_Unknown_ (Flemish School: 15th Century).
_See also_ (p. xxi)
"St. Giles, patron saint of Edinburgh, and of woods, cripples,
lepers, and beggars, was an Athenian prince, revered for his
miraculous gifts. Having healed a sick man whom he found in a
church by laying his cloak over him, and fearing danger to his
soul from the fame which this event obtained him, he withdrew
to a solitary cave, where he lived as a hermit, nourished only
by wild herbs and the milk of a doe which had followed him. One
day the King of France, hunting near this retreat, shot the
doe, and, pursuing it, came upon the aged hermit holding in his
arms the doe, which was pierced by the arrow through his hand.
The King, seeing he was a man of God, begged forgiveness, and
wished to persuade St. Giles to return with him; but he refused
to quit his solitude, and remained in the cave till his death"
(_Saints and their Symbols_, by E. A. G., 1881, p. 95).
Here we see the saint, clad in hermit's robes, protecting the doe,
which has fled from the hunting party towards him; his right hand is
transfixed by an arrow, intended for the animal. The King kneels to
implore forgiveness. He is attended by a companion, who is supposed
to represent the painter of the picture. Notice the irises in the
foreground, and to the right a plant of mullein, finished with great
delicacy. "Remarkable as an example of extraordinary finish and
enamel-like splendour of colour. Remarkable also for the flood of
even, gay daylight diffused over it, such as makes us think of the
more moderate among recent _plein air_ transcripts from nature. But
the painter shows more of that intense humanity, of that command over
delicate shades of character and facial expression which are the
highest characteristic of the great Netherlandish masters of his time"
(Claude Phillips, in _National Review_, Dec. 1894).