Cranach, The Marriage of Catherine of Alexandria to Christ Christian Iconography

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
La Virgen del Pilar
La Reina de la Paz

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

More links, more bibliography, and more about this site