63but
we can plausibly suggest that the artist was familiar with this consoling
belief and metaphor because of the writings of Dionysius the Areopagite,
which were certainly well known even before the appearanceof Cordier's
translation.64
Judson and Van de Velde have commented on the division of the
frontispiece into three distinct zones, with the Virtues in the center zone.
For the two scholars, the first two zones of this division relate very clearly
to Dionysius's Celestial Hierarchy, part of which they claim is "devoted
to the nine orders of angels and to the heavenly virtues."65Given the
constraints of the Corpus, the scholars do not further elaborate on this
declaration, and the reader is left with the impression that the three
theological virtues figure highly within the thought of Dionysius.
However, it must be stated that Dionysius does not mention these as
one of his triads and, moreover, does not devote any chapter of the
Celestial Hierarchy to the theological virtues. Therefore the depiction of
the theological virtues in the frontispiece is at first puzzling. For Dionysius
the chain of enlightenment descends very distinctly from God to angels
to men. Nonetheless, the artist has very consciously placed these three
virtues between heaven and earth; further, he has placed them out of
order, having Faith in the center, as if to say that they do intercede
between the human and the divine.66Why did the artist choose this design?
To answer this question we must refer to Cordier's interpretation of
the doctrine of Pseudo-Dionysius. Within Cordier's fervent explanation
of Dionysian thought, "Isagoge ad mysticam theologiam S. Dionysii Areo-
pagitae," we find a brief passage that is worth quoting in its entirety:

61 For another example, see Divine Names, II, 4 (62).

62
"MS De Ganay, collection of the Marquis de Ganay, Paris: fol. v " 'Deus Harmonia
rerum omnium,/Circulus includens omnia,/Extra quem nihil est' " (quoted in Muller,
221 and 224 n. 19).
63 Muller, 220.
64Muller does date the entry to shortly before 1600, that is, before the trip to Italy
(220).
65
Judson and Van de Velde, I, 274.
Normally, if these virtues are depicted together, they follow the order given in Saint
66

Paul; see M. Evans, "Tugenden," Lexikon de ChristlichenIkonographie, ed. Engelbert

Kirschbaum, S.J. (Rome, 1972).

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32 Erick Wilberding

A furtherend of this wisdomas close and sweet a union with God as can be
obtainedin this life;the meansof obtainingthis are the supernaturaltheological
acts of faith,hope,and charity.[By thesevirtues]the mindimmediatelytouches
God, darklybutcertainlythroughfaith,suspendedby hope,perfectedby charity.
Faith, since it certainlyis "the convictionaboutthingsnot seen,"67is certainly
the samemysticaldarknesscelebratedby SaintPauland SaintDionysius,as can
be seen in the first two chaptersof the MysticalTheologyand in the fifth letter
to Dorotheus,along with our notes to those works.Hope, since it truly deals
withthingsnot yet possessed,suspendsthe soul in a certainwaywithexpectation
and desireof those samethings.68Lastlythereis charity;since it is the bond of
perfection,it most happilyjoins the soul to God.69As faith informsthe mind,
hopeinformsthe memory,andcharityinformsthe will andemotions,andall are
perfectedmystically.Thusby thesemostexcellenttheologicalvirtues,the entire
mysticaltheologyis perfectlyand essentiallycontained.70 (emphasismine)

What the artist has done, in other words, is to articulate in visual

terms Cordier's interpretation of the theological virtues. Cordier sees all
of the mystical doctrine of Dionysius, that is, the Dionysian vision of the
soul's rapport with God, as compressed within a certain understanding
of these three virtues. Rubens thus stresses the fact that the writings of
Dionysius are chiefly concerned with describing the means by which
humanity receives knowledge of divinity.
Why is the virtue of Faith placed out of order?As we have seen in the
brief exposition on Dionysian thought, which is so much preoccupied
with a dark knowledge of God, the virtue of faith is emphasized. For
Cordier this also is true. For instance, in his definition of Dionysian
mysticism the first term that issues from his pen is "theologica mystica

67
Migne provides the footnote reference here to Hebrews 11:1. "Faith is constant
assurance concerning what we hope for, and conviction about things we do not see" (this
and other translations taken from The New American Bible [New York, 1970].
68 Migne's reference here is to Romans 8:24: "In hope we were saved. But hope is not

