The 14 Holy Helpers – Episode 1
Readers of this page are used by now to compact stories on great individual works of art. The group of art history enthusiasts writing them is now also developing various serial subjects. Each of these will share a common theme, divided over different artists, styles, periods or materials.
This episode introduces the first series:
The triptych in the Berlin Bode-museum was produced in a South German workshop around 1500. While the gilded wood-carving of its majestic central panel and its painted wings concentrate on a limited number of saints dedicated to a local church, donor family or guild, our attention is caught by the image on the predella – the painted base along the frame at the bottom of the altarpiece. Here we see what looks like a team photo of 14 additional figures, divided in two equal groups and positioned between a parapet and a blue and gold backdrop. There are women as well as men, all of them personalized by their dress or by the attributes displayed in their hands and on the parapet in the foreground. All are saints, as their haloed heads testify.
It is a representation of the ‘14 holy helpers’ – a collective of saints, venerated together, whose intercession was believed to cure specific diseases. These Nothelfer (‘helpers in need’) originated in the 14th century, initially as a result of the Black Death that ravaged the country. Popular belief soon added other specialist saints to ensure maximum ‘health insurance’ coverage (and to economize on praying time).
In a next episode we will focus on particular healing skills of individual holy helpers, using a different example and starting with St. Vitus. In the Bode predella, he is the boy-saint in the third place from the right, proudly pointing at the attribute of his martyrdom: a kettle filled with boiling oil.
Comments
I was told i had Genital Herpes six months ago. of course it was the worst experience ever and i thought my life was over. So i went online to find things i can do from prevent getting outbreaks and maybe even cure this. I found someones story and how it possibly cured him. ive only had once outbreak which was the first one and i havent had another in six months. This is what i did! Vitamin D one tablet 3x a day, Vitamin C one tablet 3x a day, L-Lysine one tablet 3x a day.You can also take tea tree one tablet 3x a day, everynight after a shower i clean my lower back and make sure its nice & clean i add DSMO cream Mix with 8 drops of oregano and put it on your lower back. The DSMO cream is the one ive heard that can possibly cure it so that is the most important, im soon going to get tested again and im praying to God it comes out negative. I am very happy, that is why i am here to testify on how Dr PETER helped me and how he has help people that i have directed to him, i am not shy to broadcast about how i suffered of HERPES disease because i am free now, i was positive for 3 years but now i am HERPES Negative now with the help of Dr PETER Herbal Medicine. My dear friends, i am glad to say Dr PETER cured me and made my family happy again. he can cure any disease or sickness so i advice you to contact him if you have any problem you can contact him today via Email: (peterlovespell1@gmail.com or peterlovespell1@gmail.com) or call +2348132537313 whatsapp or call