Passio Christofori : a lenda de S. Cristovão na Igreja de Rio Mau (Vila do Conde)

Abstract

In Der hl. Christophorus, seine verehrung und seine legende. Eine untersuchung zur kultgeographie und legendenbildung des mittelalters (1937), HF Rosenfeld shows that the representation of St. Christopher as Christ Bearer appears in the twelh century as illustration of his name (wortillustration). Rosenfeld also claims that the legend of the giant who carries Christ while crossing a dangerous river is a Western literary creation that stems from that representation. It is in the most ancient representations, in the dierent versions of the Passio of St. Christopher and in the hymn dedicated to the saint, that we will seek the episodes, or metaphors, which may account for the sculptural program of the church of St. Christopher of Rio Mau, one of the earliest pieces of evidence of the wortillustration process referred to by Rosenfeld.