Vintage 1974 “Crucifixion and Fourteen Auxiliary Saints” Art Plate

Vintage 1974 art plate affixed to chipboard backing for maximum ease in styling, propping, or framing.

Image: 7.5” x 10”

In the introductory section of this book, we mentioned the small devotional cards or prints which worshipers purchased at local shrines, or during a pilgrimage. They were apt to select these prints in the same spirit in which the tourist today acquires mementos of his trip. But prints like those illustrated here served a double purpose, for the fourteen saints represented were believed to protect the faithful from disease, affliction, or catastrophe. St. Christopher, of course, protected the traveler against ac-cidents; St. Cyriac helped to ward off "maladies of the eyes and possessions of the devil"; and St. Barbara gave protection against "lightning and sudden death.

These small images of the saints were readily identified by the faithful. They knew the stories and recognized the attributes, which often symbolized the saints' respective martyrdoms. The traveler would generally select images of the saint dearest to him, either his own patron saint or some other favorite whom he invoked for protection.

The sheet depicted here was probably intended to be cut up into fifteen separate prints, to be distributed and sold. The surviving example is extremely rare, perhaps unique, and owes its fine state of preservation to the fact that it was pasted, in its present state, in a book of larger format. The owners of the small individual prints often pasted them in prayer books or missals.

Although the drawing here is crude, it makes the artist's statement with vigor and directness.

The addition of color augments the dramatic impact of these miniature woodcuts.