Saints are holy men or women considered by the church as worthy of veneration after their death. Having attained perfection it is believed that their souls are close to God, and that the living can ask saints to intercede with God on their behalf. Among the best-known saints are the Virgin Mary, John the Baptist, Mary Magdalene, the apostles and evangelists. Other saints include martyrs who have died for their faith, or confessors who have attested to God in their life through their holiness. Knowledge of some saints was wide-spread, whereas cults of local saints also developed.
Cities had their own patron saints, churches were dedicated to particular saints, and babies were given the names of saints at their baptism. Individuals could pay reverence to the image of a saint and commissioners of paintings would often ask that saints of particular relevance to them be included. Thus St Nicholas is included in the altarpiece for the Carmelite church of S. Nicolò in Siena (fig.1). Similarly, the four patron saints of Siena (Ansanus, Savinus, Crescentius and Victor) appear in Simone Martine's Maesta for the Commune of Siena (fig 2).
Within the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church each saint had a day upon which they were celebrated. Traditionally, people were named after the saint upon whose name-day they were born. Thus, Cosmos and Damian (the patron saints of Cosimo de'Medici) and Lawrence (the patron saint of Cosimo's brother Lorenzo) were included in the San Marco Altarpiece (fig.3). Since this painting was for the Dominican convent of San Marco it also contains the founder and a patron saint of the Order (Dominic and Peter Martyr), and Mark - the patron saint of the convent.
