VEIT
322
VEITH
t. IV, col. 1321; Abelard.Ep. viii, in P. L., CLXXVIII,
318 B.). In the twelfth century Abelard made a
rule that a white cross on the head should distinguish
the veil given to virgins by the bishop from that of
the other nuns (Ep. viii, P. L., CLXXVIII, 301).
The Roman Pontifical contains the imposing cere- monial of the consecration of virgins. The gift of the veil is accompanied by these words: "Receive the sacred veil, that thou mayst be known to have de- spised the world, and to be truly, humbly, and with all thy heart subject to Christ as His bride; and may He defend thee from all evil, and bring thee to life eternal." Wilpert quotes a very ancient form, which is common to the different liturgies: "Receive, O virgin, this holy veil, and wear it without stain until thou .shalt appear before the judgment seat of Our Lord Jesus Christ, before Whom every knee shall bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, for all eternity. Amen."
See Virginity; also the Pontificale Romanum: De benedictione et consecratione virginum; MujiK and Perscbinka, Kunst und Leben in AUerlhum (Vienna and Leipzig, 1909); Darenberg, Saglio, and Pottier, Dictionnaire des arUiquitis grecques et ro- maines (Paris, 1904), s. v. Malrimonium.
A. Vermeersch.
Veit, Philipp, painter, b. at Berlin, 13 Feb., 1793; d. at Mainz, 18 Dec, 1877. Veit was a grand- son of the philosopher Mendelssohn. In 1815 he went to Rome, where he studied under Overbeck and Cornehus as their best pupil. In 1830 he settled at Frankfort, and in 1854 at Mainz. In 1808 his mother Dorothea and her second husband Friedrich Schlegel had become Catholics, and he followed them into the Church in 1810. About the same time also he decided to become a painter. He studied drawing under ^latthiii at Dresden, but by 1811 he went to Vienna where he first tried to paint portraits, pro- ducing several, but the blending of the colours, to which he gave special attention, caused him much trouble. In 1813 he took an honourable part in the War of Liberation. After this he went to Italy, but first he painted a beautiful "Madonna with the Child and John the Baptist", which he left at Heih- genstadt near Vienna. He joined in the work of the colony of German painters at Rome, and his share of the frescoes for the villa called Casa Zuccari was the "Temptation of Joseph", and also the fresco of "The Seven Years of Plenty", which is unusually well done. The colouring in this last mentioned fresco was fresher than that of his artist friends; this is even more evident in the cartoon which is at Frankfort.
He painted in place of Cornehus in the Villa Massimi the "Paradise" of Dante, not in the grand Btyle, but in a poetic manner that was full of feeling. He also painted here the lowest eight divisions of Dante's "Heaven". A fresco painted by him in the Mu.seo Chiaramonti treats the re-dedication of the Colosseum as a place of worship. In Sta Trinita de' Monti there is a Crowning of the Virgin which is much admired. At Frankfort, Veit was the director of the Stiidel Institute, and he made it one of the chief centres of German Romantic art. He drew a large number of pupils around him, among them Settegast who was later his son-in-law, and Rcthel, who always acknowledged that he had been greatly aided by Veit.
Besides a few jiort raits, Veit painted the well- known pictures of the Emperors Charlemagne, Frederick II, Otto I, and Henry VII, in the Hall of the Emperors at Frankfort. Taken together, these portraits convey the ecclesiastical conception of the medieval empire as it appeared to the rnind of this painter, who was so strongly imbued with the ideas of Christian Romanticism. The "Two Marys at the Grave" has much greater artistic value. This pen-and-ink sketch of the women sorrowing on the
Btill closed grave is harmonious throughout, and full
of fine feeling; it was intended for the religious
foundation at Neuburg. A contrast to this last is
the "Presentation in the Temple", in which a
certain majesty is happily expressed. Veit painted
an "Assumption of the Virgin" for the cathedral.
During his residence at Frankfort he worked with
restless energy to perfect the technic of drawing and
colour, and to justify the demands of a moderate
realism, and of popular art as typified by Schadow at
Dusseldorf. If, in so doing, he turned aside from
the style of Overbe"' ^ud Cornehus, nevertheless he
gained a more vigorous manner for himself by these
efforts. His greatest work, "Christianity bringing
the Fine Arts into Germany", was painted in the
years 1833-36; it was transferred to canvas in 1877.
In the centre stands Religion full of gentle gracious-
ness; to the right Boniface, the Apostle of Germany,
preaches Christianity in her name to the attentively
listening youth; an old bard and a priestess turn
away, although the sacred oak has just been cut
down at the command of the apostle. Religion
turns towards this side, holding in her hand the
palm-branch, the promise of peace. With the right
hand she points to the Gospel as the source of truth.
Christian hfe flourishes about her, and on the left
side of the picture there are seen representations
of Christian poetry, of medieval knighthood, of
music, and farther in the background the symbohcal
figures of other arts, the monk dead to the world,
but devoted to learning; finally a Gothic building
and a civilized city. As a painting belonging to the
realm of imagination the work belongs to the best
of its class. When Lessing's "Huss before the
Council" was placed opposite his own painting by
way of contrast, Veit, wounded in his religious con-
victions, went to Sachsenhausen and later accepted
a call to Mainz. As director of the picture gallery of
Mainz he painted in the cathedral pictures from
sacred history imder the windows of the main nave,
a task for which his graceful but not vigorous brush
had hardly sufiicient dramatic force. One of his
latest works is a portrait of himself, a masterpiece of
delineation of character and of colour. A skilful
writer, he left, among other productions, ten lectures
on art, which have been edited by L. Kaufniann
(Cologne, 1891).
Spahn, Philipp Veit (Leipzig, 1901). G. GlETMANN.
Veith, JoHANN Emanuel, preacher, b. of Jewish parents at Kuttenplan, Bohemia, 1787; d. at Vienna, 6 Nov., 1876. In 1801 he took the philosopliical course at the University of Prague and later studied medicine. In 1808 he obtained a degree in medicine at Vienna; in a short time he was professor and then director of the school of veterinary medicine. He wrote poetry, and a play of his was acted in one of the theatres of Vienna. He also published a valuable compendium in two volumes of veterinary surgery, and an outhne of botanical medicine. In 1816 he be- came a Christian, and in 1817 began the study of theology. He also became a personal friend of Father Hofbauer, was his physician, and was urged by him to devote himself to preaching after ordination. Veith was ordained, 26 Aug., 1821, and the next month joined the Redemptorists at Maria Stiegen. He was a Redemptorist preacher at Maria Stiegen, 1821-30; preacher at the Cathedral of St. Stephen, 1831-45; retired cathedral preacher, until his total blindness, 184.')-63; finally, a writer of a.scetie devotional works until his death. His .sermons exist in manuscript up to 1825; their publication began with "Die Leidens- werkzeuge Christi" (1826); "Die Worte der Feinde Christi" (1827); "Das Friedcnso])fer" (1828); "Le- bensbilder aus der Pa8sionst;esi'hichte" (1829); "Das Vater Unser" (1830); "Die lieilig.n Berge" (1831); "Der vorlorneSohn" (18:52); "Die Samaritin" (1833);
