Iconography of the Saints

Here is a list of the saints who were presented by students in class, as well as the symbols associated with them:

• David (Old Testament) (sling)
  
• St. Sebastian (arrow)
  
• Moses (Old Testament) (tablets of the 10 Commandments)
  
• St. Peter (keys to the kingdom of heaven)
  
• Adam and Eve (apple)
  
• St. Stephen (First Martyr, in Acts) (rocks)
  
• Assumption of Mary
  
• Coronation of Mary
  
• St. Mary Magdalen (jar of funeral ointment)

In addition, for our next exam, you should familiarize yourself with the following iconographical symbols, which will help you identify these important saints. Study the images carefully. On the test you will be asked to identify a saint by an image and to explain the origin and meaning of the iconographical symbol.

The Evangelists (these symbols come from the prophecy of Ezechiel 1:10: "And as for the likeness of their faces: there was the face of a man, and the face of a lion on the right side of all the four: and the face of an ox, on the left side of all the four: and the face of an eagle over all the four."):

• Matthew (winged man)
  
• Mark (lion, sometimes with wings)
  
• Luke (ox, sometimes with wings)
  
• John (eagle)

The Apostles (see El Greco's series of paintings, Apostolados):

• Andrew (transverse cross, like an X)
  
• Bartholomew (knife or flayed skin)
  
• James the Greater (shell, or pilgrim's staff)
  
• James the Less (club or a book)
  
• John (snake in a chalice)
  
• Jude (also called Thaddeus) (halberd or ship)
  
• Matthew (purses)
  
• Peter (keys)
  
• Philip (cross in hand, or staff with cross)
  
• Simon (saw, often with a fish on a book)
  
• Thomas (carpenter's square, lance)
  
• Timothy (club and stones)
  
• Matthias (double-bladed ax)
  
• Paul (sword)

The Martyrs (palm as the general sign of martyrdom):

• Agatha (tongs, shears, or breasts)
  
• Agnes (lamb, palm)
  
• Barbara (tower or ciborium)
  
• Catherine (broken wheel)
  
• Cecilia (organ or other musical instruments)
  
• Clement, early pope (anchor)
  
• Cosmas and Damian (a phial or box of ointment: Cosmas was a doctor)
  
• Denis, first bishop of Paris (shown carrying his decapitated head)
  
• Lawrence (iron grill)
  
• Lucy (cord or eyes on a dish)

Other Saints:

• Ambrose (beehive)
  
• Anne, mother of Mary (door)
  
• Augustine of Hippo (shell or pen)
  
• Benedict (broken cup or raven)
  
• Blaise (two candles in cross, or comb)
  
• Francis of Assisi (Franciscan habit, with a wolf or the stigmata)
  
• George (dragon)
  
• Gregory I, the Great (tiara, crozier, dove on shoulder)
  
• Helena, mother of Constantine (cross)
  
• Jerome (lion)
  
• John the Baptist (lamb, animal skin)
  
• Joseph, spouse of Mary (plane or carpenter's square, with lily)
  
• Teresa of Avila (flaming heart)

Other Symbols:

• Pomegranate (Resurrection, bursting like the tomb): Botticelli, Madonna della Melagrana
  
• Peacock (Resurrection, replaces feathers with brighter ones)
  
• Lily (Easter)
  
• Lamp (Word of God)
  
• Daisy (innocence of child Jesus)
  
• Rose (Nativity of Jesus)

For more informtion, see the excellent Patron Saints Index, particularly the Image Galleries of Saints.

Purification (February 2)

• Presentation of Christ in the Temple, mosaic in Santa Maria Maggiore, 432-440
  
• Purification in the Temple, Ottonian manuscript, Regensburg, about 1030-1040
  
• Presentation in the Temple, 1230-40, jamb sculptures in Reims Cathedral
  
• Nicola Pisano, Presentation in the Temple, detail from the marble pulpit, Baptistry, Pisa (1260)
  
• Purification in the Temple, Byzantine manuscript, Nicaea or Nicomedia, late 1200s
  
• Giotto di Bondone, Presentation of Christ at the Temple, 1304-06, fresco in the Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua
  
