Saint symbolism has been used from the very beginnings of the religion. Each saint is said to have led an exemplary life and symbols have been used to tell these stories throughout the history of the Church.[1] A number of Christian saints are traditionally represented by a symbol or iconic motif associated with their life, termed an attribute or emblem, in order to identify them. The study of these forms part of iconography in art history.[2] They were particularly used so that the illiterate could recognize a scene, and to give each of the Saints something of a personality in art. They are often carried in the hand by the Saint.
Attributes often vary with either time or geography, especially between Eastern Christianity and the West. Orthodox images more often contained inscriptions with the names of saints, so the Eastern repertoire of attributes is generally smaller than the Western. Many of the most prominent saints, like Saint Peter and Saint John the Evangelist can also be recognised by a distinctive facial type. Some attributes are general, such as the martyr's palm.[3] The use of a symbol in a work of art depicting a Saint reminds people who is being shown and of their story. The following is a list of some of these attributes.
See main article: Saint symbolism. Saints (I–P)
See main article: Saint symbolism: Saints (I–P). Saints (Q–Z)
See main article: Saint symbolism: Saints (Q–Z).
| Saint | Symbol | |
|---|---|---|
| kneeling in prayer while angels bring wreaths of flowers[4] | ||
| in fur tunics | ||
| crosier brought to him by an angel | ||
| Abraham of Arbela | sword near him | |
| an old hermit clothed in skins and sporting a blowing beard; in his cell with his niece Mary in an adjoining cell[5] | ||
| bishop with a stag, raising a dead child to life[6] | ||
| Acathius of Melitene | crown of thorns | |
| with Saint Victoria, his sister,[7] crowned with roses | ||
| Accursius | Franciscan with a sword in his breast | |
| Adalard of Corbie | Bishop giving alms | |
| Holding a church in his hand | ||
| spears, bishop clothes, book, paddle, Rarely even scales or Paladium of Bohemia[8] | ||
| Religious habit of the Marianist Sisters | ||
| Adjutor | throwing his chains into whirlpool | |
| cassock with black zucchetto | ||
| Adrian of Batanea | lion by his side | |
| in armor, holding a hammer and anvil | ||
| Ælfheah of Canterbury | axe | |
| crozier of an abbot, holding a book | ||
| habit of a monk, on horseback | ||
| in royal attire, sometimes with swords[9] | ||
| holding a model of Ely Cathedral | ||
| being burned at the stake | ||
| tongs or shears, veil, bells, two breasts on a plate[10] | ||
| martyr's palm, soldier's attire with a bunch of thorns, in armor with standard and shield, with Theodore of Amasea | ||
| Habit of a Basilian monk | ||
| Lily and a lamb[11] | ||
| Agnes of Rome | lamb, martyr's palm, sword | |
| Religious habit of a Sister of Divine Charity | ||
| stork | ||
| martyr's palm | ||
| Angel touching monks with a staff | ||
| giving his horse to a poor man[12] | ||
| praying on the top of the walls of Orléans | ||
| Religious habit of the Sisters of Marie Madeleine Postel | ||
| Dominican habit | ||
| tall cross and a sword | ||
| holding his own head in his hands | ||
| priest's attire | ||
| Albert of Louvain | Cardinal seated with three swords on the ground before him | |
| Carmelite habit, lily, book, devil, with Angelus of Jerusalem, | ||
| Dominican habit, dove | ||
| Jesuit habit, an old green van | ||
| Dominican habit, books and scrolls, writing with a quill | ||
| Dominican habit | ||
| episcopal robes, holding a cathedral | ||
| soldier, military standard, bearing white lily | ||
| crown | ||
| man lying beneath a staircase | ||
| Vested wearing bishop's omophorion and patriarch's koukoulion. Sometimes holding a Gospel Book with his right hand raised in blessing | ||
| rosary, vexillium legionis | ||
| Religious habit of a Sister of the Most Precious Blood | ||
| cassock | ||
| Alfred the Great | codex, crown, orb/scepter | |
| cassock | ||
| Augustinian habit, crucifix | ||
| crucifix, lily | ||
| cassock, rosary | ||
| rosary, bible in hands | ||
| Dominican habit | ||
| clothed in his monastic habit, standing atop a pillar | ||
| bishop listening to an angel playing music[13] | ||
| holding an open book and with a crown on her head | ||
| sturgeon | ||
| holding a church building | ||
| pilgrim's staff | ||
