Not being Catholic, I never heard of Gertrude of Nivelles until I saw a post on facebook about her. Gertrude of Nivelles(ca. 621 – March 17, 659) was a seventh-century abbess who, with her mother Itta, founded the monastery of Nivelles in present-day Belgium. While never formally canonized, Pope Clement XII declared her universal feast day to be March 17 in 1677. She is the Patron of Cats, the Recently Diseased, Gardeners, Travelers, Those with Mental Illness, and those with a Morbid Fear of Mice and Rats. When I found out she was the patron saint of cats and the mentally ill, I knew I had to paint her!