Saints Thomas and James the Lesser, from The Apostles 1435 - 1503

This engraving by Israhel van Meckenem portrays Saints Thomas and James the Lesser, each distinguished by potent symbols, during the late fifteenth century. Thomas, on the left, holds a builder's square, an emblem harking back to his traditional role as patron of builders, his doubt transformed into a foundation of faith. James, immersed in scripture, embodies the wisdom and authority of the early Church. These symbols are not isolated; they echo through art history. The square, a tool of measurement and precision, also appears in depictions of geometry, linking earthly construction with divine order. Similarly, the book connects James to a lineage of scholars and evangelists, its pages a vessel for knowledge. Consider the persistent image of the halo, each saint encircled by divine light. The halo's transformation from a pagan solar symbol into a marker of Christian sanctity, a visual echo across millennia! Such symbols, charged with cultural memory, evoke an emotional resonance, connecting us to the spiritual and intellectual currents that shaped the medieval world. They have resurfaced, evolved, and taken on new meanings in different historical contexts.