| Franciscan habit, staff | ||
| bishop with axe and tree | ||
| clothed as a monk, sometimes holding a scroll | ||
| Ambrose | bees, beehive, dove, ox, pen | |
| priest with cloak | ||
| Religious habit of the Little Sisters of the Annunciation, crucifix | ||
| Dominican habit | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| palm branch, cross, medicine pot | ||
| Vested as a bishop with omophorion, holding a Gospel Book | ||
| holding a book and palm of martyrdom, head pierced by a wooden knife | ||
| Dominican habit | ||
| Servite habit | ||
| Franciscan habit | ||
| Franciscan habit, purple stole | ||
| priest's attire | ||
| clothed as an Orthodox monk, often shown holding an icon | ||
| Franciscan habit | ||
| priest's cassock | ||
| as a bishop, holding a gospel book or scroll, with his right hand raised in blessing, with a full head of grey hair and a long, tapering grey beard | ||
| Augustinian habit, bible, stole | ||
| soldier holding a pilum | ||
| a saltire[14] | ||
| curing a paralytic girl; sometimes shown appearing to a sleeping priest; Irish wolfhound | ||
| walnuts, eagle, chain, axe, rocks | ||
| clothed as a Russian Grand Prince, holding a three-bar cross in his right hand | ||
| laurel wreath as a symbol of martyrdom | ||
| Andronicus elderly, in the robes of a Roman citizen, with a spear, the companions with crosses or spears | ||
| her face scarred by leprosy[15] | ||
| Archangel carrying the Portuguese Shield | ||
| Religious habit, martyr's palm | ||
| cloak, ladder | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| flowers, wreath, rosary, crucifix, Carmelite habit | ||
| Franciscan habit | ||
| Augustinian habit | ||
| Augustinian habit, crucifix | ||
| Carmelite habit | ||
| Carmelite habit, sword through chest, book, palm, three crowns, lilies, roses | ||
| Martyr's palm, Lily flower, Rosary | ||
| Religious habit, crucifix | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| sun, bright globe, Triniatrian scapular | ||
| Anne, grandmother of Jesus | door, book, with the Virgin Mary reading, red robe and green mantle[16] | |
| bedridden with bandaged head and holding a crucifix | ||
| lily flower, rosary | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Religious habit of the Rogationist Fathers[17] | ||
| Religious habit of the Sisters of Saint Dorothy of Cemmo | ||
| holding a cluster of dates, a heart with IHS or liver, martyr's palm, being boiled in oil or beheaded; banner bearing the arms of Siena;[18] baptismal cup; fountain | ||
| bishop with a barn near him; fruit and garden produce | ||
| holding a lamp lit by a divine hand | ||
| with a miraculous Refugium Peccatorum image of the Virgin Mary | ||
| bishop's robe, crozier, an open book, catechism, 2 students beside him at his side and having his bent arm pointing to the sky | ||
| Anthony of Padua | Christ Child, bread, book, white lily | |
| Anthony the Great | bell, pig, T-shaped cross;[19] [20] Tau cross with bell pendant[21] | |
| cassock, lily, cross, chalice, Eucharist | ||
| martyr's palm | ||
| martyr's palm | ||
| cassock, crucifix | ||
| cassock | ||
| religious habit of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, martyr's palm | ||
| religious habit of the Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception, | ||
| martyr's palm, lily, rosary | ||
| religious habit of the Daughters of Our Lady of Mercy | ||
| Benedictine habit, holding a standard and the city wall | ||
| Habit of the Order of Friars Minor | ||
| Dominican habit | ||
| bishop's attire and insignia | ||
| cassock, rosary | ||
| cassock | ||
| Augustinian habit | ||
| Dominican habit, martyr's palm | ||
| Franciscan habit | ||
| cassock | ||
| veil, cross | ||
| holding his own head | ||
| sword | ||
| tongs (sometimes with a tooth in them), holding a cross or martyr's palm or crown | ||
| sword through his neck | ||
| club in his hand, lighted taper or on a rack, limbs chopped off[22] | ||
| book of hours, cassock | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| deacon's vestments, holding the palm of martyrdom | ||
| harp | ||
| bishop's attire, with a mash rake | ||
| rake in his hand | ||
| as a bishop with the gospel, or a monk carrying hot coals | ||
| Franciscan habit | ||
| Pharmacist's lab coat | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| long white beard, vested as a priest, holding the gospel book. | ||
| Athanasius of Alexandria | bishop arguing with a pagan, bishop holding an open book, bishop standing over a defeated heretic | |
| Athenagoras, the Athenian, Philosopher, and Christian (self-styled) | ||
| episcopal vestments or as a hermit | ||
| sword, funeral pyre, wheel[23] in the act of her father killing her[24] | ||
| Augustine of Hippo | dove, child, shell, pen, book, heart with a flame[25] | |
| thrown into the sea with a millstone around her neck[26] | ||
| Religious habit, wolf | ||
| knight on horseback, sometimes with religious habit over his armor; with a man falling from a horse in front of him | ||
| cassock, holding the two-fingered sign of the cross | ||
| monk's or hermit's habit |
| Saint | Symbol | |
|---|---|---|
| Babylas of Antioch | bishop with three small boys | |
| Balthazar | bearded black magus offering a covered cup to the Infant Jesus | |
| a white rose[27] | ||
| Barbara | tower (often with three windows), chalice, ciborium, cannon | |
| ordering a tree cut down | ||
| Barnabas | pilgrim's staff, olive branch | |
| Basil of Ancyra | with a lioness at his side | |
| dove perched on his arm | ||
| bishop preaching to geese, deer, and other animals[28] | ||
| sword, sceptre, hooded hawk | ||
| prayer rope | ||
| a monk holding a pen | ||
| bracelet | ||
| sword | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Benedict | broken cup, raven, bell, crosier, bush, a bound bundle of sticks[29] | |
| Papal vestments, Papal tiara, Dominican habit | ||
| Papal vestments, Papal tiara, Dominican habit | ||
| Benedict Biscop | bishop holding crosier in one hand and open book in the other | |
| beggar sharing alms with other poor | ||
| Priest's cassock, Crucifix | ||
| Dominican habit, rope | ||
| portrayed as a boy carrying a large stone on his shoulder | ||
| Franciscan habit | ||
| Martyr's palm, lily flower, rosary, book, pot jar, (occasionally) a knife | ||
| dog, key[30] | ||
| Man of Sacrifice to God | ||
| Servite habit | ||
| Benno of Meissen | fish with keys in its mouth, book | |
| nun's habit, with a cow and either a pruning hook or branch, sometimes portrayed with Saints Nona and Celsa[31] | ||
| Priest's cassock | ||
| Passionist habit | ||
| Bernard of Clairvaux | pen, bees, instruments of the Passion | |
| Franciscan habit | ||
| with the devil in chains at or under his feet | ||
| Franciscan habit, skull | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Holding three green hills symbolic of monti di pietà[32] | ||
| Bernardino of Siena | tablet or sun inscribed with IHS, three mitres | |
| Priest's cassock | ||
| Priest's cassock | ||
| Dominican habit | ||
| Benedictine habit | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Bishop vestments, small cross, hammer, chalice | ||
| a nun kneeling before an altar with her daughter | ||
| palm of martyrdom[33] | ||
| in a monk's habit with a fish.[34] | ||
| an ostrich feather[35] | ||
| Monastic habit, insignia of an abbot | ||
| bound to a pillar; dagger and palm | ||
| Goldsmith | ||
| Blaise | two crossed and lit candles, iron comb | |
| bull, tied to a pillar with a lion and bear near her[36] | ||
| Dove, Martyr's palm, Religious habit | ||
| Bishop holding a fish | ||
| Abbot | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Servite habit, Banner, Cross | ||
| Bonaventure | communion, ciborium, cardinal's hat | |
| Boniface | oak, axe, book, fox, scourge, fountain, raven, sword | |
| in a cauldron of boiling oil | ||
| Co-foundress of the Servants of St. Joseph | ||
| monastic habit, insignia of an abbot | ||
| garments of a prince, holding swords or spears, or the cross of martyrs | ||
| Brendan the Navigator | whale; priest celebrating Mass on board a ship while fish gather to listen; one of a group of monks in a small boat | |
| Bridget of Sweden | ||
| Brigid of Kildare | cow, crosier, Brigid's cross | |
| Religious habit, crucifix | ||
| Priest's cassock | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Priest's cassock | ||
| seated with mitre and crosier at his feet, an olive branch in his hand | ||
| Monk or abbot with cuckoo and/or the Nevern Cross | ||
| sword, boat, episcopal attributes |
| Saint | Symbol | |
|---|---|---|
| Bishop throwing a spear, crown at feet, sometimes accompanied by a stag, a pig or a mouse | ||
| Priest's cassock | ||
| ministering to the sick | ||
| Military attire | ||
