Female Alopecia: Guide to Successful Management 2013th Edition

7. Epilogue: Female Hair in Christian Iconography

Ralph M. Trüeb¹

(1)

Center for Dermatology and Hair Diseases, Wallisellen, Switzerland

Abstract

The psychosocial significance of hair and a religious connotation are well appreciated. In a monograph entitled The Unconscious Significance of Hair, Berg reviewed the anthropological literature on hair and emphasized its significance in many rituals. Hair has been recognized to have two perceived symbolic meanings in a spiritual context: shaven hair is a symbol of celibacy and chastity and, in contrast, uncut hair is seen as a withdrawal from worldly concern and vanities. It is the objective of this chapter to review the peculiarities of female hair and its condition in relation to the lives or depictions of the Saints in Christian art.

O glorious St. Agnes, you served God in humility and

confidence on earth and are now in the enjoyment of

His beatific Vision in heaven because you persevered

till death and gained the crown of eternal life.

Remember now the dangers that surround me in the

vale of tears, and intercede for me in my needs and

troubles. Amen.

Prayer to St. Agnes of Rome

The psychosocial significance of hair and a religious connotation are well appreciated. In a monograph entitled The Unconscious Significance of Hair, Berg reviewed the anthropological literature on hair and emphasized its significance in many rituals. Hair has been recognized to have two perceived symbolic meanings in a spiritual context: shaven hair is a symbol of celibacy and chastity and, in contrast, uncut hair is seen as a withdrawal from worldly concern and vanities. It is the objective of this chapter to review the peculiarities of female hair and its condition in relation to the lives or depictions of the Saints in Christian art.

In studying the lives of Saints, the question arises Why Saints? and how do they relate to medical practice and, in particular, to the condition of the hair? Besides the aspects of art, cultural, and medical history, understanding the symbolism of hair in the lives of Saints opens a spiritual dimension for both patients affected by hair loss and the physician trichologist attending them.

In his book Making Saints: How the Catholic Church Determines Who Becomes a Saint, Who Doesn’t and Why, Woodward states:

A Saint is always someone through whom we catch a glimpse of what God is like - and of what we are called to be. Only God ‘makes’ Saints, of course. The church merely identifies from time to time a few of these for emulation. The church then tells the story. But the author is the Source of the grace by which Saints live. And there we have it: A Saint is someone whose story God tells.

Through their inspiration to identification with their own exemplary lives, the Saints help to follow the example of the Savior and his passion for mankind. In his book, Saint of the Day, Foley says of Saints:

(The Saints’) surrender to God’s love was so generous an approach to the total surrender of Jesus that the Church recognizes them as heroes and heroines worthy to be held up for our inspiration. They remind us that the Church is holy, can never stop being holy and is called to show the holiness of God by living the life of Christ.

The Saints help to find community and to break out of the isolation, anonymity, and dumbness of modern society. The Communion of Saints is the spiritual union of all Christians living and the dead, those on earth, in heaven, and, in Catholic belief, in purgatory. They share a single mystical body, with Christ as the head, in which each member contributes to the good of all and shares in the welfare of all. Finally

Saints help to believe in the possibility of miracles and miraculous healings.

The anthropologist Babb asks the question Who is a Saint? and responds by saying that in the symbolic infrastructure of religion, there is the image of a certain extraordinary spiritual leader’s miraculous powers, to whom frequently a certain moral presence is attributed. These saintly figures, he asserts, are “the focal points of spiritual force-fields,” exerting “powerful attractive influence on followers but touch the inner lives of others in transforming ways as well.”

