Patron saint for epilepsy (II)

Iconographic representations of Saint Valentine with his attribute, epilepsy, are frequently encountered above all in southern Germany, eastern Switzerland, Austria and Italy. The attention of the artistically inclined epilepsy specialist is drawn not so much to the saint portrayed in these pictures, sculptures and votive plaques as to the epileptic beside him.

This is often a child (most frequently a boy); adults (mostly males) are also repeatedly presented.

St. Valentine and epileptic (St. Valentine’s Church in Vilnöss, South Tyrol, around 1500)

From a medical viewpoint, the variety of ways in which the symptoms of epilepsy are shown is astonishing. It is possible to different between "grand mal" and "petit mal", tonic and atonic, focal and generalised seizures and associated symptoms (such as cyanosis or hypersalivation) can often be recognised. The various artists must therefore in their time have possessed knowledge about the various types of epilepsy and their symptoms.

Over and over, it is possible to find indications in these representations of the social situation of the epileptic, for example by his location and by the artistic execution within the overall context of the picture (e.g. "totally on the margins" [see the presentation by Lucas Cranach the Elder in the instalment "The motif of epilepsy in religious art" in this series], in the background, without connection to any other pictures persons, with a smaller form [namely worth less] than that of the saint or other figures in the picture).

The clothing of the portrayed epileptic also merits special attention (this has also already been discussed in the instalment "Epilepsy in the Bible I" – see there). Not infrequently, the epileptic is shown in rags and/or half naked – in stark contrast to the bishop, who is usually shown in magnificent regalia. In the art of the Middle ages (and also in later centuries) ragged or (largely) missing clothing was often an indication of the social status of the people thus portrayed: He is "badly off" in two senses – on the one hand he is poor because his illness or disability makes it impossible for him to earn a living, while on the other hand he is poor because he is marked by his suffering and can only exist on the margins of society. His clothes, as an attribute marking social rank, show through their inferiority the low social status of the sick person.

St. Valentine, Church St. Benedikten, Steiermark, Austria

St. Valentine blesses (heals) an epileptic (St. Benedict’s Church, Steiermark, around 1520)

Not infrequently, the colour of the clothing also provides an interesting aspect: it is often red or yellow. Such "signal colours" are directed against demons, thus they should protect the pictured person from the demons of the disease or free him from them. Black clothing, which is also encountered fairly often in such portrayals, is a reference to debt, punishment and penance. Thus the sick person has burdened himself with debt and - according to mediaeval belief - has been punished with the "falling disease" as a penance. If children are shown clothed in black, this indicates that their parents are guilty in some way.