3-041-599 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Baptism of King Avenir; Barlaam und Josaphat, 1469. Illustration from "Barlaam und Josaphat", a romance in verse, by Rudolf von Ems. Barlaam and Josaphat, also known as Bilawhar and Budhasaf, were Christian saints whose story was based on the life of the Gautama Buddha. According to the legend, an Indian king persecuted the Christian Church in his realm. After astrologers predicted that his own son would some day become a Christian, the king imprisoned the young prince Josaphat, who nevertheless met the hermit Saint Barlaam and converted to Christianity. After much tribulation the young prince's father accepted the Christian faith, turned over his throne to Josaphat, and retired to the desert to become a hermit. Josaphat himself later abdicated and went into seclusion with his old teacher Barlaam.