John the Baptist with Saint Zenobius and Saint Reparata, by an anonymous Florentine painter, first half of the 14th century The painting depicts the saints most revered by the Florentine Church. At the center is the city's patron saint, Saint John the Baptist, recognizable by the attributes of a camel  pelt  and the processional cross. In his hand he holds a scroll with the beginning of the Gospel of Msrco which describes him as a "voice shouting in the army" for conversion. He is painted against a rocky background that refers to the desert where he lived for a time as an ascetic, until the encounter with Jesus Christ and his baptism. To his right is Saint Zenobius, first bishop-saint of Florence, who lived between the fourth and fifth centuries. Zenobius performed many miracles and his remains are preserved in the Cathedral in a reliquary by Lorenzo Ghiberti. On John’s left is Saint Reparata, to whom the ancient church was dedicated after the victory of Florence over the Ostrogoths in the fifth century. A.D.,. In the painting Saint Reparata holds lilies, both a symbol of her virginal purity and a graceful homage to the heraldic arms of the city of Florence.