Saint Roch, Patron saint of plasterers, laundry workers and dogs, c.1910 (colour litho)

Illustration from a series of the patron saints of different trades and professions produced as promotional cards to accompany the sale of 'Chocolat Aiguebelle'; St. Roch (d.1295 or 1327) French saint also invoked as protector and patron for sufferers from plague and epidemics; he is portrayed with a dog as while suffering himself from the plague and in hiding in the forest, he was brought food from a nearby house by a dog who licked his wounds until he was cured; the Chocolaterie d'Aiguebelle was established in 1869 by Trappist monks at their abbey of Aiguebelle in the Drôme area; between 1893 and 1895 a factory was built in the nearby town of Donzère and became an important supplier of chocolate products until 1978, when production ceased and the factory closed; however a branch had been established in 1942 in Morocco and as the Compagnie Chérifienne de Chocolaterie continues today to make chocolates under the brand name of Aiguebelle; the promotional trade cards produced by Aiguebelle in the late 19th and early 20th century were of exceptional quality; Saint-Roch, Patron des Plâtriers et Blanchisseurs; feast day is 16 August;