Verdiana was born in 1182 to a noble, if fallen family of Castelfiorentino. She was a contemporary of Saint Francis of Assisi, who, according to legend, visited her in 1221, admitting her into the third Franciscan order. Having returned to Castelfiorentino after a pilgrimage to Compostela, her fellow citizens built for her a little cell in which she spent 34 years. Through a small window, she received Mass from the adjacent Oratory of Sant'Antonio and spoke with visitors. According to a tradition perpetuated by painters, it was through this aperture that two serpents entered and tormented the Saint, who wilfully added to her sufferings by reporting their presence to no one. It is said that on the day of her passing, 1 February 1242, her death was announced by the sudden and simultaneous ringing of all the church bells in the town, even with nobody ringing them.