St Christopher and the Christ childDuring the redecoration of the Abbey in 2003/4 patches of colour were noticed on the south wall of the Shrine Chapel. One of these, to the left of the westernmost window, above the horizontal stone rail (the string course), was uncovered in 2006 to reveal a huge, but rather indistinct, painting of St Christopher,14 foot tall.
Christopher means 'Christ – bearer'. The legend tells of a child who asks to be carried across a river; as the journey progresses he becomes increasingly heavy. The child then reveals himself as Christ and tells Christopher that he has carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. Christopher is the patron saint of travellers who believed that if they saw his image they would not die that day. His image would have been one of the first things pilgrims would have seen when approaching the Birinus shrine.
The clearest part of the painting is the Christ child seated on St Christopher's left shoulder, holding an orb in his left hand and giving the blessing with his right. The outline of St Christopher's head is clear as is his dark beard. Evidence was found of at least three phases of painting; you can just make out a second, larger orb behind the present one.
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