Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index

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Click to view high resolution image Title: St. Lucy Creator: Francesco del Cossa, painter Description: According to the Golden Legend, Lucy was a Christian under persecution by the emperor Diocletian. Her life is similar to that of St. Agnes: a would-be husband exposed her as a Christian, whereupon she was sentenced to be raped to death in a brothel but miraculously survived intact. After an unsuccessful attempt to burn her, she was beheaded. In later traditions, it is added that Lucy was tortured by eye gouging. This is not included in the Golden Legend and arises in the 15th century, probably because Lucy was considered the protector of sight due to the etymology of her name (derived from “lux”). Here, Lucy is down on one knee, holding a martyr’s palm in one hand and her disembodied eyes in the other. Source: Wikimedia Commons Rights: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en , e.g. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license Subject (See Also): Hagiography Jacob of Voragine, Archbishop of Genoa- Legenda Aurea Lucy, Martyr, Saint Martyrs Geographic Area: Italy Century: 15 Date: ca. 1473 Related Work: Grifoni Polyptych Current Location: Washington, D.C., The National Gallery of Art Original Location: Bologna, San Petronio Artistic Type (Category): Digital images; Paintings Artistic Type (Material/Technique): Oil; Canvas; Altarpiece panel Donor: Height/Width/Length(cm): 56 cm/ 22"/79 cm/ 31"/ Inscription: Related Resources:

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