For hundreds of years in Europe, all of the great works of art produced were in service of the Christian faith. Patrons were either rich nobles looking to boost their faithful credentials or the Church itself. Saints were popular subjects in art because images of their actions in life, and especially their deaths, were potent reminders of the power of faith.

Many of these works still speak to us today and elicit powerful emotions. Sometimes, though, the images that were meant to evoke reverence bring a smile to our lips. These are not one-offs done by dodgy artists but typical, if offbeat, symbols used to depict saints. Here are ten images of saints that are just downright weird.

10 St. Bartholomew’s Skin

St. Bartholomew, one of the apostles of Jesus, had quite the exciting life after the crucifixion. Like the other apostles, he was commanded to go forth and spread the word of God, but to Bartholomew fell the mission to go far abroad and preach. Tradition has him going to Mesopotamia, Ethiopia, or most commonly to India. There, he knocked down idols, taught the Indians the Gospel of Matthew, and cast out demons. It was while he was later preaching in Armenia that he is said to have met his sticky end.

Bartholomew converted the brother of the king of Armenia. This somewhat annoyed the king, so he commanded that Bartholomew be flayed alive. This is why in statues and paintings around the world, Bartholomew is shown holding his own skin. In some versions, such as The Last Judgment by Michelangelo, Bartholomew is shown as a person both with skin and holding skin, but other artists chose the bloodier option of showing a flayed man with his bloody skin nonchalantly draped over him.^[1] That’s one way at least to make sure that people don’t forget how much you suffered for your faith.

9 St. Antipas’s Bull

Little is known for sure about Saint Antipas of Pergamum. A brief mention in the Book of Revelation reveals that, “Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.” This martyrdom has left us with some very bizarre images of the saint.

According to legend, St. Antipas was attacked by the pagan priests of Pergamum for not offering sacrifice at their temples. When told, “The whole world is against you!” Antipas replied, “Then I am against the whole world!” For his obduracy, the priests dragged Antipas to the temple of the goddess Artemis and placed him inside a hollow bronze bull. A fire was lit under it, and the saint was roasted alive.^[2] Many images of the saint choose to focus on this aspect of his martyrdom.

Now Antipas is invoked as the patron saint of those with toothache—which seems to suggest either toothache is worse than most people think, or burning to death is not quite as painful as we imagine.

8 St. Romanus’s Tongue

When you fear what someone has to say, it may seem like a prudent thing to do to rip out their tongue. This is exactly what the Romans did to Saint Romanus when he defied them, and it is with his flopping tongue in his hand that the saint can now be seen in paintings.

St. Romanus was a Christian at a time when this was not a good idea. The Roman world circa AD 300 still persecuted Christians because they did not support the official gods of the empire. During one of these persecutions, Christians were given the opportunity to escape punishment if they would make offerings at the altars of the pagan gods. When St. Romanus encouraged his fellow prisoners not to, he was singled out for special punishment.

First, he was beaten, then he was suspended and attacked with blades, and then his tongue was torn out.^[3] Despite this verbal setback, the saint was still miraculously able to speak, so he was beheaded. Now the saint can be seen still wagging his tongue to spread the faith.

7 St. Margaret And The Dragon’s Belly

St. Margaret of Antioch has always been a favorite for artists because her life provided such a rich source of inspiration. As the patron saint of childbirth (for reasons which will be explained below), she was widely called on for aid, and images of the saint proliferated, leaving us with many examples of her struggles.

When Margaret was a young maid, a Roman official became besotted with her. Being a faithful Christian, Margaret refused his advances. Since he was miffed with being rebuffed, he had her thrown in prison. There, the Devil visited her in the form of a dragon and devoured Margaret, but by praying, she managed to burst out of the beast’s belly, hence the association with childbirth.

For artists, this image proved irresistible, and St. Margaret can be seen escaping from dragons of all shapes and sizes. She mostly manages to crawl out from their innards with her hair and clothes untouched by the gore around her.^[4]

6 St. Wilgefortis

Everyone has had a date that they’ve wanted to get out of. Few have gone to the lengths of St. Wilgefortis, however, when it comes to avoiding romance.