| Cantius and Cantianus are depicted as two youths; Cantianilla as a girl; Protus as a tutor with a staff and faggot; sword; the group fleeing in a chariot; beheaded before an idol; palms and sword; Protus is sometimes depicted as a bishop | ||
| knight with a wreath, lance, and ciborium | ||
| in chain mail, church in one hand, spear in the other | ||
| Priest carrying his head | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Military attire | ||
| Roses in her basket or dress | ||
| spade | ||
| Casimir of Poland and Lithuania | royal attire of crown and red robe lined with ermine, white lily, cross, rosary; sometimes two right hands | |
| Nun's habit, Book, Crucifix | ||
| crucifix, rosary, Religious habit | ||
| Religious habit, Heart, With the Blessed Sacrament | ||
| Rosary | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Daughters of Charity habit, Miraculous Medal | ||
breaking wheel
| ||
| carrying the Infant Jesus | ||
| Widow | ||
| habit and rochet as used by Augustinian Canonesses | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Catherine of Ricci | ring, crown, crucifix | |
| Catherine of Siena | stigmata, cross, ring, lily, habit of the Dominican order | |
| A hind at her side | ||
| Cecilia | organ or other musical instrument, martyr's palm, roses, sword | |
| Religious habit | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Cerbonius | geese, bear licking his feet[38] | |
| Vested as either a priest or bishop, holding a Gospel Book, with right hand raised in blessing. | ||
| Religious habit, prayer rope | ||
| Charles Borromeo | cardinal's robes, the Eucharist | |
| White religious habit with a heart, crowned with a cross | ||
| Imperial attire, Medals | ||
| Passionist habit, Crucifix, Breviary, Biretta | ||
| Franciscan habit | ||
| Medal, Book, Priest's cassock | ||
| Christopher | giant crudely dressed, torrent, tree, branch or large staff, carrying the Christ Child on shoulder | |
| military attire; sword; standard of red Mauritian cross on white field; elm tree; horse | ||
| Wedding gown, Tau cross, Rosary | ||
| Dominican habit, Crucifix | ||
| Palm, Cross | ||
| pierced by three arrows | ||
| Martyr's palm, Cross | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| tree, branch, as a giant or ogre, carrying the Christ child, spear, shield, as a dog-headed man | ||
| Crosses | ||
| Bearded young man dressed as a Roman military officer | ||
| Episcopal vestments, usually holding a staff or a Gospel. | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Clare of Assisi | monstrance or ciborium, habit of the Poor Clares, crozier of an abbess | |
| Clare of Montefalco | cross | |
| Religious habit | ||
| Franciscan habit | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Glagolitic alphabet, Cyrillic script | ||
| Augustinian habit | ||
| Sun, Stole, Cassock | ||
| Clement | anchor, fish, Mariner's Cross | |
| A Benedictine abbot giving his hood to a poor man as a halo emanates from his head; with royal insignia at his feet, or instructing the poor | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Crown, Rosary, Imperial attire | ||
| as a praying queen and as a nun, with a crown on her head or beside her.[39] | ||
| suit-of-armour; upright sword; fleur-de-lis; three frogs (his attributed arms) | ||
| pilgrim monk with a rope in his hand, being hanged on a gibbet, tongs and rod, with a book and maniple. | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Female carrying a palm branch and a sword, a dove hovering above | ||
| Dominican tertiary receiving the Eucharist from a hand reaching down from heaven; Dominican tertiary with a dove, lily, and book, or a wreath of roses, cross, lily, and a rosary | ||
| she-bear, crowned maiden in chains, with a dog or bear on a chain, holding a book and a peacock's feather, with an angel on a funeral pyre, or beheaded | ||
| Monk's robes, Celtic tonsure and crosier | ||
| represented as a bishop holding a chalice with a spider in it or over it. | ||
| with other Wallachian saints, all of them wearing golden cloaks | ||
| Imperial attire | ||
| Clothed as Grand Prince, holding a three-bar cross in his right hand | ||
| soldier's attire, bearing a banner with the Mauritian Cross and the palm of martyrdom; spade | ||
| episcopal attire | ||
| clothed as a pilgrim heading to Santiago of Compostella, sometimes with a scepter and crown at his feet. | ||
Bear
| ||
| fish; episcopal attire | ||
| Roman military garb | ||
