_St. Christopher._--Can any of the readers of "N. & Q." supply any
information which will assist my researches into the real meaning of the
representations of St. Christopher, which are so frequently found on the
north walls of churches? I have read Mr. Duke's essay on the subject in
the _Prolusiones Historicæ_, but do not quite agree in his view of the
meaning which these singular paintings were intended to convey. Why
should this saint, of whom so little is correctly known and of whom
Alban Butler gives a very scanty account, occupy such a very important
position in the iconography of the mediæval church, and which it appears
has not been maintained by the Roman Catholics of the present day? I am
quite aware of the doggrel lines occasionally found underneath these
representations, ascribing extraordinary powers of cure to the picture
when looked upon by the faithful; but I cannot think that this reason
alone would have led to the adoption of this extraordinary
representation in almost all our parish churches. Are there any known
representations of St. Christopher in painted glass; if so, where?