1837

The Giant Saint Monday -- The Patron Saint of Drinkers

Jean Wendling

French, 1800 - 1863

With the lyrics for a popular ballad comprising fifteen stanzas, one for each person numbered in the foreground of the print, sung to the well-known tune of "The Arbor of Sincerity"

Surrounded by over a dozen worshipping artisans, the Giant Saint Monday seen straddling the wine barrel in the center of this work is a nineteenth-century incarnation of Bacchus, the god of wine. This print represents a parody of the traditional devotional images of saints, such as the patron saints of cobblers on display on the wall to the right. As his title suggests, Saint Monday's feast day might best be celebrated early in the week, whenever overindulgence during a Sunday visit to the beer-garden (seen in the background to the left) necessitates skipping work and declaring a long weekend.