| Franciscan habit | ||
| Vested as a bishop, or as a monk, holding a scroll with the words of one of his hymns | ||
| Cosmas and Damian | beheaded,, or with medical emblems (phials, box of ointment) | |
| Nun's habit, Heart | ||
| Military attire, slaying a dragon | ||
| Saints Crispin and Crispinian | holding shoes, millstones | |
| Franciscan habit | ||
| Cassock, sacerdotal vestments, Bible, rosary, and palm of martyrdom | ||
| being beheaded or having his throat cut | ||
| An empress in imperial robes, sometimes holding a church. | ||
| Bishop holding a second crowned head in his hands; sometimes accompanied by seabirds and animals | ||
| wheelbarrow | ||
| deacon's vestments, book of exorcism, with Artemia | ||
| as a naked child riding on a wild boar | ||
| bishops' vestments, holding a church model, holding an icon of the Last Judgment.[42] Often, Cyril is depicted wearing a monastic habit and Methodius vested as a bishop with omophorion. | ||
| Eastern episcopal vestments, holding a Gospel Book or a crosier, big white beard | ||
| Carmelite habit | ||
| monastic habit, John is wearing court robes, holding martyrs' crosses or medicine boxes and medicine spoons which terminate in crosses |
| Article title | Attributes | |
|---|---|---|
| King with a nail in his hand[43] | ||
| Daniel | Often in the lions' den | |
| deacon's vestments, holding a towel and laver[44] | ||
| Dove[45] | ||
| Psalms, Harp, Head of Goliath | ||
| David/Dewi | Bishop with a dove, usually on his shoulder, sometimes standing, on a raised hillock | |
| David of Scotland | king with sword or sceptre | |
| Abbot's staff, book, biretta | ||
| military attire | ||
| as a hermit, a wild boar hunted by King Clothaire takes refuge at his feet | ||
| deacon's vestments, martyr's palm, crucifix, with a scorpion next to him | ||
| armour of a Roman soldier, spear, seated on a red horse | ||
| garments of a Christian virgin, martyr's palm, cross, with 40 other virgins | ||
| Discalced Carmelite habit | ||
| Christian Martyrdom, carrying his severed head in his hands; a bishop's mitre; city[46] | ||
| Martyr's palm, Crown of martyrdom | ||
| with hand stretching to thunder clouds or exorcising a woman[47] | ||
| Tied up in chains Praying on knees before execution | ||
| crown of roses, dove, boat, coat-of-arms of the Principality of Monaco; dead maiden in a boat on the sea with a dove flying ahead of it | ||
| tunic full of roses | ||
| Vested as a bishop, right hand raised in blessing | ||
| Crucifix | ||
| Vested as a bishop, holding a Gospel Book | ||
| sword and helmet | ||
| Sword | Crucifix, Samurai robes, Martyr's palm | |
| Crucifix, Book of Hours, Priest's attire | ||
| Franciscan habit | ||
| Dominican habit | ||
| Trinitarian habit | ||
| rosary, lily in his hand, star over his head | ||
| Passionist Habit and Sign | ||
| hen and rooster, habit of a hermit, prayer beads, shepherd's crook[48] | ||
| his coat of mail lying on the ground | ||
| abbot surrounded by the Seven Virtues; mitred abbot enthroned with a book, a veil tied to his crozier, as proper to an abbot | ||
| with: sword, crown, idol in hands | ||
| bishop holding the city of Split or the Cathedral of Saint Domnius | ||
| dog, cup, martyr's palm; soldier's attire | ||
| episcopal dress, chalice, sword, fighting a dragon | ||
| bishop's attire with an Irish wolfhound at his feet, pointing out a church to his deacon Andrew the Scot | ||
| Roman armor; lightning bolt; martyr's palm; grapevine | ||
| Priest's cassock | ||
| Vested as a protopresbyter | ||
| Priest's cassock | ||
| Dorothea of Caesarea | basket with flowers or fruits[49] | |
| traditionally credited with an Acts of the Seventy Apostles | ||
| Benedictine with sheep, shepherd | ||
| holding two crosiers and an archiepiscopal cross[50] | ||
| Books, a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the moon on the chest of a Franciscan friar | ||
| Dunstan | hammer, tongs | |
| Dymphna | crown, sword, lily, lamp, princess with a fettered devil at her feet |
| Saint | Symbol | |
|---|---|---|
| crown, staff, book and sometimes a fish | ||
| Earconwald | bishop travelling in a chariot | |
| Knife in chest, noose around neck | ||
| Irish Christian Brothers' Black Habit | ||
| Edmund the Martyr | quiver of arrows | |
| Edward the Confessor | king crowned with a nimbus and holding a sceptre | |
| bishop holding a fish and a key[51] | ||
| Religious habit, Crucifix | ||
