St. Christopher and the Christ Child

Description According to Christian legend, a giant helped travelers ford a river. He was surprised one evening when a little child appeared, asking to be transported to the opposite side of the river. The giant was perplexed by the tremendous weight of this small child, expressed here in his strained leg muscles. The child explained that he was carrying the sins of the world on his shoulders (hence the globe that the child holds in his left hand). Here the giant responds with ecstatic pleasure to learning that his passager is Christ. The giant became known as Christopher, which means "Christ-bearer."

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
12/31/1969	Examination	examined for condition
8/10/1976	Treatment	cleaned; examined for condition; other
8/10/1976	Treatment	cleaned
3/31/1977	Treatment	cleaned
4/01/2006	Treatment	cleaned; inpainted

Provenance Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [1881 catalogue: no. 75; 1897 catalogue: no. 377, as Titan]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902