Enamel plaque depicting St. Cosmas annointing the head of a patient, by Leonard Limousin, Limoges, France, 16th century

Many Christians have long believed that the saints are able to plead with God on their behalf and that particular saints can give protection against specific illnesses. This plaque shows St Cosmas anointing a sick person and was made by the French artist Léonard Limousin (c. 1505-c. 1575).

St Cosmas (d. circa 303 CE) was a Christian martyr who with his twin St Damian practised the art of healing. They received no payment. The twins are often represented in paintings; most famously they are shown miraculously giving a white Christian man who has lost his leg a new black one from a Moor. The Moors were Muslim people from North Africa. St Cosmas and St Damian are the patron saints of physicians, surgeons, druggists and dentists.