Saint James the Greater 1480 - 1490

This woodcut of Saint James the Greater was made by an anonymous artist, sometime in the late Middle Ages. As one of Jesus’s twelve apostles, Saint James was a popular figure in the medieval period. Images of saints like this one played a public role within the visual culture of the church. It may have been produced as a cheap devotional print to be sold to pilgrims. Woodcuts such as this were part of a broader visual landscape, forming a readily reproducible image that would have been displayed in public spaces, churches, or even private homes. We can see the saint holding a pilgrim’s staff, along with a satchel, emphasizing his role as patron saint of pilgrims. Historians would use a range of sources to understand the social context of this work. They might study church records, accounts of pilgrimages, and other devotional images. This helps us to understand this artwork not just as an aesthetic object, but as a product of the social and institutional context in which it was created.