Saint Theophilus the Penitent or Theophilus of Adana (
Greek
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Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
: Θεόφιλος Άδανας, died 538 AD) was a cleric in the sixth century
Church
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Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
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* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* Chris ...
who is said to have made a
deal with the Devil
A deal with the Devil (also called a Faustian bargain or Mephistophelian bargain) is a cultural motif exemplified by the legend of Faust and the figure of Mephistopheles, as well as being elemental to many Christian traditions. According to t ...
The legend of Theophilus first appears in art in the 11th century in an historiated initial, which depicts the
Virgin
Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
(who is seated between two angels) with Theophilus at her feet. The earliest intact narrative cycle is at the abbey church of Sainte-Marie at Souillac, France. This sculpture depicts four scenes of the legend: the signing of the bond, the oath of loyalty to the devil, Theophilus's repentance, and the return of the bond by the Virgin.
The legend was the most popular in art in the 13th century; it occurred most frequently in
illuminated manuscripts
An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, the ...
and
stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
. In both illuminated manuscripts and stained glass that depict this legend there are usually four scenes that are shown: the sealing of the bond between Theophilus and the devil, Theophilus repenting, the Virgin recovering the bond, and the Virgin returning the bond to Theophilus. This legend is the only non-biblical Marian story consistently depicted in sculpture and glass in French cathedrals during this time.
Marcel Proust
Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, critic, and essayist who wrote the monumental novel ''In Search of Lost Time'' (''À la recherche du temps perdu''; with the previous Eng ...
briefly mentions him in ''Swann's Way'' as being an important figure of sculpture in France.