the walls of churches and monasteries. The image print of the fifteenth century was the prototype of the modern chromo.
The St. Christopher, a bold and rude engraving on wood, which represents the saint in the act of carrying the infant Saviour across a river, is one of the most remarkable of the image prints. This print was discovered in the cover of an old manuscript volume of 1417, among the books of one of the most ancient convents of Germany, the Chartreuse at Buxheim, near Memmingen, in Suabia.[1] The monks said that the volume was given to the convent by Anna, canoness of Buchau, who is known to have been living in 1427. The name of the engraver is unknown. This convent is about fifty miles from Augsburg, a city which seems to have been the abode of some of the early engravers on wood. The date is obscurely given in Roman numerals at the foot of the picture.
| Christoferi faciem die quacunque tueris, | Millesimo cccc. |
| Ella nempe die morte mala non moreiris. | rr° tertio. |
| In whatsoever day thou seest the likeness of St. Christopher, In that same day thou wilt at least from death no evil blow incur. |
1423. |
The date 1423 is evidence only so far as it shows that the block was engraved in that year. The printing could have been done at a later date. As it is printed in an ink that is almost black (in which feature it differs from other early image prints, that are almost invariably in a dull or faded brown ink), there is reason to believe that this print was made some time after the engraving, when the method of making prints with permanent black ink was more common.
- ↑ Heineken, Idée générale d'une collection complette d'estampes, avec une dissertation, etc., p. 250.
According to the legend, it was the occupation of Saint Christopher to carry people across the stream on the banks of which he lived. He is accordingly represented as a man of the weight of gigantic stature and strength. One evening a child presented himself to be carried over the stream. At first his weight was what might be expected from his infant years; but presently it began to increase, and kept increasing, until the ferryman staggered under his burden. Then the child said, "Wonder not, my friend; I am Jesus, and you have the sins of the whole world on your back." St. Christopher was thus regarded as a symbol of the church.
