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Cornugaya Directory 04
Page 05
This leads us to a consideration that I have delayed till now. The
black image is the central feature of Oropa; it is the raison d'etre
of the whole place, and all else is a mere incrustation, so to
speak, around it. According to this image, then, which was carved
by St. Luke himself, and than which nothing can be better
authenticated, both the Madonna and the infant Christ were as black
as anything can be conceived. It is not likely that they were as
black as they have been painted; no one yet ever was so black as
that; yet, even allowing for some exaggeration on St. Luke's part,
they must have been exceedingly black if the portrait is to be
accepted; and uncompromisingly black they accordingly are on most of
the wayside chapels for many a mile around Oropa. Yet in the
chapels we have been hitherto considering--works in which, as we
know, the most punctilious regard has been shown to accuracy--both
the Virgin and Christ are uncompromisingly white. As in the shops
under the Colonnade where devotional knick-knacks are sold, you can
buy a black china image or a white one, whichever you like; so with
the pictures--the black and white are placed side by side--pagando
il danaro si puo scegliere. It rests not with history or with the
Church to say whether the Madonna and Child were black or white, but
you may settle it for yourself, whichever way you please, or rather
you are required, with the acquiescence of the Church, to hold that
they were both black and white at one and the same time.
Among the dozen or more butterflies and moths which winter in the
perfect state, the most common and the most handsome is the
"Camberwell beauty" or "mourning cloak," _Vanessa antiopa_ L., a large
butterfly whose wings are a rich purplish brown above, duller beneath,
and broadly margined with a yellowish band. It is often found in
winter beneath chunks which are raised a short distance above the
ground, or in the crevices of old snags and fence rails. It is then
apparently lifeless, with the antennae resting close along the back,
above which the wings are folded. But one or two warm days are
necessary to restore it to activity, and I have seen it on the wing as
early as the 2d of March, hovering over the open flowers of the little
snow trillium.
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