Learn how to identify the saints in medieval and renaissance art.
Read the stories that the paintings refer to.
Find out the "why" behind traditional elements in paintings of scriptural events.
Use this search engine....
Example: if you're curious about a picture of a saint shown with a tower, just enter "tower" into the search field (without the quotation marks). You'll learn she is St. Barbara, and you can read about her, view similar images, and follow a link to the medieval legend about her.
.....or learn how artists have portrayed specific saints, topics, or scriptural events by clicking on any one of these links:
A
Aaron Abraham Adam and Eve St. Agatha St. Agnes St. Ambrose St. Anastasia St. Andrew St. Anne St. Ansanus St. Anthony Abbot St. Anthony of Padua St. Apollinaris Apostles (as group) St. Augustine
B
St. Babilas St. Barbara St. Bartholomew St. Basil St. Basilissa St. Bavo St. Benedict St. Benno St. Bernard of Clairvaux St. Bernardino of Siena St. Blaise
C
St. Camillo de Lellis St. Caprais St. Casilda St. Catherine of Alexandria St. Catherine of Siena St. Cecilia St. Centola St. Celsus Christ St. Christopher St. Chrysogonus St. Clare St. Clement St. Cornelius the Centurion Saints Cosmas and Damian
D
David St. Dominic St. Dominic de la Calzada St. Dorothy
E
Ecclesia St. Eligius St. Elizabeth of Hungary St. Emerentia St. Eustace St. Eulalia St. Eustochium Evangelists (as group)
F
St. Ferdinand the Fiery Furnace St. Foy St. Frances Xavier Cabrini St. Francis of Assisi
G
St. George St. Gertrude St. Giles St. Godelieve St. Gregory
H
St. Helena St. Hilarian St. Hilary of Poitiers St. Hippolytus
I
St. Ignatius of Antioch Isaiah the Prophet St. Isidore the Laborer
J
Jacob the Patriarch Jael St. James the Greater St. James the Less St. Jerome Jesse Jesus St. Joachim St. Joan of Arc St. Joan of France St. John Nepomuk St. John Eudes St. John the Baptist St. John the Evangelist Jonah Joseph the Patriarch St. Joseph St. Jude Thaddeus Judith St. Julian St. Justina
L
St. Lambert of Liège St. Lawrence St. Lazarus St. Leonard St. Longinus St. Louis the King St. Lucy St. Luke
M
Pope St. Marcellus St. Marcianilla St. Margaret of Antioch St. Mark St. Martha St. Martin of Tours St. Mary Magdalene St. Mary of Egypt Mary, the Virgin St. Matthew St. Matthias St. Maurice Melchizedek St. Michael the Archangel Moses
N
St. Nicholas St. Nicholas Factor
P
St. Pancras St. Pantaleon St. Paul the Apostle St. Paul the Hermit St. Paula: see St. Eustochium St. Pelagius Pentecost St. Peter Martyr St. Peter the Apostle St. Philip St Philip Neri St. Praxedes and St. Pudentiana St. Privatus
Q
St. Quentin
R
St. Raphael St. Remigius St. Reparata St. Robert of Molesme St. Roch St. Rosalia of Palermo St. Rose of Lima
S
Sedrac, Misac, and Abdenago
St. Salome (Mary Salome) St. Saturninus St. Scholastica St. Sebastian St. Simon St. Simon Stock St. Stephen
T
St. Thecla St. Thomas à Beckett St. Thomas Aquinas St. Thomas the Apostle St. Thyrsus (Tirso) the Trinity the Transfiguration
U
St. Ursula
V
St. Veneranda St. Veronica St. Vincent of Saragossa St. Vincent de Paul St. Vincent Ferrer Virgin Mary Saints Vitalis and Valeria
Z
St. Zenobius
14 Holy Helpers
The Virgin Mary:
Birth, Childhood, Betrothal and Marriage
Annunciation
Visitation
Purification
Throne of Wisdom
Virgin + Child
Dormition
Assumption
Coronation
Enthroned
Portrait Traditions and Miracle Narratives:
Gregory Thaumaturgus
Receives the Confession of Faith
Immaculate Conception
La Candelaria
La Madonna del Divino Amore
La Madonna della Salute
Le Sacerdoce de la Vierge
Magistra Apostolorum
Mater Dolorosa, The Sorrowing Mother
Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados
Nuestra Señora del Socorro
Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Our Lady of the Rosary
Our Lady of the Snow
Santa Maria de la Antigua
Various Latin American santos
La Virgen de los Angeles
Immaculate Conception
La Candelaria
La Madonna del Divino Amore
La Madonna della Salute
Le Sacerdoce de la Vierge
Magistra Apostolorum
Mater Dolorosa, The Sorrowing Mother
Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados
Nuestra Señora del Socorro
Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Our Lady of the Rosary
Our Lady of the Snow
Santa Maria de la Antigua
Various Latin American santos
La Virgen de los Angeles
Jesus Christ:
Nativity, Shepherds
Circumcision
Adoration of the Magi
Slaughter of the Innocents
Flight into Egypt
Presentation
Christ Child
The Holy Family
Boy Jesus in Temple
Cana
Baptism
Miracles, Public Life
Traditio Legis / Traditio Clavum
Cleansing of Temple
Palm Sunday
Last Supper
Pilate
Scourging, Crown of Thorns, Ecce Homo
Man of Sorrows
Carrying Cross (also see Veronica)
Crucifixion
Deposition
Lamentation, Pietà
Entombment
Harrowing of Hell
Resurrection
Emmaus
Ascension
Last Judgment
Deësis
Early Christian Images of Christ
Christ in Majesty
Christ the Door
Crosses + Crucifixes
Other useful sites for the study of Christian iconography and art history:
Sloane Art Library: Christian Iconography (Bibliography, links)
Didron, Christian Iconography (tr. Millington 1851)
Art resources listed by the Labyrinth medieval database
Art-Roman.Net (French Romanesque art, architecture, in French)
Thais: 1200 Years of Italian Sculpture (in Italian)
Our own Santos in Oaxaca's Ancient Churches
Catholic Online Saints and Angels (religious site, exhaustive coverage)
Splendors of Christendom (academic sources, religious sponsor)
Christopher Witcombe's Art History Resources on the Web
Churches of Rome Wiki