Anonymous: Saint Gummarus of Lier (1520-1530)

(Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands)

A drawing by an anonymous artist. Saint Gummarus of Lier (A.D. 717-774) is a saint from the 8th century. He was the son of the lord of Emblem near the city of Lier and served at the court of king Pepin the Short of the Franks. Gummarus was married with Guinimaria who was according to the text 'extravagant and perverse in her ways, cruel, capricious and altogether unteachable'. When Gummarus returned after 8 years his wife had created chaos with her ways: 'his wife had thrown all things into disorder, and that few among his servants, vassals or tenants had escaped her oppression. She was so mean that she even refused beer to the reapers at harvest'. Gummarus tried to reconcile with his wife and correct all the wrongs which his wife had created but to not avail. in the end Gummarus seperated from his wife and retired as a hermit. The drawing shows the saint with his two well known miracles. The tree in his right hand refers to the cut down tree whcih the saint managed to heal by winding his belt arround the tree. In the right corner is a round building with water with the text 'fontain' above it - this is the second miracle of Gummarus: a well appeared to quench the poor and thirsty when Gummarus pointed his staff to the ground. The drawing also has three coat-of-arms:

- right-hand corner: the coat of arms of the Dutch town of Enkhuizen. Saint Gummarus is the patron saint of the town of Enkhuizen which also has a church dedicated to the saint (the Westerkerk)
- left-hand corner: the coat of arms of count William V of Holland who gave Enkhuizen city rights in 1345.
- left bottom corner: the combined weapon of the town of Lier (the chevron) and the Chapter of Saint Gummarus (the cross). 

The function of this drawing is unclear but coat of arms of Enkhuizen suggests that it comes from a chronicle of Enkhuizen. Saint Gummarus of Lier is also the patron of childless people, courtiers, cowherds, difficult marriages, glove makers, hernia sufferers, separated spouses, woodcutters. Drawing of 1520-1530.