Saint John of Damascus dresses in monk’s attire

This panel comes from stained-glass window V25 of Milan Duomo, dedicated to the life of Saint John of Damascus. It was offered by the College of Apothecaries (the current Pharmacists) in honour of the patron saint of the guild and was made between 1479 and 1489 by Niccolò da Varallo. A leading figure in the history of Byzantine theology, as well as a distinguished doctor in the history of the universal Church, Saint John of Damascus lived in the 7th century. Born in Damascus, during the reign of Emperor Leo III the Isaurian, Saint John was unjustly slandered by means of a false letter sent to the Caliph of Damascus, which fell into the trap. Saint John was punished with the severing of his right hand, which was later reattached by the miraculous intervention of the Madonna. He is the patron saint of painters, the disabled (those missing limbs), and pharmacists. The Saint is here represented kneeling, surrounded by his fellow monks, stripped of his red robes and wearing instead a monk’s habit and tonsure, the haircut which represents the renunciation of the world by the devout who have taken their vows. Saint John began his work as a scholar and theologian and became a preacher at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Work produced by the master Niccolò da Varallo with some restoration from the 19th century.