Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Title: Roundel with Thecla Surrounded by Beasts and Angels
  • Creator:
  • Description: A haloed St. Thecla stands between a lion and a lioness that do not harm her. She wears a girdle, and her hands are behind her back. Two angels flank her above. According to the Acts of Paul and Thecla, a Syrian magistrate named Alexander fell in love with Thecla. She rebuffed his advances and was condemned to be thrown to the beasts in the amphitheater for public entertainment. The beasts did not harm her, however, but merely licked her feet.
  • Source: Wikimedia Commons
  • Rights: Public Domain
  • Subject (See Also): Angels Animals Apocryphal Literature Hagiography Martyrs Pagan Influences Thecla, Saint
  • Geographic Area: Northern Africa
  • Century: 6
  • Date:
  • Related Work:
  • Current Location: Kansas City, MO, The Atkins Museum, no. 48.10.
  • Original Location:
  • Artistic Type (Category): Digital images; Sculptures
  • Artistic Type (Material/Technique): Limestone
  • Donor:
  • Height/Width/Length(cm): //
  • Inscription:
  • Related Resources: