16th century Parma school The four doctors of the church Oil on canvas 38.5 x 93.5 cm There are several prerequisites for obtaining the title of Doctor of the Church: one must have been canonised, have presented an "eminent doctrine" and have been proclaimed a doctor by a pope or a council. This title is awarded to scholars, theologians or philosophers who have made an exceptional contribution to the doctrine of the Catholic Church, by helping to understand it better or deepen it. Although they do not have their usual attributes, the four Doctors and Fathers of the Latin Church - Saint Ambrose, Saint Augustine, Saint Jerome and Saint Gregory the Great - are immediately identifiable here by the activities in which they are immersed: reading, exegesis and writing. 16th-century Parma school 38.5 x 93.5 cm