• Giotto di Bondone (?), Presentation of Christ in the Temple, 1310s, fresco in the North transept, Lower Church, San Francesco, Assisi
  
• Duccio di Buoninsegna, Presentation in the Temple, 1308-11, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Siena
  
• Giotto di Bondone, Presentation in the Temple, 1320-25, wood panel, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
  
• Ambrogio Lorenzetti, The Presentation in the Temple, panel in the Uffizi, Florence (1342)
  
• Gentile da Fabriano, Presentation of Christ in the Temple, wood panel in the Louvre (1423)
  
• Presentation in the Temple, Russian icon, Novogorod Museum, 15th c.
  
• Fra Angelico, Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, 1440-41, fresco in the Convento di San Marco, Florence
  
• Stefan Lochner, Presentation of Christ in the Temple, 1447, panel from the Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt
  
• Rogier van der Weyden, St Columba Altarpiece (right panel), c. 1455, Alte Pinakothek, Munich
  
• Giovanni Bellini, Presentation in the Temple, Galleria Querini Stampalia, Venice, c. 1459
  
• Master of the Prado "Adoration of the Magi" (Netherlands), The Presentation in the Temple, c. 1470/1480, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
  
• Hans Memling, The Presentation in the Temple, 1463, oil on wood, National Gallery of Art, Washington
  
• Raphael, The Presentation in the Temple (Oddi altar, predella), 1502-03, Pinacotheca, Vatican
  
• Albrecht Dürer, Life of the Virgin: 12. The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, woodcut, 1505, Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna
  
• Vittore Carpaccio, Presentation in the Temple, Accademia, Venice, 1510
  
• Titian, Presentation of the Virgin at the Temple, Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice, 1539
  
• Lorenzo Lotto, Presentation on the Temple, 1554-55, Palazzo Apostolica, Loreto
  
• Simon Vouet, Presentation in the Temple, c. 1630, Musée du Louvre, Paris
  
• Philippe de Champaigne, The Presentation in the Temple, 1648, Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
  
• Rembrandt van Rijn, The Circumcision, 1661, National Gallery of Art
  
• Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, Presentation in the Temple, oil on wood, 1671, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
  
• Charles LeBrun, Presentation of Christ in the Temple (c. 1680)
  
• Jean Restout, La Présentation de Jesus au Temple et la Purification de la Vierge, 1735, Bordeaux

Take a look at this Outline of Christian Iconography.

The Purification in the Gospels

This story is only in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 2 (Latin Vulgate and Douay-Rheims translation):

21 And after eight days were accomplished, that the child should be circumcised, his name was called JESUS, which was called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

22 And after the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses, were accomplished, they carried him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord:

23 As it is written in the law of the Lord: Every male opening the womb shall be called holy to the Lord:

24 And to offer a sacrifice, according as it is written in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons:

25 And behold there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon: and this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Ghost was in him.

26 And he had received an answer from the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord.

27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when his parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law,

28 He also took him into his arms and blessed God and said

29 Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word in peace:

30 Because my eyes have seen thy salvation,

31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples:

32 A light to the revelation of the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel.

33 And his father and mother were wondering at those things which were spoken concerning him.

34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother: Behold this child is set for the fall and for the resurrection of many in Israel and for a sign which shall be contradicted.

35 And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed.

36 And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser. She was far advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity.

37 And she was a widow until fourscore and four years: who departed not from the temple, by fastings and prayers serving night and day.

38 Now she, at the same hour, coming in, confessed to the Lord: and spoke of him to all that looked for the redemption of Israel.

39 And after they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their city Nazareth.

40 And the child grew and waxed strong, full of wisdom: and the grace of God was in him.

The Virgin and the Holy Family

This is a brief selection of unusual images of the Virgin Mary or the Holy Family.

