The Arts - Rome - page 695

SAINTS GLOSSARY
As befits the world's Catholic capital, Rome is overrun by saints. Roads are named after them, churches com-
memorate them and paintings portray them in all their righteous glory. Here we list some of the big-name santi
(saints) you'll come across in Rome.
» Sant'Agnese (d 305, b Rome) Patron saint of virgins and Girl Scouts, St Agnes died a martyr at the age of
13. According to tradition, she was beheaded on Piazza Navona.
» Santa Cecilia (2nd century, b Rome) A popular Roman saint, St Cecilia is the patron of music and musi-
cians. She was buried in the Catacombe di San Callisto and later moved to the Basilica di Santa Cecilia in Tras-
tevere.
» San Clemente (d 97, b Rome) St Clement was ordained by St Peter and became the fourth pope in 88 AD.
He was later banished to the Crimean mines by the emperor Trajan.
» San Giovanni (d c 101) Author of the gospel of St John and the Book of Revelation, St John was a travel-
ling companion of Jesus and friend of St Peter. He was tortured by the emperor Domitian but apparently emerged
unscathed from a cauldron of boiling oil. The Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano is dedicated to him and St
John the Baptist.
» San Gregorio (540−604, b Rome) St Gregory made his name as Pope Gregory the Great. He sent St
Augustine to convert the Brits, built monasteries, and lent his name to a style of liturgical singing - the Gregorian
chant. He is the patron saint of choirboys.
» Sant'Ignazio di Loyola (1491−1556, b Guipuzcoa, Spain) Spanish-born St Ignatius Loyola earned his Ro-
man colours by founding the Jesuits in Rome in 1540. He spent his last years at the Chiesa del Gesù.
» San Lorenzo (c 225−258, b Huesca, Spain) A canny financial manager, St Lawrence safeguarded the assets
of the 3rd-century Roman Church when not helping the sick, poor and crippled. His patronage of chefs and cooks
results from his indescribably awful death - he was grilled to death on a griddle iron.
» Santa Maria (1st century BC − 1st century AD Nazareth) Venerated by Catholics, the Virgin Mary or
Madonna, appears in paintings and sculptures across the city; Michelangelo famously depicts her in his Pietà in St
Peter's Basilica.
» San Marco (1st century AD, b Libya) St Mark is said to have written the second gospel while in Rome. The
Basilica di San Marco stands over the house where he used to stay when in town.