The Stag

As the legend goes, Hubertus, born in the seventh century, seeks comfort and distraction on lonely hunts after the death of his beloved wife Princess Floribana in childbirth.

One Christmas Eve, he encounters on one of these hunts the wondrous image of a splendid red albino stag carrying a shining cross between its antlers. Through this vision, Hubert is moved to transform his life. He lays down his high ranks of office and distributes his wealth among the poor and the church.

St. Hubertus has been the patron saint of hunters and animal protectionists in northern Europe. The saint and the stag were depicted in a stained-glass chapel-window and atop Château d’Anet, both almost over an hour’s drive towards west of Paris.

The Château can be seen on the right side of the road from Vernon to Chartres. Logo of Jägermeister, the German digestif made with herbs and spices, carries the stag with the cross between.