| Martyr's palm, Lily flower, Rosary | ||
| Augustinian habit | ||
| Martyr's palm | ||
| Eligius | bishop portrayed with a crosier in his right hand, on the open palm of his left a miniature church of chased gold; with a hammer, anvil, and horseshoe; or with a horse | |
| Elijah | habit and mantle of the Carmelites, cave, scroll, chariot of fire | |
| Bishop's attire, with his head in his hands | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Rosary | ||
| Poor Clare habit | ||
| Servite habit, Lilies | ||
| Rosary | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Carmelite habit, hands folded in prayer | ||
| Elisabeth of Hungary | alms, flowers, bread, poor people, pitcher | |
| Elisabeth of Portugal | crowns, roses, habit of a Third order Franciscan sister, crucifix | |
| Religious habit | ||
| vine in leaf in winter | ||
| Discalced Carmelite habit, Crucifix, Palm, Mortar and pestle | ||
| knotted cord and lily; coronet at his feet | ||
| young woman with stones in her lap and lilies in her hand; young lady being stoned to death | ||
| Boar, Lily Stem, Sword | ||
| soldier's attire | ||
| Chaplain cross, combat boots, Mass vestments Rosary | ||
| martyr's palm, rosary | ||
| Dominican habit | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Emilianus | riding into battle in the robe of a hermit | |
| Eurythimia Üffing (blessed) | Religious habit of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin and Our Lady of Sorrows | |
| Mother of Saints | ||
| a ladder | ||
| episcopal robes; palm; supporting a crumbling wall or building | ||
| a crosier in one hand, with an upraised sword, in the other, piercing a crescent moon | ||
| Cassock | ||
| a pilgrim abbot with a fountain springing under his staff.[52] | ||
| martyr's palm, crown; noble attire being flagellated | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Priest's cassock | ||
| Priest's cassock | ||
| Priest's cassock | ||
| Christian Martyrdom | ||
| Vested as a bishop in omophorion, sometimes holding a scroll | ||
| Ephrem the Syriac | Vine and scroll, deacon's vestments and thurible; with Saint Basil the Great; composing hymns with a lyre | |
| holds the model of a monastery | ||
| represented with his entrails wound on a windlass, or as a vested bishop holding a winch or windlass[53] [54] | ||
| Eric of Sweden | king being martyred at Mass | |
| African woman, blue eyes, facemask | ||
| episcopal attire; three stones | ||
| farming | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Priest's cassock | ||
| X-shaped cross[55] | ||
| cross, stake, and dove | ||
| Clothed as a pious woman with her head covered, surrounded by one or a few lions, often holding a wheel or a cross | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| episcopal attire | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Priest's attire | ||
| Eustace | hunting clothes, shining cross or crucifix between the antlers of a stag, bull, horn, oven | |
| Poor Clare nun holding a cross | ||
| Crozier and Mitre | ||
| attire of a Roman centurion, martyr's palm, raising a cross with the word hodie ("today") on it in his right hand, with his left foot stepping on a crow, which is speaking the word cras ("tomorrow").[56] | ||
| banner, book | ||
| military attire |
| Saint | Symbol | |
|---|---|---|
| Faith | cross, gridiron, rods, sword[57] | |
| an angel saving them from drowning | ||
| martyr's palm and the shears used to cut off her breasts[58] | ||
| old bishop with holes bored through his feet and hands | ||
| sword and seven sons | ||
| Felix of Burgundy | anchor | |
| Capuchin holding the Baby Jesus[59] | ||
| white stag with cross between its horns | ||
| spade, basket of vegetables[60] | ||
| Military attire | ||
| sword; palm of martyrdom; heretics; the Morning Star; trampling on the word "heresy"; with a club set with spikes; with a whirlbat; with an angel carrying a palm of martyrdom; with Saint Joseph of Leonessa | ||
| Priest's attire | ||
| cassock | ||
| violets[61] | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| martyr's palm | ||
Cross of Saint Florian
| ||
| Florinus of Remüs | bottle, glass of wine[63] | |
| Represented with a crown at his feet to show that he despised the honors of the world | ||
| Military attire, bishop's vestments | ||
| Saints Acacius, Barbara, Blaise, Christopher, Cyriacus, Catherine of Alexandria, Denis, Erasmus of Formiae, Eustace, George, Giles, Margaret of Antioch, Pantaleon, and Vitus, shown as a group. | ||
