St. Thomas Becket with Sword in Mitre (P 005) Ornament

In this full-length portrait from a late 19th-century devotional print, St. Thomas Becket is depicted true to his earliest type: He is depicted in his prime: tall, slim, and clean-shaven. He holds his archiepiscopal cross in his right hand and carries a lectionary or Gospel book in his left. He is garbed in nearly full canonicals, that is, he wears a red dalmatic over a white tunic accessorised with red-violet gloves and a bright blue mitre. Presumably, he is also wearing on his feet that just peek out from beneath his robe buskins (ceremonial silk stockings) over his episcopal sandals (low shoes resembling slippers or modern loafers). He lacks only the requisite pectoral cross and ring. (The omission of a ring is a common artistic oversight.) A bright blue cope with yellow-green lining completes the ensemble. And, then, there is the unusually placed sword which pierces his mitered head from side to side…. + Throughout much of history, the sword has been the primary defensive and offensive weapon. Many saints—both male and female--have swords as attributes. In one two-volume iconographical study of some 1000 saints, a sword is associated with more than 15% or 150 of them! The sword is such a prevalent attribute that its presence alone is usually insufficient for pinpointing a given saint’s identity. + Context helps. Some saints, such as royal saints, carry a sword as a symbol of secular power. Other saints, soldier-saints, wield swords as a symbol of their profession. On rare occasions, some saints even carry two or three swords with varying significance attached. But, mostly, saints with swords are red martyrs, that is, saints who died for the Faith. + Most commonly, the sword signifies death by beheading. In narrative art, the execution itself may be portrayed. In single figure compositions, the Saint usually holds an unsheathed blade at his or her side point downward or shouldered point upward. The sword’s placement depends on whether the figure in question is full-length and standing or half-length as in a headshot. In more graphic renditions, the sword may be lodged in the head medially, wedged at the back of the neck, run through the throat, or piercing the heart or another of the body’s parts. + St. Thomas Becket’s martyrdom by four sword-wielding assassins began to be portrayed shortly after his death (See M 030). The indoor setting at an altar, the number of assassins with their respective heraldic bearings, and the presence of his cross-bearer are sufficient to differentiate Becket’s martyrdom from that of most other saints. The rare depictions of his decraniation leave little room for doubt of who is being portrayed. Less distinctive, however, were Becket’s first “portraits”. Of little interest iconographically, such representations routinely depict him merely as archbishop with no other emblems, identification being made through accompanying inscriptions. Gradually, Becket’s portraits were provided with a sword (See M 033) and head wounds (K 34). The same study mentioned in the first paragraph lists some 35 saints who were bishops or archbishops associated with a sword. Only one--with the possible exception of the lesser-known St. Theodard of Maastrict--however, is depicted mitered with a sword running through his head from side to side: St. Thomas Becket. It is by far and away the most popular way to represent the Saint today. + St. Thomas Becket is patron of secular clergy. + Feast: December 29 + Image Credit (P 005): Detail of an antique image of St. Thomas Becket from a late 19th-century devotional print in chromoxylography, originally published by Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg, New York, and Cincinnati. From the designer’s private collection of religious ephemera.