Thomas of Orvieto was drawn to enter the Servite Order by his great love of Our Lady and his desire to reach heaven. Because of his humility he asked to be admitted among the lay brothers. Often he was given the task of going from house to house seeking alms. Artistic representations of Blessed Thomas picture him carrying a knapsack with a fig branch in his hand, offering in the middle of winter, a bunch of figs to a pregnant woman who desired them. It seems that the artists wanted to depict both the solicitude of this man of God toward those who had recourse to him as well as the power of his intercession with God which was expressed by miracles.