| Priest's cassock | ||
| Priest's cassockZucchetto | ||
| Carmelite habit, Rosary, Ball and Chain | ||
| Capuchin habit | ||
| Priest's cassock | ||
| Cassock | ||
| Priest's cassock, Crucifix, Theatine habit | ||
| Priest's cassock, Crucifix | ||
| Priest's cassock | ||
| Priest's cassock | ||
| Priest's cassock | ||
| Franciscan habit | ||
| Religious habit, Crucifix | ||
| Skull crowned with an emperor's diadem | ||
| Heart of Jesus, Crown of Thorns | ||
| Priest's cassock | ||
| Francis of Assisi | habit of the Franciscans, wolf, birds, fish, skull, stigmata | |
| Franciscan habit | ||
| Priest's cassock Crucifix Palm branch | ||
| Franciscan habit | ||
| Francis Xavier | crucifix, bell, vessel, crab with a crucifix | |
| Franciscan habit, crossed spears | ||
| Dominican habit | ||
| Priest's cassock | ||
| Rosary | ||
| Dominican habit | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Carmelite habit, Crucifix, Crown | ||
| Franciscan habit | ||
| Rosary, Vexillium Legionis | ||
| Premonstratensian habit | ||
| rake, hoe | ||
| pastoral staff; a fountain; the ox | ||
| Monk with a stag | ||
| Ferraiolo, zucchetto, bishop's cassock | ||
| with two oxen at his feet, beholding a vision of angels, gazing at the flames of purgatory and hell | ||
| Admiral attire, telescope, scroll, medals |
| Saint | Symbol | |
|---|---|---|
Archangel
| ||
| Portrayed as an abbot blessing a bear that brings him a log of wood; may be shown holding a hermit's tau staff with the bear or carrying a loaf and a pilgrim's staff.[66] | ||
| Gallicanus | hanging his armor on a cross | |
| Pictured as a Burgundian knight with a fountain springing under his sword. He holds a shield with a cross. He may also hold the spear with which he was murdered | ||
| Gaucho standing in front of a red cross, holding a bola or a red cross, red bandana, blue poncho, Prosopis caldenia | ||
| Bishop holding a model of a church | ||
| bishop, mitre on head, without his crosier, right hand lifted in a gesture of benediction and left folded upon his breast. | ||
| bishop giving his staff to a lame man | ||
| holding a Monstrance, Genuflecting or Kneeling to the Blessed Sacrament | ||
| a bishop holding a model of the town of Modena | ||
| Passionist robe, flowers (lilies and roses), crucifix, stigmata, heavenward gaze, passionist sign | ||
| a secretary throwing down his tablets | ||
| Genesius | theatre mask | |
| Genevieve | lit candle, bread, keys, herd, cattle | |
| Priest's cassock, crucifix | ||
| Religious habit, Scapular | ||
| Clothed as a crusader in plate armour or mail, often bearing a lance tipped by a cross, riding a white horse, often slaying a dragon. In the Greek East and Latin West he is shown with St George's Cross emblazoned on his armour, or shield or banner. | ||
| Priest's attire | ||
| Georgia of Clermont | a flock of doves accompanying her corpse | |
| Young man in a Redemptorist habit, skull | ||
| Bishop being killed by a spear | ||
| Franciscan habit, Habit of the Order of St. John, Maltese cross, staff, rosary, cherries | ||
| Franciscan habit | ||
| Stick with cherries, bowl with spoon | ||
| Palm and lance | ||
| attire of a knight or Roman legionary | ||
| Priest's attire | ||
| garments of a hermit, praying near his hermitage in a tree, with a donkey near him, thorn in his foot | ||
| A nun with a crosier and rats (now sometimes cats) | ||
| Benedictine habit, Crucifix | ||
| crown, lily, taper | ||
| the scourge, the club and the sword[67] | ||
| Palm branch | ||
| represented with a bear or bear's cub beside him, sometimes portrayed holding a church[68] | ||
| Dominican habit | ||
| Priest's cassock | ||
| Franciscan habit, staff, Crucifix | ||
| cross portate[69] | ||
| Monk holding a Celtic bell or writing in a book | ||
| Giles | arrow, crosier, hermitage, hind | |
| Capuchin habit | ||
| Franciscan habit | ||
| Dominican habit | ||
| Dominican habit, Flowers | ||
| Nun's habit, Heart | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Carmelite habit | ||
| Servite habit | ||
| Priest's attire, Crucifix | ||
| Cassock, Crucifix | ||
| Rosary, Christogram, Crucifix | ||
| Priest's cassock | ||
| Priest's attire | ||
| Franciscan habit | ||
| Priest's cassock, Palm branch | ||
| Dominican habit, crucifix | ||
| Priest's cassock, Stole | ||
| Priest's habit | ||
| Franciscan habit, staff, rosary | ||
