St Christopher thumbnail 1

St Christopher

Statuette
ca. 1520 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

St Christopher, one of the most celebrated saints of the late Middle Ages, is shown here wading through the river with the Christ Child on his back. He is supporting himself with a large staff or walking stick. This was how the saint was usually shown throughout the late Middle Ages. Here the carver had added details to the traditional image. He has included fishes in the river and the unusual feature of a small tonsured and hooded figure riding in the belt-bag may be a monastic traveller. St Christopher was also prayed to for protection from sudden death. Images of him were especially popular just inside the entrances to churches, where they were usually painted on a colossal scale on piers.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleSt Christopher (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Carved oak
Brief description
Statuette, St Christopher and Christ Child, carved oak, Limburg, ca. 1520
Physical description
Group, carved oak. St. Christopher leaning on his staff, and bearing the Infant Christ on his shoulder, is crossing a stream.
Dimensions
  • Height: 56.5cm
  • Width: 19cm
  • Depth: 14cm
Object history
A.W.N. Pugin collection, sold 1853; collection of William Maskell; bought by the South Kensington Museum at the Maskell sale, 1890.
Subjects depicted
Summary
St Christopher, one of the most celebrated saints of the late Middle Ages, is shown here wading through the river with the Christ Child on his back. He is supporting himself with a large staff or walking stick. This was how the saint was usually shown throughout the late Middle Ages. Here the carver had added details to the traditional image. He has included fishes in the river and the unusual feature of a small tonsured and hooded figure riding in the belt-bag may be a monastic traveller. St Christopher was also prayed to for protection from sudden death. Images of him were especially popular just inside the entrances to churches, where they were usually painted on a colossal scale on piers.
Bibliographic references
  • List of Objects in the Art Division South Kensington Museum acquired during the Year 1890. Arranged according to the dates of acquisition, with appendix and indices. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1891, p. 43
  • Maskell, Alfred. Wood Sculpture. London and New York: Methuen and Co. Ltd.; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1911, pl. XXVII
  • Gorissen, Friedrich. 'Ein niederrheinischer Christophorus in London', Der Niederrhein: Zeitschrift für Heimatpflege und Wandern, XXXIV, 1967, p. 114
  • Hendriks, Willem Th. M. De Meester van Elsloo: oppergelders beeldsnijder XVIe eeuw. Exhibition Catalogue, Horst, 14 June - 7 July 1974. Horst: s.l., 1974, pp. 13-14.
  • Williamson, Paul. Netherlandish Sculpture 1450-1550, London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 2002.
  • Didier, R and Krohm, H.Les sculptures médiévales allemandes dans les collections belges. Brussells. 1977. p. 206
  • Sint-Truiden. Laat-gotisches beeldsnijkunst uit Limburg en grensland. provinciaal Museum voor Religieuze Kunst, Begijnhof. 1990. pl.9. fig. 17
  • Sint-Tuiden. Laat-gotische beeldsnijkunst uit Limburg en grensland, Deel 2, Handelingen van het symposium. 1992. pp. 142, 145
  • Peters, Famke, ed. by, A Masterly Hand: Interdisciplinary Reserach on the Late-Medieval Sculptor(s) Master Elsloo in an International Perspective: Proceedings of the Conference Held at the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage in Brussels 20-21 October 2011, Brussels, Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, 2013, Scientia Arts 9, p. 138, fig. 6.29
Collection
Accession number
374-1890

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Record createdDecember 11, 2002
Record URL
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