Saint Margaret Castello (Margaret of Metola)
Oil on wood panel 16x20 x1.5 This is my first use of 24 K gold leaf in the traditional application
1287-1320 Died at age 33
Because she was dwarfed, blind, hunchbacked and lame, Blessed Margaret was kept hidden by her parents throughout her childhood. When she was sixteen, she was taken from Metola to the miraculous shrine at Citta-di-Castello, where a cure was anticipated. Unfortunately, no miracle occurred, and it is recorded that the child was left abandoned. She was cared for by various families of the city and earned money for her board by attending small children. Her cheerfulness, based on trust and love of God, endeared her to everyone. Blessed Margaret of Castello became a Dominican tertiary and devoted herself to the sick and dying, but she showed special solicitude toward prisoners.
She was a mystic and her body was found incorrupt over 200 years later