A Saint (from Latin sanctus) is an individual who has fulfilled the criteria set for Sainthood by a religious institution. Though the term is most commonly used in Christianity, the concept also may apply to other religions. The Roman Catholic Church has more than 10,000 Saints. While some may assume that honoring Saints is something the Church set up later, in fact, it was part of Christianity from the beginning. The first Christian Saints were martyrs who had sacrificed their lives for their faith during the persecution of Christians. Starting with the first martyrs of the early Christian Church, Saints were chosen by public acclaim. Though this was a more democratic way to recognize Saints, some Saints’ stories were distorted by legend and some never existed. Gradually, the bishops and finally the Vatican took over authority for approving Saints. Canonization, the process the Church uses to nominate a Saint, has only been introduced in the tenth century. The process begins after the death of a Catholic whom people regard as holy, often many years after death in order to give perspective on the candidate. The local bishop investigates the candidate’s life and writings for heroic virtue or martyrdom and orthodoxy of doctrine. Then a panel of theologians at the Vatican evaluates the candidate. After approval by the panel and cardinals of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the Pope proclaims the candidate venerable. The next step, beatification, requires evidence of a miracle (except in the case of martyrs). Since miracles are considered proof that the person is in heaven and can intercede for us, the miracle must take place after the candidate’s death and as a result of a specific petition to the candidate. Only after one more miracle will the Pope canonize the Saint (this includes martyrs as well). The title of Saint tells us that the person lived a holy life, is in heaven, and is to be honored by the universal Church (Table 7.1).

Table. 7.1

Saints have the following characteristics in common

Christian hagiography deals with the account of the Saints’ lives and passion, and Christian iconography with the Saints’ depiction in religious art. Most Catholic churches are full of images of Saints – in stained glass windows, sculptures, murals, and mosaics. Appreciation of religious art is deepened by knowledge of what is depicted and why and that includes all the mysterious figures carrying various objects and dressed in different ways. Saints are only sometimes labeled with their names. The clues to their identity are rather given in their appearance or in what they are holding. These objects may be the instruments of martyrdom, representations of events in their lives, or symbols of their teachings and are called the Saint’s attributes. Table 7.2 gives a summary of Saints with peculiarities and symbolism related to the hair.

Table 7.2

Summary of Saints, their peculiarities, and the symbolism of their hair

From Trüeb and Navarini (2010)

7.1 Hair as Martyrdom: Saint Margaret of Antioch

The term martyrdom refers to someone who has been injured, tortured, or lost their life while fighting for something they believe in. In the context of church history, from the time of the persecution of early Christians in the Roman Empire, being a martyr indicated an individual who was killed for maintaining a religious conviction, knowing that this will almost certainly result in the death penalty. The types of torture and torment have been manifold, and martyrdom by means of the hair is well documented both in the legends and in the depictions of Christian martyrs.

St. Margaret of Antioch (also known as Marina, died 305) was allegedly tortured ­suspended by her hair. According to the legend, she was daughter of a pagan priest. She became a shepherdess, and when she spurned the advances of the Roman prefect Olybrius, who was infatuated with her beauty, he charged her with being a Christian, whereupon Margaret was imprisoned and martyred.

Her attributes in Christian iconography are the cross and the dragon, since she had an encounter with the devil in the form of a dragon while she was in prison. According to the legend, he swallowed her, but the cross she carried in her hand so irritated his throat that he was forced to disgorge her. Hence, she is patroness of childbirth.

7.2 Hair in Martyrdom: Saint Perpetua

Church father Tertullian (150–230) gives account of St. Perpetua (died 203) asking for a pin to fasten untidy hair in the hour of her martyr, for it was not right that a martyr should die with her hair in disorder, lest she might seem to be mourning in her hour of triumph.

Perpetua, a 22-year-old married noble and a nursing mother, suffered martyrdom together with her slave Felicity, an expectant mother. They suffered their martyrdom together at the stake of wild animals at Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. In Christian iconography, she is depicted in the moment of her martyr in the stadium of Carthage, usually together with St. Felicity.

7.3 Facial Hirsutism: Saint Wilgefortis

St. Wilgefortis is a female Saint of popular religious imagination whose cult arose in the fourteenth century. Art historians have argued that the origins of the cult can be found with the Volto Santo of Lucca, a large eleventh-century carved wooden figure of Christ on the cross, bearded like a man but dressed in a full-length tunic like a woman instead of the normal loin cloth familiar in the West. The theory is that when the composition was copied and brought North over the following 150 years, in small copies by pilgrims and ­dealers, this unfamiliar image led trouser-wearing Northerners to create a narrative to explain the androgynous icon. St Wilgefortis remained popular in the North until the end of the Gothic period and was decisively debunked during the late sixteenth century and thereafter disappears from high art, although lingering well into the twentieth century in more popular forms, especially in Bavaria, Austria, northern France, and Belgium. While some believe her name is therefore derived from the Old German heilige Vartez (holy face), a translation of the Italian Volto Santo, others think it derives from the Latin virgo fortis (strong virgin). In England, her name is Uncumber, and in Dutch Ontkommer, where her name means escaper. In German, she is also known as Kümmernis, where her name means grief or anxiety. Finally, she is known as Liberata in Italy and France and Libradain Spain, again as liberator from tribulations or husbands.

According to the narrative, Wilgefortis was daughter of the King of Portugal and had been promised by her father to the King of Sicily. To thwart the unwanted wedding, she had taken a vow of virginity and prayed that she would be made repulsive. In answer to her prayers, she sprouted a beard, which ended the engagement. In rage, Wilgefortis’s father had her crucified. Wilgefortis was venerated by people seeking relief from tribulations, in particular by women who wished to be liberated from abusive husbands.

In Christian iconography, she is depicted with a beard on a cross. There is an impressive carving in the Henry VII Chapel of Westminster Abbey of a standing Wilgefortis holding a cross, with a very long beard. She also appears lightly bearded, on the outside of a triptych door by Hans Memling (between1433 and 1440–1494).

7.4 Long and Disheveled Hair: Saint Mary of Egypt

St. Mary of Egypt (344–421) was born in Egypt and, at the early age of 12, left her home for the city of Alexandria where she, for upwards of 17 years, lived an extremely dissolute life. Some authorities refer to her as a public ­prostitute ­during this period, but in her Vita, she states that she often refused the money offered for her sexual favors. She said she was driven by an insatiable desire and an irrepressible passion and that she mainly lived by begging, supplemented by spinning flax. On the occasion of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, she embarked for Palestine, not however with the intention of making the ­pilgrimage but with the prospect that on board the ship she would encounter numerous men to pay for her passage by offering her sexual favors. On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, she joined the crowds towards the church where the sacred relic was venerated, hoping to encounter in the gathering new victims whom she might allure into sin. The turning point in her career came when she tried to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for the celebration and was barred from doing so by an unseen force. Realizing that this was because of her impurity, she was struck with remorse, and on seeing an icon of the Virgin Mary outside the church, she prayed for forgiveness and promised to become an ascetic. Then she attempted again to enter the church, and this time was permitted in. Having adored the Holy Cross and kissed the pavement of the church, she returned to the icon to give thanks, and while praying there for guidance as to her future course, she heard a voice telling her that if she crossed the Jordan, she would find rest. That same evening, Mary reached the Jordan and received absolution and afterwards Holy Communion in the monastery dedicated to St. John Baptist on the bank of the River Jordan. The following day, she crossed the river and wandered eastward into the desert that stretches towards Arabia to live the rest of her life as a hermit in penitence. Here, she had lived absolutely alone for 47 years, when the monk and priest St. Zosimas of Palestine, who had come out from his monastery to spend Lent in the desert, unexpectedly encountered her. She was completely naked and almost unrecognizable as human. As soon as they met, she called Zosimas by his name and recognized him as a priest. She asked him for his mantle to cover herself with, and then she narrated the strange and romantic story of her life to him manifesting marvelous clairvoyance. On returning to the monastery, Zosimas related her life story to the brethren, and it was preserved among them as oral tradition until it was written down by St. Sophronius (560–638).

Mary of Egypt is revered as the patron Saint of penitents and, in Christian iconography, is depicted with long and disheveled hair often completely covering her otherwise naked body.

