to the rescue

image courtesy the rijksmuseum (PD) http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.7159

Did that post title make you think of a Saint Bernard?  Here he is: "A Saint Bernard Comes to the Aid of a Lost Woman with a Sick Child," 1827, by Charles Picque (Belgian, 1799-1869).  He doesn't look like the Saints we know today, and this may be because he's closer to a related breed - the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog and its mastiff forebears (have a look at this illustration from 1815). If you look at the image available at the Rijksmuseum, you can see this poor woman is crying.  Her tears are heartrending.