3-016-004 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

St. Eustace, c.1501. Showing St Eustace kneeling before a stag with a crucifix between its antlers. St Eustace was a Roman general Placidus who encountered a large stag while out hunting. He pursued the beast but found, when it stopped, that it had an image of the crucified Christ between its antlers and spoke in Christ's voice. The encounter led to Placidus/Eustace’s conversion to Christianity. Eustace was one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, a group of saints who were the subject of particular veneration in Germany and who were believed to assist in cases of illness and at the time of death.