Portrait of virgin martyr Lucy
Title of Art: St. Lucy
Art Form: Painting
Subjects: Lucy of Syracuse
Ritual Pose/Object: eyes, palm frond
Exhibit Institution: Battistero di San Giovanni (Baptistry of San Giovanni)
Exhibit Location: Siena, Italy
VM Image #: 0050
Photographer: Shala Graham
Date of Photograph: January 10, 2023
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St. Lucy is depicted in a 14th century fresco inside the Baptistry of San Giovanni in Siena, Italy. Lucy is seen holding a basket with her eyes in it, and a palm fond indicating her martyrdom. Lucy is dressed in a simple cloak and dress, but her head is surrounded by a golden nimbus.
St. Lucy is shown holding her eyes out in a basket in a gesture of making an offering; her left hand holds a palm frond indicating her martyrdom. Some hagiography of St. Lucy’s life indicate that she removed her own eyes to avoid the advances of a suitor who admired them; other accounts say her eyes were removed as part of multiple types of torture she endured before being killed by a dagger to her neck. St. Lucy has been widely venerated in the Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and Eastern Orthodox Churches.