faith of the saint. Sometimes saints are shown together in a sort of pictorial gallery, but the depiction of narratives is also common. This may take the form of a single incident, such as Saint Sebastian tied to a tree and bristling with arrows or St Christopher carrying the Christ Child across the river, or the saint's life may be shown in a narrative sequence, similar to the way in which the life of Jesus is depicted, such as the Life of St Augustine by Benozzo Gozzoli in the Church of Sant' Agostino, San Gimignano. The stories of a saint's life may be based on highly reliable sources. On the other hand, some may contain fanciful elements and others may be entirely fictitious. Some of the stories are well known and the saints that they depict are easily recognised. These include St Joan of Arc, St Stephen the first Christian martyr and St Francis of Assisi preaching to the birds. There are many other saints whose recognition is highly localised. Among these is Santa Fina of San Gimignano, whose death and funeral were depicted in two frescoes by Domenico Ghirlandaio. Prophets, apostles and patriarchs The depiction of prophets, apostles, saints, patriarchs and other people associated with the church often have a place in the decorative scheme. The thematic use of such figures may be a very obvious one. There may, for example, be a row of stained glass windows showing the prophets that predicted the coming of the Messiah. Or within a carved stone screen might stand statues of those monarchs who were particularly devoted to the church. The apostles, usually twelve in number but sometimes accompanied by St Paul, John the Baptist, Mary Magdalene and others, are a frequent subject. The upright, standing figures particularly lent themselves to architectural decoration and they often appear in a columnar form around doorways or in tiers on the façades of cathedrals. Sometimes the selection is esoteric, the choice depending on the local tradition of the church or whim of the individual who commissioned the particular work of art. Sometimes the characters depicted are easily identified because they carry particular attributes or emblems: John the Baptist has a reed cross and banner and may wear a camel-skin, Mary Magdalene has an ointment pot, Peter carries the keys of Heaven, St Agatha has her breasts on a salver. Martyrs frequently carry a palm leaf