Spanish or Italian school; c. 1600.

Spanish or Italian school; c. 1600.
"Santa Lucia."
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It presents Repainting and restorations on the pictorial surface.
Measurements: 78.5 x 62.5 cm; 89 x 73 cm (frame).
Endowed with volumetric beauty, Saint Lucy has been represented facing the spectator, with her face directed to the sky. The Saint wears a wide red tunic and blue mantle, holds in her left hand a plate with her eyes that were torn out, according to the legend, although she miraculously preserved her vision. The cloak falls from her shoulders and flutters subtly through wide draperies. Her hair is uncovered, so that her golden tresses glow in the warm light from the light coming through the open window. The figure of the saint is the main subject of the painting, occupying the entire surface. Probably from the Italian school, this painting presents a rich work of glazes capable of extracting the most sensual qualities and textures of fabrics and flesh tones of a subtle crimson glow. The iconographic attribute of the eyes on the plate allows us to identify the character represented as Saint Lucy of Syracuse, who has been a character very often represented in the ecclesiastical pictorial tradition. Her iconography was enriched since medieval times, showing different episodes of her life, especially her martyrdom and her burial. In this case, although the painting belongs to the Baroque period, the composition that prevailed in the Renaissance prevails: the woman in three quarters and half-length showing the tray that, in this case, shows a necklace instead of the gouged out eyes. In fact, although the subject of the eyes has been widely represented, it is part of a popular belief that does not appear in the traditional canonical sources. These sources of the lives of the saints are based in the case of Saint Lucia on the Acts Martyrum, which record the process in which she was condemned, on the martyrologies, with the description of her death, and on the Golden Legend, a book written by Jacopo de Voragine in 1298.
Saint Lucia was the daughter of noble parents, who educated her in the Christian faith. She took a vow of chastity and consecrated her life to God, but her mother promised her in marriage to a young pagan. Finally, the engagement was broken, after her mother was cured of her illness by a divine miracle, but the suitor accused her before the proconsul Pascacio, denouncing her as a Christian. St. Lucy was then arrested and, refusing to offer sacrifices to the pagan gods, Pascatius ordered her to be taken to a brothel to be raped. However, the soldiers could not take her away, since the girl remained miraculously rigid as a stone. She was then condemned for witchcraft and taken to the stake, although the fire did not harm her. Her eyes were then gouged out, a symbol of her martyrdom, but she retained her sight nonetheless. Finally, Pascacio ordered her beheading. Patron saint of the blind and protector of the poor and sick children, Saint Lucy is mainly venerated in Syracuse, Venice and Pedro del Monte, although important feasts are also dedicated to her in Scandinavia.