Symbolism of Christian saints has been used from the very beginnings of the religion.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[2] 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.[4] 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.
Keys of Heaven, boat, fish, rooster, pallium, papal vestments; crucified head downwards on an inverted cross, holding a book or scroll. Iconographically, he is mostly depicted with a bushy beard and hair.[a]
Mary is often portrayed wearing blue. Her attributes include amongst many others a mantle (often in blue or very large to cover the faithful), crown of 12 stars, serpent, sun and/or moon, heart pierced by sword, Madonna lily, roses, and rosary beads.[6]
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[a]
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.[b]
abbot's garment and crozier, 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.<[16]
Eucharist, chasuble, book often inscribed with Ad majorem Dei gloriam, or the letters AMDG, the christogram IHS with a cross across the h (traditionally with three nails below the letters, and the letters and nails surrounded by the sun's rays), sword, cross, biretta [a]
An old man with gray hair and beard holding a scroll with words from Isaiah 7:14, (in Latin)ecce virgo concipiet et pariet filium et vocabitur nomen eius Emmanuel (behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be Emmanuel)[b]
peasant holding a sickle and a sheaf of corn, a sickle and staff, as an angel plows for him; or with an angel and white oxen near him. In Spanish art, his attributes are a spade or a plough.[18]
lamb, head on a platter, animal skin (the camel-skin coat of the Gospels), pointing at Christ or a lamb, often portrayed carrying a long crudely made cross[a]
Augustinian holding a bird on a plate in the right hand and a crucifix on the other hand; holding a basket of bread, giving bread to a sick person; holding a lily or a crucifix garlanded with lilies; with a star above him or on his breast[b]
depicted wearing a long blue gown with one shoulder bare; usually carries a staff or a book; always shown with a magpie on her hand and a crown under her feet[a]
represented in art with a stag behind her and a long key hanging from her girdle, or otherwise carrying a key and a sword crossed, a device which commemorates St. Peter, St. Paul and St. Andrew[22]
depicted as a young man with two spits; vestments of a deacon; with a broken wheel; with a chair to which he is transfixed; with a sword or beheaded, a dove flying from his severed head[a]
vestments of a bishop, holding a fish; at dinner with Saint Wolfgang; rewarding a messenger with a goose leg; giving a garment to a beggar; with Saint Afra; riding through a river on horseback as his companion sinks; with a cross given him by an angel[b]
arrow; banner; cloak; shot with arrows; depicted accompanied by a varied number of virgins who are being martyred in various ways; standing on a ship with her companions[a]
In Christian iconography plants appear mainly as attributes on the pictures of Christ or the Virgin Mary. Christological plants are among others the vine, the columbine, the carnation and the flowering cross, which grows out of an acanthus plant surrounded by tendrils. Mariological symbols include the rose, lily, olive, cedar, cypress and palm. Plants also appear as attributes of saints, especially virgins and martyrs.
Plants
Illumination of a unicorn (a symbol of the incarnation of Christ, of innocence and purity) falling asleep on the lap of a virgin. The border shows plants which symbolise the virtues of the Virgin Mary, such woodland strawberries, roses and violets; the virgin's robe is blue, a colour attributed to the Mother of God.
From the Book of Numbers "The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron's staff, which represented the house of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds." [d][27]
The Columbine is a symbol for victory of life over death, thus a plant assigned to Christ, furthermore a symbol of humility, the Holy Spirit and the Holy Trinity
The name "columbine" comes from the Latin for "dove", due to the resemblance of the inverted flower to five doves clustered together.[28][c]
symbolises righteousness and humility. Their flowers embody chastity, but they also became a symbol of transience and vanity. The fruit is a symbol for the Incarnation of Christ.
Lanzi, Fernando; Lanzi, Gioia (2004-09-01). Saints and their Symbols: Recognizing Saints in Art and in Popular Images. Translated by O'Connell, Matthew J. ISBN9780814629703.
Post, W. Ellwood (1975). Saints, Signs and Symbols (2 ed.). SPCK Publishing. ISBN9780281028948.
^ This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Symbolism". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
^OrthodoxWiki. "Archangel Gabriel" (Internet). OrthodoxWiki. Retrieved 2013-11-15. Because the Angels are incorporeal beings, though they nevertheless take on human form when appearing to mankind, it can be difficult to differentiate one from another in icons. However, Gabriel is usually portrayed with certain distinguishing characteristics. He typically wears blue or white garments; he holds either a lily (representing the Theotokos), a trumpet, a shining lantern, a branch from Paradise presented to him by the Theotokos, or a spear in his right hand and often a mirror—made of jasper and with a Χ (the first letter of Christ (ΧÏ?ιστος) in Greek)—in his left hand. He should not be confused with the Archangel Michael, who carries a sword, shield, date-tree branch, and in the other hand a spear, white banner (possibly with scarlet cross) and tends to wear red. Michael's specific mission is to suppress enemies of the true Church (hence the military theme), while Gabriel's is to announce mankind's salvation.
^Rabenstein, Katherine (April 1999). "Opportuna of Montreuil, OSB". Saints O' the Day for April 22. Archived from the original on February 6, 2007. Retrieved 2012-02-24.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^Cucciniello, Lisa (2008). Rose to Rosary: The Flower of Venus in Catholicism. Rose Lore: Essays in Semiotics and Cultural History. Lexington Books. pp. 64–65.