Saint Paul the Hermit
Mosaic
St. Mark's Basilica, Venice
St. Paul the Hermit is identified both by the inscription and by his cloak made of plaited palm leaves. The prayer beads and cross are one of the ways that images of this saint express his status as a contemplative.
It is unusual to show Paul standing on a pillar. He spent his adult life in a cave.
The inscription reads S[AN]C[TU]S PAULUS PRIMUS HEREMITA, "Saint Paul the First Hermit."
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Photographed at the basilica by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.