Known by a number of names, Wilgefortis’s legend was a popular one for its folktale qualities. According to the tales, the young Wilgefortis was the daughter of a pagan king and had taken a perpetual vow of virginity. Her father, despite her holy oath, wished to marry her off to another king. To escape the coming wedding, Wilgefortis prayed to God to make her so hideous that no one would want to marry her. In the morning when she woke, Wilgefortis had sprouted a miraculous, if unbecoming, beard. The wedding was off!^[5]

Unfortunately for Wilgefortis, her father was not amused by her new hirsute appearance and commanded that she be put to death by crucifixion. This is why there are many paintings and statues of a young bearded woman on a cross to be found in churches around the world.

5 St. Roch And His Licked Legs

Saint Roch is a relatively little-known saint whose iconography mixes both cuteness and putrefaction at the same time. The cute part comes from his faithful dog, who is almost always shown with him. The less lovely part comes from the rotting sores that St. Roch seems to like showing off.

St. Roch was born to a noble family, and his saintliness was predicted when he was born with a birthmark in the shape of a cross on his chest. When his parents died, Roch gave away all his worldly belongings to the poor and became a holy man. He was so poor that he would have died had not a dog brought him bread to eat. He would also have died from infected sores on his leg if the dog had not licked them clean. Most paintings suffice so show him with the dog, but some actually show St. Roch being licked.^[6]

St. Roch is now the patron saint of dogs and skin diseases, though neither dogs nor dermatologists would suggest licking as a way to clean wounds.

4 St. Lucy’s Eyes

While it is common for women to say to men, “Hey, my eyes are up here!” for St. Lucy, that is not the case. In images of Lucy, she is often shown carrying a plate with her own eyes resting on it.^[7]

St. Lucy was a Christian, but her mother was not. Her mother arranged a marriage to a local pagan, but Lucy longed to remain a virgin and to spend her dowry on the poor. St. Lucy took her mother to the tomb of Saint Agatha (who we shall meet later) and prayed for her mother to be cured of a sickness—the mother was cured and converted to Christianity at once. This was during a Roman persecution of Christians in the fourth century, and Lucy’s intended husband was not impressed by her faith and denounced her to the authorities.

Because Lucy would not recant her beliefs, the Romans had her tortured in many cruel and unusual ways, just one of which was the tearing out of her eyes. Other traditions have St. Lucy pulling out her own eyes to discourage her betrothed from the marriage.

3 St. Agatha’s Bosom

St. Agatha, who had aided St. Lucy, has a similar iconographic style to the younger saint. Instead of carrying her own eyes on a plate, however, St. Agatha prefers to carry her breasts. How they came to be off her body is the key to Agatha’s saintliness.

One of the most revered of the early martyrs, Agatha was born in Sicily. A highly beautiful woman, she was often faced with marriage proposals but had, from a very early age, dedicated herself to a life of pious chastity. A high-ranking Roman named Quintianus was not to be put off by her vows, however.^[8] When she refused him one too many times, Quintianus informed the authorities of her Christianity and had her hauled up before a judge—Quintianus himself.

The less-than-impartial judge reveled in torturing the woman he had wanted to marry, and one of his savage acts was to have her breasts torn off. This act has proved too titillating for some artists to ignore, so St. Agatha is now often shown with her most memorable attributes on a plate.

2 Lactation Of St. Bernard

St. Mary, mother of Jesus, is held by many to be the ideal woman. Images of her nursing the infant Christ were popular ones in churches and were intended to show that as she nurtured Jesus, so she would nurture all humans. While this nurturing was metaphorical, there was one saint who received a more literal feeding of his faith.

According to legend, St. Bernard was praying one day when a vision of the Virgin Mary and infant Jesus appeared to him. When the infant took a break from suckling, St. Mary placed her breast in St. Bernard’s mouth and nourished him. Other versions of the tale have the Virgin squirting milk at St. Bernard from quite some distance.^[9] One legend has the milk hitting him in the eye and curing him of an eye disease. In art, the most common image shows an impressive stream of milk shooting out to strike the kneeling saint.

One final variation shows St. Bernard not drinking the mother’s milk but being baptized in it as it hits him squarely in the middle of his forehead.

