Lauds: Visitation. Who is greeting whom? In the visitation scene, Elizabeth, the future mother of John the Baptist, meets Mary, the future mother of Christ. Behind them is the house of Zacharias, Elizabeth's husband. As the illustration seems to…
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…