hope if its object is seen: how is it possible for one to hope for what one sees?"
69 Cordier here uses the word
"conjungere,"which relates to the bond of marriage, in
order to express the intensity of the experience.
70PG, III, 97-98: "Porro finis per hancce sapientiam intentus, est unio cum Deo,
quanta nimirum potest in hac vita obtineri, arctissima et suavissimaque. Media vero hujus
obtinendae sunt actus theologici supernaturales,fidei, spei et charitatis, quibus immediate
mens Deum attingit, per fidem scilicet caliginose, per spem suspense, per charitatem
perfecte. Fides enim cum sit argumentum non apparentium,est caligo ista mystica S. Paulo
et S. Dionysio adeo celebrata,de qua vide cap. 1 et 2 Myst. theol., et epist. 5 ad Dorotheum,
atque ibidem nostras adnotationes. Spes vero cum sit rerum quae necdum possidentur,
earumdem exspectatione ac desiderio animum quodammodo suspendit, atque ita per illam
mystica fit suspensio. Charitas denique, cum sit vinculum perfectionis, cum ipso Deo
animam felicissime conjungit. Ac fides quidem intellectum, spes memoriam, charitas
voluntatem et affectum supra naturam mystice perficit et informat, ita tribus istis excel-
lentissimis virtutum theologicarum actibus, totius mysticae theolgiae perfectio et essentia
contineatur...." The passage goes on to praise Saint John of the Cross and his works,
The Ascent of Mount Carmel and The Dark Night of the Soul.

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Rubens and Dionysius the Areopagite 33

est sapientia experimentalis," or "the mystical theology is experienced

wisdom."71The concern with wisdom is paramount, and as we have just
read in the short passage quoted above, the virtue of faith especially
concerns the intellect. Therefore, we can suggest that the artist is express-
ing the same emphasis on wisdom and knowledge by placing the virtue
of faith in the center, out of its characteristic order. The frontispiece
thereby also testifies strongly that Dionysius himself possessed this unique
knowledge, a point yet further underscoredby the inclusion of two angels
on either side of the topmost part of the throne.
Saints Peter and Paul are obviously quite important to the representa-
tion of Dionysius. As Judson and Van de Velde have pointed out, each
saint is linked to Dionysius through biographical ties, a fact very impor-
tant to the apologists.72However, once the biographical ties are admitted,
the representation of Peter and Paul in the frontispiece can be examined
from another angle. In other frontispiecesdesigned for the Church, specifi-
cally those for the Roman Breviary and for a translation of the Annales
of Baronius, we see that Saints Peter and Paul are situated on either side
of the design, in this way signifying the approval and authority of the
Church.
Visually, therefore, much more is intended than friendship in the
frontispiece for the works of Dionysius when we see that Peter and Paul
are flanking the controversial saint. As we have seen, the works of Diony-
sius were considered as crucial to the writings of Thomas Aquinas, as well
as to the establishment of apostolic authority descending through the
clergy. Visually, Saints Peter and Paul establish the authority of the
Church: they validate, in a circular argument, the reputation of the saint
whose apocryphal writings were regardedas necessary, among other writ-
ings and traditions, for validating that very same papal authority.
From this examination, we have seen that the Cordiervolumes present
an intriguing contribution to the theology of the early seventeenth century.
In designing the iconography of the frontispiece, Rubens was assuredly
guided by the interpretationof the Catholic apologists. The placement of
the theological virtues in the middle zone, bonding the earthly to the
heavenly, clearly expresses the interpretation by Cordier given in his
preface, "Isagoge ad mysticam theologiam S. Dionysii." For Cordier, the
theological virtues compress the entire mystical theology. The geometric

71
PG, III, 97.
72
For example, Halloix declares that "it is sinful to doubt that the Apostle Paul, the
Doctor to the Gentiles, was the instructor of Dionysius." "Quin Paulus apostolus et doctor
gentium, praeceptor S. Dionysii Areopagitae fuerit, nefas est dubitare" (PG, IV, 738, n.
50). Halloix mentions this story (PG, IV, 769, n. 94), which also is related in the Golden
Legend (Jacobus Voragine, The Golden Legend, ed. F. S. Ellis, tr. William Caxton [New
York, 1973], 251). After Peter's death, Clement succeeds him and it is Clement who sends
Dionysius to Gaul (PG, IV, 779).

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34 Erick Wilberding

image of God is charged with Platonism, a philosophy which the artist

himself found appealing.
The placement of Saints Peter and Paul on either side of the controver-
sial Saint Dionysius is a powerful statement of the approval of the church
for the authenticity of Dionysius, a saint whose writings had been quoted
often in the works of Saint Thomas Aquinas as well as in the debates of
the Council of Trent. While Protestant scholars, following Valla and
Erasmus, expressed skepticism about the saint, this appeared to many
Catholic theologians as an attempt to undermine the foundation of the
Church. Cordier's two volumes of translations, lives and commentaries
were intended as a powerful declaration of the deep wisdom and value of
Dionysius, whose mystical experience, the Jesuit writes, was not abstruse
and cerebral but rather suffused the believer's life, whether he was eating
or drinking, awake or asleep.73 Adhering to this essentially medieval
devotion, which ignores the cogent criticisms of Valla and Erasmus, Ru-
bens has visually duplicated Cordier'spolemic by sensitively but unambig-
uously selecting images that strongly assert the antiquity and authenticity
of the Areopagite.

New York University.

"Sive comedat, sive bibat, sive vigilet sive dormiat, semper in eo Deus operatur, qui
73

superessentialitervivit in illo" (PG, III, 108).

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