1 St. Christopher And The Dog’s Head

St. Christopher is one of the most famous and popular of Christian saints. Many wear his image around their neck, as he is the patron saint of travelers and is said to help people find their way back home. On his medals, he is often shown carrying a child (actually Jesus) across a river. What he is not usually shown as is a dog-headed man.

In some early icons of the saint, however, St. Christopher is shown with cynocephaly—having the head of a dog. This apparently bizarre artistic choice sprang from ancient misunderstandings of the world and texts. Beyond places known to the ancients, the world was said to be populated with exotic and weird varieties of humans. There were tribes with one foot who hopped everywhere, people whose faces were in the middle of their chests, and even cities of humans with dog heads.

One theory for why St. Christopher was shown with a dog’s head is that he was described as a Canaanite (cananeus), and someone misread this as “dog-man” (canineus).^[10] Despite these depictions of St. Christopher falling out of favor, they can still be found in some churches and ancient manuscripts. He was a good boy, after all.

Think gangsters are godless? Think again! Whether to ease a troubled conscience, secure a place in heaven, or guard against one’s rivals and police, patron saints and deities are common in crime. Some are borrowed from mainstream religions, history, or folklore, while others are entirely new. They also range from good to evil, or at least to darkly amoral. Here are the world’s top ten – from the least to the most fear-inducing. 

10. Nino de Atocha

The Holy Infant of Atocha, a Spanish baby saint, is traditionally depicted with a basket of bread to feed convicts. As the patron saint of prisoners, he’s popular with drug traffickers such as Pablo Escobar, leader of the Medellín cartel, who had altars in safe houses and visited a shrine while in Spain. El Chapo’s son Ovidio Guzman also pays tribute; he was wearing an amulet of the saint when he was arrested in 2019.

The Holy Infant is especially popular with hauchicoleros (gasoline thieves) in Mexico. Hence he’s often depicted holding not a basket but a gas can. In this guise he bears the name Santo Nino Huachicolero. 

According to the Catholic Church, gangsters use images of the saint (or pseudo-saint really) to gain the support of the public. But in this case it’s probably the half-price gas that ultimately wins them over.

9. Saint Jude

As one of the Twelve Apostles, Saint Jude is the only “narco saint” recognized by the Catholic Church. He’s also known as San Judas Tadeo (Saint Jude Thaddeus). Traditionally he’s the last choice to pray to for help, just in case prayers to Jude get to Judas Iscariot instead, the apostle who betrayed Jesus Christ.

Being the last resort in the way, he’s the patron of hopeless lost causes – first choice for criminals, prisoners, “youth on the edge”, and fugitive drug lords like Benjamin Arellano Felix. In fact, so popular is Saint Jude with the criminal underworld that police stake out his center of worship, the San Hipolito church in central Mexico City. Once a month, thousands of devotees, including some of the best known gangsters, descend on the church and the boulevards around it, giving undercover cops with long distance lenses the chance to update their photos.

The saint, who wears a green robe with a flame on his head, is credited with all sorts of “miracles”, including keeping fugitives, thieves, and drug runners out of jail. According to the priest at San Hipolito, however, criminals misunderstand. “The saints will not help you to do bad things or carry out illegal activities,” he told Vice in 2016. On the contrary, Saint Jude is also popular with police.

8. Amaterasu

Sun goddess Amaterasu is the principal deity of Japanese mythology – daughter of the creators Izanami and Izanagi. Ruling over the Takama no Hara (“High Celestial Plain”), Amaterasu (whose name means “shining in Heaven”), is chief of the kami, or spirits, and worshiped throughout Japan. She’s also revered by the yakuza, who honor her with rituals of worship, as well as the initiation of new members. In one famous legend, Amaterasu retreats from the world to a cave, bringing disasters to heaven and earth.

Different specializations of the yakuza may worship other patron deities. For example, one of the two main branches, tekiya (merchants, originally of medicines), honors Shinno the god of medicine, while the other main branch, bakuto (gamblers), honors Hachiman the god of war. All yakuza, however, honor Amaterasu and the Emperor of Japan.

An important ritual in which she features is the Sakazuki, or “Cup Exchange”. Held in strict secrecy at a time and place not revealed to participants until moments before, the ceremony centers on an altar beneath three scrolls – each representing a god. Amaterasu is on the right, the Emperor on the left and Shinno in the middle.

