TradCatKnight: Purgatory in Painting

I have read in the Dictionary of Education a very amusing anecdote, which may, nevertheless, be cited of what I have said of All Souls’ Day. Certain canons over 1,000 years ago, having had to repair their Church, added to it a chapel dedicated to the Souls in Purgatory. The Sculptor who was charged with the decorations, represented the poor Souls in the midst of flames; but he was so malicious as to place in the very midst of his figures the portrait of a neighboring Abbot. The likeness was so perfect that no one could mistake it; the Superior himself recognized it. He immediately complained to the canons, who summoned the Sculptor and laughingly besought him to deliver that poor Soul from his Purgatory. The artist excused himself under the pretense that he could not touch his work without spoiling it. The complaint is carried before the Archbishop. The prelate inquires of the Sculptor if the likeness is accidental.