The Virgin Pregnant with Jesus:

• Piero della Francesca, Madonna del Parto (1467), Cappella del Cimitero, Monterchi, Italy, near Arezzo

Flight into Egypt:

• Gislebertus, Flight into Egypt (1120-30), sculpture for Autun Cathedral

Madonna as Advocate (Haghiosoritissa):

• Unknown Italian painter, The Madonna as Advocate (1150s), Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome
  
• Simone Martini, Madonna of Mercy (1308-10), Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
  
• Lippo Memmi, Madonna of the Recommended (1350s), fresco in the Chapel of the Corporal, Duomo, Orvieto
  
• Caravaggio, Madonna di Loreto (Madonna dei Pellegrini, 1603-05), S. Agostino, Rome

Madonna Nursing or with Young Child:

• Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Suckling Madonna (c. 1330), Palazzo Arcivescovile, Siena
  
• Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Madonna and Child (1340-45), Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
  
• Nino Pisano, Madonna del Latte (1360s), marble sculpture, S. Maria della Spina, Pisa
  
• Nursing Madonna in Très Belles Heures of the Duc the Berry (1380-90), illumination, Bibliothèque Royale Albert 1er, Brussels
  
• Nursing Madonna, Très Belles Heures du Duc de Berry (c. 1380), illumination, Museo Civico d'Arte Antica, Palazzo Madama, Turin
  
• Jacopo Sansovino, Madonna del Parto (1518), marble sculpture, S. Agostino, Rome (second image
  
• Giovanni di Agostino, Madonna with two Angels (1500s), San Bernardino, Siena
  
• Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Mary and Child with Angels Playing Music (1675), Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

Reclining Madonna:

• Arnolfo di Cambio, Madonna (1296-1302), marble sculpture meant to be a part of a Nativity group, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence

See also The Cult of the Virgin Mary in the Middle Ages (from the Metropolitan Museum, New York) and Rare Portraits of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Blessed Virgin Mary

Mary in the Golden Legend:

• The Purification of Our Lady (vol. 4, February 2)
  
• The Annunciation of Our Lady (vol. 4, March 25)
  
• The Assumption of Our Lady (vol. 4, August 15)
  
• The Nativity of Our Lady (vol. 5, September 8)
  
• The Immaculate Conception of Our Lady (vol. 2, December 8)

Test Review

Our first exam will be on Monday, September 25. Please be familiar with the following:

Terms:
Legenda Aurea (Golden Legend, Jacobus de Voragine)
icon
iconography
hagiography
Alban Butler (Lives of the Saints)
Feast Days (Beheading of John the Baptist, Nativity of Mary, Immaculate Conception, Annunciation)

Texts:
Gospel accounts of the Annunciation (especially Luke)
Gospel accounts of John the Baptist (especially the beheading)
Golden legend, Nativity of Mary

Paintings/Painters:
Byzantine icons
Giotto, Life of Mary, Arena Chapel
El Greco
*Caravaggio

There will be an essay asking you to compare and contrast the religious aims of two different depictions of the same sacred scene. How do the artists use artistic techniques to impart different messages about saintly heroism?

The Annunciation in Byzantine Icons

• Annunciation from Ustyug (Novgorod School, 12th century)
  
• The Annunciation, from the cycle of the Twelve Feasts (Dodecaorton), Monastery of Saint Catherine's (Sinai, Egypt), 12th century
  
• Annunciation (Russian icon)
  
• Annunciation (Russian icon, mid-15th c.)
  
• Annuciation (Greek icon)
  
• Annunciation to the Theotokos (Greek icon)
  
• Annunciation with Handmaiden (Russian icon)
  
• Annunciation (Russian icon, 14th c.)

Annunciation Scenes

• Anonymous, Book of Prayers of St Elisabeth of Hungary (c. 1220), illumination on parchment, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Cividale
  
• Anonymous, The Annunciation (c. 1225), stone, Amiens Cathedral
  
• Pietro Cavallini, Annunciation (1291), mosaic in Santa Maria in Trastevere, Rome
  
• Giotto di Bondone, God Sends Gabriel to the Virgin (1306), fresco in the Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua
  
• Duccio di Buoninsegna, Annunciation (from the Maestà Altarpiece, 1308-11), National Gallery, London
  
• Lippo Memmi, The Annunciation and Two Saints (1333), Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
  
• Giovanni da Balduccio, Annunciation (before 1334), marble, Santa Maria del Prato, San Casciano Val di Pesa
  
• Barna da Siena, The Annunciation (c. 1340), fresco in the collegiate church, San Gimignano
  
• Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Annunciation (1344), Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
  
• Lorenzo Veneziano, Annunciation (1371), Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice
  
• Melchior Broederlam, The Annunciation (1393-99), Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon
  
• Master of Heiligenkreuz, Annunciation (c. 1410), Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
  
• Master of Flémalle, Annunciation from the Mérode Altarpiece (1420s), Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
  
• Masolino da Panicale, The Annunciation (1425-30), National Gallery of Art, Washington
  
• Donatello, Annunciation (1430), sandstone, Santa Croce, Florence
  
• Fra Angelico, The Annunciation (1430-32), Museo del Prado, Madrid
  
• Jan van Eyck, The Ghent Altarpiece (wings closed) (1432), oil on wood, Cathedral of St Bavo, Ghent
  
• Fra Angelico, Annunciation (1433-34), Museo Diocesano, Cortona
  
• Jan van Eyck, The Annunciation (c. 1435), oil, transferred from wood to canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington
  
• Donatello, Annunciation (c. 1435), gilded pietra serena, Santa Croce, Florence
  
• Fra Angelico, The Annunciation (late 1430s), fresco in the Convento di San Marco, Florence
  
• Fra Angelico, The Annunciation (1440-41), fresco in the Convento di San Marco, Florence
  
• Fra Filippo Lippi, The Annunciation with two Kneeling Donors (c. 1440), Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome
  
• Fra Filippo Lippi, The Annuciation (c. 1440), Frick Collection
  
• Fra Filippo Lippi, Annunciation (c. 1443), Alte Pinakothek, Munich
  
• Fra Filippo Lippi, Annunciation (c. 1445), San Lorenzo, Florence
  
• Dieric Bouts the Elder, The Annunciation (c. 1445), oil on wood, Museo del Prado, Madrid
  
• Domenico Veneziano, Annunciation (predella 3) (c. 1445), Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
  
• Alessio Baldovinetti, Annunciation (1447), Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
  
• Fra Filippo Lippi, Annunciation (1445-50), Galleria Doria-Pamphili, Rome
  
• Fra Filippo Lippi, The Annunciation (1448-50), National Gallery, London
  
• Juan de Burgos, Annunciation (c. 1450), Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge
  
• Pedro Berruguete, Annunciation (c. 1450), panel in the Monastery of Miraflores, Burgos
  
• Fra Angelico, Annunciation (from the paintings for the Armadio degli Argenti, 1450), Museo di San Marco, Florence
  
• Petrus Christus, Annunciation (1452), wood panel, Groeninge Museum, Bruges
  
• Benedetto Bonfigli, Annunciation (1455-60), Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, Perugia
  
• Francesco Antonio del Cherico, Prayer Book of Lorenzo de' Medici (1458), manuscript page, Biblioteca Medicea-Laurenziana, Florence
  
• Fra Filippo Lippi, Annunciation (1467-69), fresco in the Duomo, Spoleto
  
• Master of Liesborn, The Annunciation (probably 1470-80), National Gallery of Art, London
  
• Francesco di Giorgio Martini, Annunciation (1470-72), Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
  
• Leonardo da Vinci, Annunciation (1472-75), Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
  
• Pedro de Cordoba, Annunciation (1475), Cathedral, Cordoba
  
• Hugo van der Goes, Portinari Triptych (closed) (1476-79), Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
  
• Sandro Botticelli, Annunciation (1481), fresco, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
  
• Antoniazzo Romano, Annunciation (1485), wood panel in Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome
  
• Sandro Botticelli, The Annunciation (c. 1485), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
  
• Hans Memling, The Annunciation (c. 1489), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
  
• Belbello da Pavia, Annunciation to the Virgin (manuscript page, 1450/1460), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
  
• Fra Carnevale, The Annunciation (c. 1448), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
  
• Domenico Ghirlandaio, Annunciation (1486-90), fresco in the Cappella Tornabuoni, Santa Maria Novella, Florence
  
• Carlo Crivelli, Annunciation with St. Emidius (1486), National Gallery of Art, London
  
• Filippino Lippi, Annunciation (1489-91), fresco in S. Maria sopra Minerva, Rome
  
