The Patron Saint of Cooks & Comedians

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A window of the church of San Lorenzo in Lucina

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August 10th is the Feast of St Lawrence, a deacon who was executed on the orders of Emperor Valerian (r. 253-60) in 258.

According to legend, St Lawrence's death was particularly gruesome; he was roasted alive on a gridiron. At one point during his ordeal he is said to have remarked: 'Turn me over, I'm done on this side!', a wry observation that led to him becoming the patron saint of both cooks and comedians.

What purports to be the gridiron on which St Lawrence was martyred is kept in the ancient church of San Lorenzo in Lucina.