St. Miniato

Abstract

This glazed terracotta statuette of St. Miniato, found today in the sacristy of San Miniato al Monte, is dated to between the end of the fifteenth century and early sixteenth century. St. Miniato is venerated as the first Christian martyr of Florence. He is said to have originally been an Armenian prince or solider who refused to make sacrifices to the Roman gods and refused to deny Christianity. As a result, he was thrown in a furnace, lapidated, and made to face a lion in an amphitheatre - all of which he survived. He was then beheaded but miraculously picked up his own head in his hands and walked to his hermitage on a hill overlooking Florence - the site of the present-day San Miniato al Monte. Photograph(s) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.