St Olga

St Olga of Kiev [b.c. 890-969] is a very unique saint. She ruled the Kievan Rus as a regent after her husband died. She avenged him spectacularly: she burned the enemies alive, several times, even tricking people and locking them into buildings first. Many saints have extremely interesting stories--the tie between the 'new' Christian world and the old pagan world is a strange one. It is a slow process, realizing how little changed after religion changed. Old things evolved, old symbols and rituals, everything really.

This famous art piece by Russian, Symbolist painter Nesterov [ie. Не́стеров], who lived 1862-1942], is a great illustration of her. His other paintings are incredible, like his "Girls on the Banks of the River".