The Palazzo Bellomo Altarpiece of St. Barbara: Detail, Dioscorus Beheads Barbara and is Struck by Lightning

16th century
Oil on panel
Palazzo Bellomo, Syracuse, Sicily

The Italian inscription says, "When the head was taken up," but in the image the angels are taking her whole into Heaven. The corresponding passage in Caxton is "And when this was said, she came to her father and received the end of her martyrdom…. But when her father descended from the mountain, a fire from heaven descended on him, and consumed him in such wise that there could not be found only ashes of all his body."

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Photographed at the site by Claire Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.