Saint Christopher

Wallerant Vaillant served as Prince Rupert’s artistic collaborator beginning in 1658. He produced his own mezzotints after several of Rupert’s compositions, including the Standard Bearer. Vaillant’s introspective Saint Christopher glows ever brighter with the burnished addition of stars in the sky above the saint carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. The Art Institute of Chicago collection also includes a working proof impression of this print, which contains soft diagonal lines that are are remnants of the preliminary rocking stage during the plate’s preparation.