Saint Mark

possibly Donatello, Filippo Brunelleschi, Lorenzo Ghiberti, or Luca della Robia, Tondo of Saint Mark the Evangelist, 1443-1450, glazed terracotta, Pazzi Chapel, Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence

Mark was the son of Mary of Jerusalem, who opened her house to Jesus's disciples, and it is said that he was baptized by Saint Peter.  He was not one of Christs's apostles, but was an Evangelist and wrote the Second Gospel.  He traveled with Saint Paul and preached in Alexandria, and was martyred by being tied at the neck and dragged through the city.  In the 9th century his body was stolen and brought to Venice, and his cult grew in that city.