Saint James the Lesser 1545

Editor: Here we have Sebald Beham's "Saint James the Lesser," a delicate engraving. The saint's holding a book, but also has a large staff over his shoulder. How do you interpret this piece? Curator: The staff is a fuller's club, the instrument of St. James's martyrdom. Consider how such an object, both weapon and tool, gains layers of symbolic meaning over time. What do you make of the book? Editor: Perhaps it's meant to represent knowledge and wisdom? Curator: Precisely. It's also a symbol of literacy and the written word, which carried different weight in the 16th century, further adding layers of meaning to the saint's story. Editor: That's fascinating; I never considered how the meaning of literacy could change how we view the image.