7.5 Long and Beautiful Hair: Saint Mary Magdalene

St. Mary Magdalene (first-century AD) is one of the most important of many women who accompanied Jesus and the 12 apostles in the movement of Christ. She followed Jesus till the very end. According to all four Gospels of the Christian New Testament, she was the first to witness his resurrection and is repeatedly portrayed in early Christian writings as a visionary and leader of the early movement. The Gospel of Luke describes her as a woman “from whom seven demons had gone out.” (Luke 8:1–3). Obviously, she was considered as a sinner when she first encountered Jesus and allegedly very beautiful and proud, but after she met Jesus, she felt great sorrow for her evil life. When Jesus went to supper at the home of a rich man named Simon, Mary came to weep at his feet. Then with her long beautiful hair, she wiped his feet dry and anointed them with expensive perfume. Some people were taken aback that Jesus let such a sinner touch him, but Jesus could see into Mary Magdalene’s heart and said, “Many sins are forgiven her, because she has loved very much.” Then to Mary Magdalene he said kindly, “Your faith has made you safe; go in peace.” From then on, Mary Magdalene humbly served Jesus. When Jesus was crucified, she was at the foot of the cross, and after Jesus’ body had been placed in the tomb, she went to anoint it early Easter Sunday morning. Not finding the body, she began to weep, and seeing someone whom she thought was the gardener, she asked him if he knew where the body of Jesus had been taken. The person began to speak in a voice she recognized to be Jesus, risen from the dead. He had chosen to show himself first to Mary Magdalene, the repentant sinner.

Misconceptions both in antiquity and in modern times have emerged regarding Mary Magdalene, the most scandalous being allegations that she was a prostitute before her conversion. Neither the Bible nor any other early historical sources validate that claim which apparently stems from an error in a sixth-century sermon by Pope Gregory the Great (Pontificate: 590–604). This erroneous view was not corrected until 1969 when the Vatican issued a quiet retraction. This wrong impression has been perpetuated by much Western medieval Christian art. In many such depictions, Mary Magdalene is shown as having long hair which she wears down over her shoulders, while other women follow contemporary standards of propriety by hiding their hair beneath headdresses or kerchiefs. Magdalene’s hair may be rendered as red, while the other women of the New Testament in these same depictions ordinarily have dark hair beneath a scarf.

7.6 Saint Agnes of Rome: Patron Saint for Women with Hair Loss

Roman Catholic tradition has made Saints the patrons or protectors of various aspects of human life, and they are invoked for particular reasons. A patron Saint is regarded as an advocate in heaven of a craft, activity, or person.

Patron Saints, because they have already transcended to the metaphysical, are believed to be able to intercede effectively for the needs of their special charges.

Some consider it a special devotion to God by displaying humility in asking a Saint for ­intercession rather than expecting to be answered themselves. Intercessory prayer may also be a petition made to God on behalf of others. The doctrine of Saintly intercession goes back to the earliest church. They point to such scriptural passages as Tobit 13:12–15, Revelation 5:8, and Revelation 8:3–4, which depict heavenly beings offering the prayers of mortals before God, and James 5:16, where all those in heaven can be presumed to be living righteously, which states the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. The justification for calling upon a Saint in prayer is that the Saints are both close to God because of their holiness and accessible to humans. Historically, the belief matched the earthly patterns of patron–client relations that were the normal way of attempting to deal with the ­bureaucracy of the later Roman Empire and the very personal governmental processes of the Middle Ages. The Saints were seen as God’s courtiers in a heaven that was often imagined as resembling somewhat the courts of earthly rulers.

The number of protector Saints for the medical profession, specifically the Anargyroi (Greek for Unmercenaries, i.e., saints who received no payment for their medical services), and for dermatologic conditions is large. The affiliation of a protector Saint to specific condition usually relates to actual facts in the lives of the Saints and their depiction in Christian iconography, for example, St. Laurence is invoked for burns because he was put to death by being roasted on a gridiron and St. Bartholomew is invoked for skin diseases since images of his martyrdom depict him with his skin draped over his arm. St. Mary Magdalene is patron Saint for hairdressers. Surprisingly, there is no existing protector Saint for hair loss or trichologists, though St. Agnes of Rome would seem a worthy candidate for this purpose.

