Encyclopedia of Saints

This is a weighty, 480 page book with thick pages and easy to read print. From Achatius to Zeno of Venice, it lists 300 saints and will give you information on their lives, the Feast-day, the legends, patronage, places of pilgrimage, and their representations in art.On the minus side, there is no index, and the many black and white illustrations are not given credit, which on occasion, makes it hard to tell which saint they represent...but these are small quibbles when the rest of the book is so fine. The 82 color illustrations are gathered by theme ("The Virgin Mary and the archangels", "The Apostles", etc.), and are listed. My favorite is one I've not seen before, "Translation of the Bones of St. Mark to Venice" by Paolo Veneziano.The book jacket states that the author, Clemens Joeckle, has studied both theology and art history, and says in his foreword that he has included all the saints in the 1969 Roman-Catholic General Calendar, as well as a number of others from the calendars of regional churches, and in a few rare cases, some that have been removed from official calendars, like St. Christopher, who is greatly venerated as a helper in time of need.This is a lovely, informative book that I have not only enjoyed, but as an artist doing religious themes from time to time, found very useful.