St. Ambrose of Milan with Flowers, Bees, and Hive Ornament

St. Ambrose of Milan was born around c. 340 in Augusta Treverorum (modern Trier, Germany). Raised in Rome, he studied literature, law, and rhetoric, that is, advanced public speaking, entered public life, served as a Roman governor, and eventually became a priest and served as Bishop of Milan from 374 until his death in 397. + In this image, a seated St. Ambrose is clad in bishop’s garb: miter, white alb, and cope that is dark violet in color with a rose-pink lining. His crosier (not visible here) leans against a column on his right (our left). He is writing. He holds a quill pen in his right hand and balances a book on his knee. On the windowsill behind him sits a beehive, his principal attribute. St. Ambrose is patron saint of bees, beehives, beekeepers, and candle makers. + Feast: December 7 + We have surrounded the portrait with a frame of bee-friendly flowers populated with insects by Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717). Merian was a gifted scientific illustrator and amateur naturalist who discovered the metamorphosis of butterflies at the age of thirteen. Although famous in her own lifetime, Merian was largely ignored by the professional scientific community after her death because of her amateur standing and gender. After languishing for some 300 years in relative obscurity, Merian’s contributions to entomology and her artistry have received renewed interest and much-deserved appreciation in the last fifty years. + Image Credit (BEN 001): Antique image extracted from an oleograph of St. Ambrose of Milan, originally published by Benziger, Einsiedeln, Switzerland, late 19th century, from the designer’s private collection of religious ephemera. An oleograph is a special kind of chromolithograph with a shiny or polished coating to make its image more closely resemble an oil painting. + Image Credit (Wreath): Antique hand-colored copper engraving of a Wreath with Insects, from Der Raupen wunderbare Verwandelung und sonderbare Blumennahrung [The Caterpillar's Wonderful Transformation and Strange Flower Food](Vol. 2; Nuremberg, 1683), frontispiece. Public Domain.