According to the Legenda Aurea (Golden Legend) of Jacobus de Voragine (1230–1298), St. Agnes of Rome was a member of the Roman nobility born 291 and raised in a Christian family. She suffered martyrdom during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian (284–305), on 21 January 304. The Prefect Sempronius wished Agnes to marry his son, and on Agnes’ refusal, he condemned her to death. As Roman law did not permit the execution of virgins, Sempronius dragged Agnes naked through the streets to a brothel. As she prayed, her hair grew and covered her body. When led out to die, she was tied to a stake, but the bundle of wood would not burn, whereupon the officer in charge of the troops drew his sword and beheaded her or, in some other texts, stabbed her in the throat. In the fourth century, Constantia, the daughter of the Roman Emperor Constantine (reign 312–337), built a basilica on the site of her tomb. Agnes’ bones are conserved in the church of Sant’ Agnese fuori le mura in Rome, built over the catacomb that housed Agnes’ tomb. Her skull is preserved in a side chapel in the church of Sant’ Agnese in Agone in Rome’s Piazza Navona.

In Christian iconography, St. Agnes is depicted with long and beautiful hair and a lamb as her attribute, since her name resembles the Latin word agnus, which means lamb. The name is actually derived from the Greek word agnon meaning chaste, pure, and sacred. In the past, her feast day was the occasion for the blessing of the lambs, whose wool was used by the nuns of Saint Agnes in Rome to weave the palliums of archbishops.

Traditionally, St. Agnes of Rome is regarded patron saint of chastity, girls, betrothed women (she chose Christ as her betrothed), rape victims, virgins, and gardeners, since virginity is symbolized as a closed garden. In fact, St. Agnes of Rome would seem most appropriate as protector Saint for women with hair loss and patron Saint for trichologists on the basis of her historic passio (miraculous growth of long hair), her attribute in Christian iconography (the lamb, notably the Australian Hair and Wool Research Society is one of the original and major international, not-for-profit organizations bringing together premier doctors and scientists involved in treatment and research of hair disorders), and her feast day on 21st of January, when seasonal hair growth is peaking at its maximum.

Understanding the symbolism of hair in the lives of Saints reveals a connection between the visible and the ungraspable in trichological practice or the art of treating our adnex structure that is closest to heaven.

Amen

Suggested Reading

Babb LA (1987) Sathya Sai Baba’s saintly play. In: Hawley JS (ed) Saints and virtues. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp 168–170

Butler A, Burns P (2000) Butler’s lives of the saints. Continuum International Publishing Group, p 94

Coleman JA (1987) Conclusion: after sainthood. In: Hawley JS (ed) Saints and virtues. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp 214–217

Die Legenda Aurea (2004) Das Leben der Heiligen, erzählt von Jacobus de Voragine, ed. 14, translation from Latin by Richard Benz. Gütersloh, Gutersloher Verlagshaus, pp 103–106

Foley L (ed) (2003) Saint of the day. St. Anthony Messenger Press, Cincinnati, xvi

Gory E (2005) Lexikon der Heiligen, 6th edn. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, München

Martin J (2006) My life with the saints. Loyola Press, Chicago

Original Vita of Saint Mary of Egypt by St. Sophronius, as read in Orthodox churches on Thursday of the fifth week of Great Lent

The Suffering of the Holy Martyrs Perpetua and Felicitas. Originally edited by Tertullian of Carthage. Translated into English by Peter Holmes for The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. III, American edition, 1868

Trüeb RM (2009) St. Agnes of Rome: patron saint for women with hair loss? Dermatology 219:97–8PubMedCrossRef

Trüeb RM, Navarini AA (2010) Beneath the nimbus – the hair of the saints. Arch Dermatol 146:764PubMedCrossRef

Woodward K (1996) Making saints: how the Catholic Church determines who becomes a saint, who doesn’t and why. Touchstone/Simon and Shuster, New York