A Masterly Hand / Scientia Artis 9

101 Famke Peters 4 100 St Christopher was one of the most widely venerated saints of the late Middle Ages and he is well represented in the Elsloo group. Figures of St Christopher can be found in the churches of Bree, Neeroeteren and Heinsberg, as well as in the Victoria and Albert Museum in Lond on. 46 Th e Neeroeteren Christopher has a belt-bag from which a tiny bearded man emerges (fig. 4.7), a motif that can also be seen in the London statue, though in that case the little figure is tonsured and kneeling (fig. 6.29) . 47 It a lso occurs in an early-sixteenth-century wall painting in the Zepperen chu rch, 48 an d in a sculpture from around 1500 attributed to Dries Holthuys in the Rheinmuseum in Emmerich, for exam ple. 49 It has been suggested that this little figure could represent the hermit Cucuphas from Christopher’s legend or the sculpture’s do nor. 50 O nly the London figure is portrayed in the typical pose of a donor, however. Alternatively, he might represent a traveller, a reference to Christopher as the patron saint of travel lers. 51 The motive does not necessarily have the same meaning in all cases. The Neeroeteren St Anthony Abbot is typically depicted with the pig at his feet (fig. 4.8). The traditional image is further enlivened with a two-headed monster that is striving with the pig, an allusion to the saint’s temptations in the desert. The motif recurs in other statues of St Anthony from the Elsloo group, such as those in St Helena’s Church in Rheindahlen and St Willibrord’s 4.8 Fig. 4.8 St Anthony Abbot, Neeroeteren, St Lambert’s Church, detail