Giuseppe Mazzuoli
St. Philip

1705-11
Marble, 14 feet high
Basilica of St. John Lateran, Rome

The long cross is Philip's most common attribute. At his feet is the Scythian dragon that he drove into the desert in the Golden Legend. Placing the dragon beneath the saint's feet is an adaptation of the visual trope of the persecutor underfoot, which developed in the late Middle Ages.

This is one of twelve monumental statues of the apostles, by various artists, lining the nave of the basilica.

Read more about St. Philip and about the trope of the persecutor underfoot.

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• Iconography of St. Philip
• This Picture

Photographed at the Lateran Basilica by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.