• Domenico Ghirlandaio, Annunciation (1489-90), mosaic near the Porta della Mandorla, Duomo, Florence
  
• Benedetto da Maiano, Altarpiece of the Annunciation (before 1489), marble, Mastrogiudici Chapel, S. Anna dei Lombardi, Naples
  
• Sandro Botticelli, Cestello Annunciation (1489-90), Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
  
• Sandro Botticelli, Annunciation (1490-92), Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
  
• Cima da Conegliano, The Annunciation (1495), The Hermitage, St. Petersburg
  
• Rueland Frueauf the Elder, The Annunciation (c. 1495), Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
  
• Master of Moulins, The Annunciation (1500), Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
  
• Albrecht D¨rer, Life of the Virgin, 7. The Annunciation (1500-02), woodcut, Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna
  
• Mariotto Albertinelli, Annunciation (1503), Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
  
• Juan de Flandes, The Annunciation (c. 1508/1519), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
  
• Albrecht Dürer, Small Passion: 3. The Annunciation (1511), woodcut, British Museum, London
  
• Giannicola di Paolo, The Annunciation (1510/1515), National Gallery of Art, Washington
  
• Matthias Grünewald, The Annunciation (from the Isenheim Altarpiece, c. 1515), Musée d'Unterlinden, Colmar
  
• Jean Bellegambe, Annunciation (1516-17), The Hermitage, St. Petersburg
  
• Joos van Cleve, The Annunciation (c. 1525), Metropolitan Museum of Art
  
• Albrecht Dürer, Annunciation (1526), pen drawing, Musée Condé, Chantilly
  
• Lorenzo Lotto, Annunciation (c. 1527), Pinacoteca Comunale, Recanati
  
• Andrea del Sarto, Annunciation (1528), Galleria Palatina (Palazzo Pitti), Florence
  
• Francesco Albani, The Annunciation (c. 1530), The Hermitage, St. Petersburg
  
• Federico Fiori Barocci, Annunciation (1592-96), oil on canvas, Santa Maria degli Angeli, Perugia
  
• Domenico Beccafumi, The Annunciation (c. 1545), oil on wood, SS. Martino and Vittorio, Sarteano (Siena)
  
• Michelangelo Buonarroti, Study for an Annunciation (1547), British Museum, London
  
• El Greco, The Annunciation (1569-70), Museo del Prado, Madrid
  
• Veronese, The Annunciation (c. 1580), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
  
• El Greco, Annunciation (1595-1600), Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
  
• El Greco, The Annunciation (1603-05), Hospital de la Caridad, Illescas
  
• Caravaggio, The Annunciation (1608-09), oil on canvas, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nancy
  
• Orazio Gentileschi, Annunciation (c. 1623), oil on canvas, Galleria Sabauda, Turin
  
• Philippe de Champaigne, Annunciation (c. 1644), oil on canvas, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull
  
• Philippe de Champaigne, The Annunciation (c. 1645), oil on canvas, Wallace Collection, London
  
• Nicolas Poussin, The Annunciation (1657), National Gallery of Art, London
  
• Bartolome Esteban Murillo, Annunciation (late 1660s), The Hermitage, St. Petersburg
  
• Bernardino Cametti, Annunciation (1729), marble (height c. 500 cm), La Superga, Turin
  
• François Boucher, The Annunciation (chalk drawing, about 1749), Worcester Art Museum
  
• Franz Ignaz Günther, The Annunciation (1763), Parish church, Weyarn
  
• Francisco Goya y Lucientes, The Annunciation (about 1785), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
  
• Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Ecce Ancilla Domini! (The Annunciation) (1849-50)
  
• Edward Burne-Jones, The Annunciation (1876-79), Lady Lever Art Gallery, Liverpool
  
• Nesterov, The Annunciation (1897), Mauve Room, Alexander Palace
  
• John William Waterhouse, The Annunciation (1914)
  
• René Magritte, L'Annonciation (1930)
  
• Salvador Dalí, Annunciation (1947)
  
• Melozzo da Forli, Annunciation (date unknown), fresco in the Pantheon, Rome

This list cannot possibly be complete and exhaustive. See also the full list of Images of the Annunciation from The Text This Week.