Antonello Gagini
St. Lucy
1526
Syracuse Cathedral, Syracuse, Sicily
The saint holds a chalice filled with flame, an attribute that derives from her name (which means light) and from her association with the "wise virgins" of Matthew 25 who kept their lamps lighted (Wisch, 104).
On the base of the statue are reliefs picturing the events of her passion.
On the left,
a team of oxen tries to pull her from the courtroom to a brothel.
In the middle, the judge has his men try to burn her to death ("and made to be cast on her pitch, resin, and boiling oil").
On the right, she receives communion before dying. (See below for detail photographs of the base.)
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Read more about St. Lucy.
Photographed at the cathedral by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.