7. Jesus Malverde

In Mexico, Jesús Malverde is the mythical hero of the poor and downtrodden. He’s basically the Mexican Robin Hood, complete with thick black mustache and neckerchief. Mal verde in Spanish means “bad green”, a name the folkloric bandit earned hiding in shrubs wearing green camouflage to jump out and rob passers-by. Typically, his victims would be wealthy and the spoils would be shared among the poor. Hence Malverde’s other names, the Generous Bandit and the Angel of the Poor.

He’s also thought to have been a real person, at least by those who revere him. According to legend, Malverde’s real name was Jesús Juarez Mazo. Said to have lived between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he was (allegedly) hanged by the government on May 3, 1909.

Today, he belongs to a tradition of “narco saints”, prayed to by drug traffickers like El Chapo who see in Malverde an image of themselves – especially in his home state of Sinaloa. There, a roadside shrine to the saint has become a popular place of worship. His image appears throughout Mexico, though, on figurines, candles, key chains, t-shirts, and so on.

6. Guan Yu

The legendary general Guan Yu was a real historical figure, a loyal duke of the warlord Liu Bei. He’s also a character in the Chinese literary classic, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Also known as Guan Gong and Emperor Guan, he’s become an important deity in Hong Kong with shrines all over the city. He even features in Hong Kong popular culture, including the Young and Dangerous film series.

Statues of Guan Yu typically show him with a halberd in his right hand. But if you see one with the halberd in his left, it may belong to a triad–at least according to rumor.

While Guan Yu is worshiped by all sorts of people, from businessmen and policemen to simple private citizens, triads revere him as the embodiment of their most cherished values: humanity; honesty; obedience; wisdom; loyalty; and faith. He’s also a reminder of their strict moral code.

5. Saint Michael

Mafiosi are known for displays of religious devotion, with altars often found at their hideouts. The Catholic Church, however, to which this devotion is directed, has remained largely silent on the issue. Only recently have popes openly condemned mafiosi. Pope John Paul II was the first, to which they responded by bombing several churches. Then, in 2014, Pope Francis officially excommunicated associates of the mafia for occupational “adoration of evil.” But it hasn’t stopped them.

The ‘Ndrangheta mafia of Calabria, for instance, has two patron saints: the sword-wielding archangel Saint Michael and the maternal Madonna di Polsi (“Our Lady of Polsi”, commemorating a local apparition of the Virgin Mary). ‘Ndrangheta leaders from all over Italy and the world actually used to gather at the Madonna’s famous sanctuary in Calabria.

Although different ranks in the ‘Ndrangheta’s complex hierarchical structure are each associated with a different saint, it’s to Saint Michael and the Madonna that members swear allegiance. The initiation ritual, or “baptism”, involves cutting a finger and dropping blood on a prayer card of Saint Michael or the Madonna, which is then burned and the ashes applied to the cut. Hence in 2007 when a bitter blood feud culminated in the murder of six young people outside a restaurant, investigators found prayer cards and a statue of Saint Michael, as well as images of “Our Lady” in the back.

4. Maximon

Seeing some depictions of Maximón, aka San Simón, you’d be forgiven for thinking he was Jesús Malverde; he often has the same mustachio’d “cowboy-cum-gangster aesthetic”. But this wish-granting saint is a Mayan god, belief in whom dates back to pre-conquest Guatemala. He’s also a bit of a trickster; in one legend, fishermen asked him to keep their wives faithful and Maximón slept with each one.

Although Maximón’s devotees are mostly Catholic (hence his association with San [Saint] Simón), the Church tends to see him as the devil and worship of him as witchcraft. It’s easy to see why. In one prayer for protection, he’s conjured “in the name of Satan, Luzbel, and Lucifer.”

His priests are chain-smoking drunks, often practicing in private homes surrounded by bottles of Quetzalteca rum. But there’s also the Temple of San Símon at San Andres Itzapa, a town in the Guatemalan highlands. This is Maximón’s mecca, a blue and white temple shrouded in incense. Pilgrims come from all over Central America to pour rum on Maximón’s effigy and tobacco on its lap before praying for some tangible help – a new house, perhaps, or protection from jail. Alternatively, they might ask the witches outside to place a curse on their enemies.

