A Visual Dictionary of Saints

There are plenty of guides to the saints, but this is the only one that will help you identify the saint that you are looking at.

Taking the 140 most popular and widely represented saints (from the earliest — the apostles, up to Padre Pio and others from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries) the authors provide brief accounts of the saint's achievements (or legend) and details of their conventional attributes — usually tools of their trade or the instruments of their martyrdom. Then they provide a clear and unambiguous color representation of the saint, taken from sources the world over, often from popular imagery such as playing cards, inn signs, or advertisements, as well as from high and low art.

Usefully, there is a comprehensive reference index identifing saints by things associated with them — from anchors (St. Clement) to wounds (St. Roch if in the leg, St. Rita if in the brow). Practical, attractive, and well-informed this little book will be invaluable for students and lovers of art of all ages.

San Antonio, St. Patrick, St. Paul, Santa Claus — these are just a few of the many saints whose names are familiar to everybody. Well over six million people in the United States live in a city named after a saint. Yet how any of us know the stories behind the saints whose names and images surround us?

Edward and Lorna Mornin have been collecting images of saints from both high and low art for decades. In this handy guide they combine their research into 130 popular saints with fascinating images, answering often-asked questions: When did these saints live? What are their symbols? Did they actually exist?

Drawing chiefly from western Europe and the United States, "Saints: A Visual Guide" goes beyond familiar portrayals to lesser-known but enlightening images of famous saints, not only in formal sculpture, painting, and engraving but also in such modest media as prayer and playing cards, coats of arms, commercial signs, and the like.

Attractive, practical, and filled with fascinating stories, this little book will be an invaluable field guide for everyone even the most seasoned "saint spotter."

Combines brief biographies of 137 popular saints with sculpture, fresco, marble and stone relief, stained glass, woodcut, prayer card, plaster, and mosaic images.

Taking the 140 most popular and widely represented saints (from the apostles to Padre Pio and others from the 19th and 20th centuries), the authors provide brief accounts of the saints' achievements (or legend) and details of their conventional attributes 296 pp.

Edward Mornin is professor emeritus of Germanic studies at the University of British Columbia.