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The Crown of Immortality is a literary and religious metaphor traditionally represented in art first as a laurel wreath and later as a symbolic circle of stars (often a crown, tiara, halo or aureola). The Crown appears in a number of Baroque iconographic and allegoric works of art to indicate the wearer's immortality. ==Wreath crowns== In ancient Egypt, the crown of justification was a wreath placed on the deceased to represent victory over death in the afterlife, in emulation of the resurrecting god Osiris. It was made of various materials including laurel, palm, feathers, papyrus, roses, or precious metals, with numerous examples represented on the Fayum mummy portraits of the Roman Imperial period.〔Lorelei H. Corcoran and Marie Svoboda, ''Herakleides: A Portrait Mummy from Roman Egypt'' (Getty Publications, 2010), p. 32.〕 In ancient Greece, a wreath of laurel or olive was awarded to victorious athletes and later poets. Among the Romans, generals celebrating a formal triumph wore a laurel wreath, an honor that during the Empire was restricted to the Imperial family. The placing of the wreath was often called a "crowning", and its relation to immortality was problematic; it was supposed to secure the wearer immortality in the form of enduring fame, but the ''triumphator'' was also reminded of his place within the mortal world: in the traditional tableaux, an accompanying slave whispered continually in the general's ear ''Memento mori'', "Remember you are mortal".〔For a full discussion, see Mary Beard, ''The Roman Triumph'' (Harvard University Press, 2007), ''passim'', limited preview (online. )〕 Funerary wreaths of gold leaf were associated particularly with initiates into the mystery religions.〔Mark J. Johnson, “Pagan-Christian Burial Practices of the Fourth Century: Shared Tombs?” ''Journal of Early Christian Studies'' 5 (1997), p. 45, citing Minucius Felix, ''Octavius'' 28.3–4.〕 From the Early Christian era the phrase "crown of immortality" was widely used by the Church Fathers in writing about martyrs; the immortality was now both of reputation on earth, and of eternal life in heaven. The usual visual attribute of a martyr in art, was a palm frond, not a wreath. The phrase may have originated in scriptural references, or from incidents such as this reported by Eusebius (Bk V of History) describing the persecution in Lyon in 177, in which he refers to literal crowns, and also brings in an athletic metaphor of the "victor's crown" at the end: "From that time on, their martyrdoms embraced death in all its forms. From flowers of every shape and color they wove a crown to offer to the Father; and so it was fitting that the valiant champions should endure an ever-changing conflict, and having triumphed gloriously should win the mighty crown of immortality. Maturus, Sanctus, Blandina, and Attalus were taken into the amphitheater to face the wild beasts, and to furnish open proof of the inhumanity of the heathen, the day of fighting wild beasts being purposely arranged for our people. There, before the eyes of all, Maturus and Sanctus were again taken through the whole series of punishments, as if they had suffered nothing at all before, or rather as if they had already defeated their opponent in bout after bout and were now battling for the victor's crown."〔http://www.swcp.com/~vogs/eusebius.html. The metaphor of the "athlete of Christ" gaining the "Crown of Immortality" is developed further by St John Cassian in ''On Gluttony" Ch 18 & 19 ()〕 The first use seems to be that attributed to the martyr Ignatius of Antioch in 107. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Crown of Immortality」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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