# Childhood of saint Nicholas

Around 1175, during the construction of the cloister, the cult of Nicholas of Myra, better known as Saint Nicholas, had only been present in the West for about a century. Therefore, the modern iconography associated with him, depicting him as a bishop saint and protector of children, had not yet developed.

In the Middle Ages, he was elevated as a model of exemplary religious practice, with the tradition emphasizing that it began as early as infancy. Thus, Nicholas of Myra was said to have stood upright from the moment of his baptism, received in early childhood, and refused to nurse on Wednesdays and Fridays, days of fasting recommended by the liturgy.