Saint Christopher 1520

Barthel Beham created this miniature engraving of Saint Christopher sometime in the 1520s in Germany. Beham's print offers a curious take on the popular medieval legend of Saint Christopher, the patron saint of travelers, who carried the Christ Child across a river. Here, Christopher is a stout, weary man who sits upon the riverbank. He wears the garb of a well-to-do townsman. Looming above him is a strange cupid-like figure holding a tablet marked with the date 1520. The Protestant Reformation was underway in Germany at this time, posing a challenge to traditional religious beliefs and practices. The production of devotional images came under scrutiny. Beham's print reflects these shifts. The figure of Saint Christopher is recast in a more human, less idealized mold. The addition of the cupid adds an element of secular humanism. To understand this work more fully, historians might consult pamphlets and treatises from the Reformation era to learn how images were being used and debated at the time.