This 1450 work exhibits acceptance of the doctrine of the Assumption before the promulgation as dogma in 1950. Mary is depicted with St. Julian and St. Minias of Florence. Sources plead ignorance or disagree as to which saint is which.
Perhaps the sword-bearing man at left was St. Minias, who was a soldier before his execution at the hands of Emperor Decius. Again, maybe he is St. Julian, who could be holding the sword as a reminder of his greatest sin: the rash murder of his parents. Possibly, the richly dressed saint at right is St. Julian, who was noble and wealthy. But according to legend St. Minias was an Armenian prince and St. Julian was called “the Poor,” so is the man at right St. Minias?
Fortunately, the force of tradition in Catholic art settles disputes like these. An examination of older paintings (an icon of St. Julian and a ceiling mosaic of St. Minias in a Florentine church) indicates that the man at left is St. Julian, and the other is St. Minias.
