or the instrument of their death. St Denis of Paris carries his own head, with which he is claimed to have walked all around the town. List of common subjects The Ancestors of Christ The Prophets of Israel The Twelve Apostles The Four Evangelists The Doctors of the Church Martyred saints Saints of a particular region Saints of a particular religious order Devout rulers The Reference Bible In many of the decorative schemes that illustrate the life of Jesus, the narrative is set into the context of related stories drawn from the Old Testament and sometimes from the Acts of the Apostles. Certain characters of the Old Testament, through particular incidents in their lives, are seen to prefigure Jesus in different ways. Often their actions or temperament is set in contrast to that of Jesus. For example, according to the Bible, Adam, created in purity and innocence by God, fell to temptation and led humankind into sin. Jesus, on the other hand, lived a blameless life and died for the redemption of the sin of Adam and all his descendants. The way in which the cross-referencing is achieved is usually by a simple juxtaposition, particularly in mediaeval stained glass windows, where the narrative of Jesus occupies the central panels of a window and on either side are the related incidents from the Old Testament or Acts. In this, the windows have much in common with the Biblia Pauperum which were often arranged in this manner, and were sometimes used as a source of design. In nineteenth- and early twentieth-century windows, the sections holding the major narrative are often larger and the Old Testament panels might be quite small. A similar arrangement is sometimes used in Early Renaissance panel painting. The nineteenth-century east window by William Wailes at Chilham, Kent, demonstrates a typical pairing of scenes such as had occurred from the medieval period. Jesus, in a state of agony of mind, prays in the Garden of Gethsemane. He asks his disciples Peter, James and John to wait nearby, but they fall asleep, thus "abandoning" him. Below: Joseph the Dreamer is put down a well by his own brothers and abandoned. Jesus is made to carry his cross on the way to the execution place of Golgotha. Below: Isaac, led by his father Abraham, carries the firewood, not knowing that his father plans to sacrifice him. Jesus is crucified. Below: The