A Library's Heavenly Patrons

According to tradition there are three saints invoked as patrons of libraries. The first is the doctor and father of the church, St. Jerome, whose volumes of commentaries, correspondence and translation created the image of a man surrounded by books. In the painting below St. Jerome is depicted in the Venetian style wearing a scarlet habit and hood, with a cardinal's hat on the left, symbolic of his position as secretary to Pope Damasus I. He is seen removing a thorn from a lion's paw and in gratitude the beast became his companion.

Second is the virgin and martyr, St. Catherine of Alexandria, whose eloquent defense of Christianity put to confusion a group of pagan philosophers and so enraged the Emperor Maxentius that he had her martyred. In the painting by Carlo Dolci, St. Catherine is seen reading attentively amidst the sumptuous surroundings of her noble home. The crown on the left is a reference to Maxentius' offer to marry her, which she gladly places side in pusuit of truth and widsom.

Finally there is the deacon and martyr, St. Lawrence, whose preservation of the material wealth of the church of Rome, including its documents, made librarians see him as a patron and invoke his intercession. In this painting by Bernardo Strozzi, St. Lawrence is presenting a silver thurible to an elderly couple and while himself holding a processional cross. In the foreground are other sacred objects for distribution to the poor including a bishop's crosier, ewer, chalice and paten.