3. Bawon Samdi

In Haitian Vodou, Bawon Samdi (aka Baron Samedi) is in charge of the largest family of lwa (spirits), the Gede, who represent death and fertility. He therefore has unparalleled knowledge of the land of the dead. Whenever he leaves for the land of the living, he wears dark colored glasses that allow him to keep an eye on that realm. He’s also depicted wearing purple and black top hat and tails and carrying a long, black, skull-handled cane.

Bawon is a trickster god, ridiculing the living with his careless and offensive behavior. He smokes heavily, swears, is “lewd and licentious”, likes to eat black goats and roosters, and drinks intoxicants such as black coffee, vodka, and gin. He also srinks kleren, a type of rum he makes himself with 21 hot peppers and which no other lwa can handle. Worship traditionally takes place from October 31st until November 2nd. This is Haiti’s Festival of the Dead or Fet Gede, during which death and sexuality are celebrated with songs, drumming, dancing, prayers, and possessions by the lwa. Bawon Samdi and his wife Granny Brijit are the guests of honor.

It’s easy to see why Bawon appeals to criminals. In 2021, Wilson Joseph – leader of the 400 Mawozo gang) – actually dressed up as him, invoking the spirit to threaten politicians and police in a publicly recorded video. Haitian dictator François Duvalier also channeled Bawon Samdi. Like many gods, he appears in various guises, one of which is even more crime-specific: Baron Kriminel, the “Saint of all Criminals”, is called upon to intervene in worldly criminal justice. It’s said that when he appears, he forces people to question what’s truly right and wrong – beyond the law – and who is truly innocent.

2. Korofo

The Nigerian gang Black Axe, notorious for its email scams, is more vicious than many people realize. In addition to sharing templates (or “formats”) for scams on secret message boards, members (known as Axemen) share photos of their mutilated victims. They call these unfortunates mugu or maye, meaning “idiots.”

At home, Black Axe is seen as a cult. Not only does it selectively recruit young men with few legitimate prospects, it also has an occult-style initiation ritual featuring savage beatings, symbolic rebirth, and an oath of loyalty to the gang. This is where Korofo comes in, invoked in words like “may Korofo squeeze life out of you if you ever betray the movement” – the “movement” being the Neo-Black Movement (NBM) from which Black Axe emerged.

Often abbreviated to “Krf” or “Kf” online, Korofo is fairly nondescript for a god. It’s not clear what he looks like or even what he does, aside from snuffing out life – possibly because he’s only a few decades old. He, or rather it, appears to have been mistakenly deified in the 80s. According to the NBM’s own research, Korofo wasn’t originally a god at all but an aja ile (“underground cult”). The traditional Yoruba incantation that mentions his name says: “Korofo is the one which consulted the oracle about Olodumare [God] and declared that it’s death would never be held of.” Black Axe simply substituted its own name for Olodumare’s, henceforth venerating Korofo as protector.

1. Santa Muerte

Unlike the other “narco saints”, Santa Muerte is not thought to have been a real person. In fact, she’s the embodiment of death. Also known as Holy Death, she’s portrayed as a skeleton in a white gown, carrying a scythe and globe – “a cross between the Grim Reaper and the Virgin of Guadalupe”. Her devotees aren’t all criminals, but criminals tend to be devotees – appeasing her with offerings of tequila, cigarettes, cash, jewelry, and corpses. Although she’s often worshiped side-by-side with Malverde, only to her are human lives offered. One common practice among Mexican gangsters is to leave severed heads at her shrines. They also pray to her before undertaking hit jobs.

And the cult of Santa Muerte has been spreading. Authorities in the US have recorded a number of Santa Muerte killings, as well as bumper stickers, tattoos, altars, and cash bands adorned with images of the saint. In Las Vegas, there’s a whole sanctuary complete with life-sized effigies. 

Since 2000, when her popularity took off, Santa Muerte has accrued upwards of 12 million followers. This makes the cult one of the fastest growing new religions in the world. And while the Catholic Church has officially condemned her worship, calling it “blasphemous and satanic”, they’re reluctant to deal with it further – probably out of concern that many prefer her to the pope and would rather leave the Church than Santa Muerte.