Browse Items (45 total)

Flight into Egypt. See Flight into Egypt, section III.

Penitential Psalms. Christ as Judge returns for the Last Judgment. He stands on an orb, representing his dominion over the world. The scene represents the return of Christ to judge both the living and the dead. Heavenly trumpets announce the event…

Hours of the Passion

St. Mary Magdalene. Commonly Mary Magdalene can be identified by her ointment jar (from when she anointed Christ's feet). Here she is shown in the wilderness; according to the Golden Legend, she spent 30 years in the wilderness as a hermit. Angels…

Root of Jesse. The Root of Jesse literally sprouts from the chest of the reposing Jesse, the father of King David. Mary stands at the top of the genealogical tree as the virgin (Latin virgo) who exemplifies the prophecy of Isaiah (playing upon the…

Archangel Michael on Judgment Day. Michael is patron saint of the church militant (the church on earth, in contrast to the church triumphant, the heavenly church). Michael holds the scales that weigh souls on Judgment Day. Dressed in military armor…

St. Jerome and the lion. The translator of the Scriptures into Latin appears here as a hermit. He is usually accompanied by a lion. Jerome befriended the lion by removing a thorn from the lion's paw; thus the lion followed him in servitude and became…

St. Nicholas of Myra (or Bari). The prototype for Santa Claus, St. Nicholas, fulfills many roles: he is patron saint of children, sailors, pawn-brokers, travelers, and many others. In the depiction shown here, Nicholas, in full episcopal vestments (a…

St. George and the dragon. St. George slays the dragon as the princess, daughter to the king of Lybia (various traditions place them in different locales), watches from the distance. The dragon represents evil in general or specifically paganism. The…

Margaret and Apollonia. For instance, St. Margaret, who is depicted with a dragon. When in prison for professing her faith, a dragon devoured her; but at the sign of the cross the dragon split open. From these circumstances, St. Margaret was sought…