With this story in mind we readily see the meaning of our picture. The
giant has reached mid-stream, with his tiny passenger perched astride
his shoulders. Already the burden has become mysteriously heavy, and
Offero bends forward to support the strain, staying himself with his
great staff. He lifts his face to the child's with an expression of
mingled anguish and wonder.
The situation is full of strange pathos. The babe seems so small and
helpless beside the splendid muscular strength of the brawny giant. Yet
he is here the leader. With uplifted hand he seems to be cheering his
bearer on the toilsome way.
The figures in the picture seem to be taken from common every-day life.
Some Venetian boatman may have been the painter's model for St.
Christopher, whose attitude is similar to that of a gondolier plying his
oar. The child, too, is a child of the people, a sturdy little fellow,
quite at ease in his perilous position. We shall understand better the
range of Titian's art by contrasting these more commonplace figures
with the refined and elegant types we see in some of our other
illustrations.
The picture of St. Christopher is a fresco painting on the walls of the
palace of the doges or dukes in Venice. It was originally designed to
celebrate the arrival of the French army in 1523, at an Italian town
called San Cristoforo. It is so placed that it might be the first object
seen every morning when the doge left his bed-chamber. This was on
account of an old tradition that the sight of St. Christopher always
gives courage to the beholder. "Whoever shall behold the image of St.
Christopher, on that day shall not faint or fail," runs an old Latin
inscription.
As fresco painting was a method of art comparatively unfamiliar to
Titian, it is interesting to know than an eminent critic pronounces our
picture "broad and solid in execution, rich and brilliant in color."[12]
We see from our reproduction that the paint has flaked from the wall in
a few places.