| Priest's attire | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Religious habit, Pendant of Jesus | ||
| Augustinian habit, Flowers | ||
| Religious habit, heart | ||
| Religious habit, Crucifix, Rosary | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Religious habit of the Comboni Missionary Sisters | ||
| cassock | ||
| cassock | ||
| Franciscan habit | ||
| Sandals, sash | ||
| Priest's cassock | ||
| Dominican habit | ||
| Priest's cassock | ||
| Capuchin habit, Rosary, crucifix | ||
| White coat, stethoscope, cross | ||
| Cassock, crucifix | ||
| Capuchin habit | ||
| Discalced Carmelite habit | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Religious habit | ||
| Priest's cassock | ||
| Hermit being given milk by three hinds; holding a pitcher; with the devil on his shoulder or under his feet; holding the church of Saint Goar am Rhein; hanging his hat on a sunbeam[70] | ||
| crown, well, being strangled[71] | ||
| Hermit | ||
| Martyr's palm, Priest attire, book | ||
| with Monulph, both holding miniature churches | ||
| dragon; model of a church[72] | ||
| Celtic Rite | ||
| episcopal garb; head of Saint John the Baptist; bunch of grapes; bishop with lightning flashing near him | ||
| Augustinian habit, Franciscan habit, crucifix, iron ring around the waist | ||
| Gregory the Great | papal tiara, crosier, dove (often portrayed at his ear) | |
| balding with a bushy white beard, bishop's vestments, wearing an omophorion; holding a Gospel Book or scroll | ||
| long, tapering dark beard, bishop's vestments, holding a Gospel Book or scroll, right hand raised in benediction | ||
| bishop's vestments, driving demons out of a temple, presenting a bishop's mitre to Saint Alexander the Charcoal Burner | ||
| Passionist habit | ||
| lantern, which the devil tries to blow it out | ||
| Dominican habit, Holding a ball, Light shining on him | ||
| A peasant praying with an angel plowing a nearby field; a pilgrim with a book or with a hat, staff, rosary, and an ox at his feet | ||
| Rosary | ||
| crowned warrior, carrying spear sometimes accompanied by an ox |
| Saint | Symbol | |
|---|---|---|
| a bowl of bread and potage (Daniel 14:33-49)[73] | ||
| Hedwig of Silesia | holding a church or a pair of shoes in her hands | |
| Helena | wearing a royal crown while supporting a cross | |
| Helladius of Toledo | carrying straw or firewood to an oven | |
| Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor | armor and mantle, sceptre and sword | |
| bishop's vestments | ||
| kneeling before a statue of the Virgin and Child and offering an apple | ||
| axe, crown, sword, and cross [74] | ||
| Franciscan habit | ||
| Priest's attire | ||
| Benedictine habit | ||
| Blind abbot being led by a wolf | ||
| episcopal vestments, crozier, beard, usually white and often long[75] | ||
| with a pastoral staff and carrying an abbey church.[76] | ||
| habit of a Benedictine nun, crozier, with flames above her head, writing in her Liber Scivias, sitting in a hermitage | ||
| lamp, candle | ||
| pilgrim's attire, with a staff, or ill in bed | ||
| pilgrim's cloak and staff, being stabbed | ||
| Hippolytus of Rome | papal tiara | |
| Hippolytus the soldier | military garb, horse's harness | |
| Bag of money, merchant's robes | ||
| Franciscan habit | ||
| represented as a bishop over the island of Lérins with a phoenix below, or drawing water from a rock with his mitre near him [77] | ||
| Honoratus of Amiens | baker's peel or shovel; bishop with a large Host; bishop with three Hosts on a baker's shovel; loaves | |
| palm of martyrdom | ||
| in the garb of a hermit or monk | ||
| bearded, raising his hand in benediction, holding a scroll with the words "Ex Egipto vocavi filium meum" | ||
| Martyr's palm, crown, cross | ||
| knight with a banner showing the stag's head and crucifix; stag; stag with a crucifix over its head; young courtier with two hounds | ||
| wearing a cowl over his episcopal vestments[78] | ||
| Hugh of Lincoln | episcopal vestments, crozier, swan | |
| A star on his forehead; a bear carrying Humbert's baggage; with an angel making a cross on Humbert's brow; with an angel showing Humbert the Cross[79] | ||
| habit of the Vallombrosians | ||
| Sometimes represented kneeling at the feet of the pope | ||
| Holding a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary along with a monstrance or ciborium[80] | ||
| Religious habit |