 |
Francisco de Zurbaran, Saint Lucy
Spanish, c.1625-1630
Washington, DC, National Gallery of Art |
When growing up and all the way through my life I have
always understood that the defining attribute of St. Lucy was a pair of
eyeballs on a dish.1
This rather gruesome
attribute is a reference to one of the aspects of her martyrdom. So, in deciding to investigate her
iconography in preparation for posting an essay on her feast day, I thought I
had a fairly easy job in hand. Turns
out, I was not entirely right. The plate
of eyeballs is not her only attribute, the story of how they became her symbol
may have a different twist and the reason why young Scandinavian girls go
around on December 13th with a crown of candles on their heads (I
could never figure the connection) has a good deal to do with St. Lucy after
all.
Saint Lucy (properly Saint Lucia of Syracuse) is one of
those early martyrs whose lives and deaths are so shrouded in later legends
that it is hard to get back to the real person that probably lived and died so
long ago.
Like other saints I have
explored recently, such as St. Margaret or St. Catherine of Alexandria, Lucy
seems almost mythical. However, she is not.
In fact, she is one of the saints listed
among the early female martyrs in the Roman Canon of the Mass (or Eucharistic
Prayer I, if you prefer), which can be traced back in its current form to the
late sixth century. This is the list
that runs “Felicity, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, Anastasia”. It is reasonable to believe, therefore, that
inclusion on this list is a pretty good guide to a person who really lived and
suffered and who had been remembered by the Christian community for having done
so, being recognized early as someone of particular significance.
 |
Jean Bourdichon, Saint Lucy
from Hours of Frederic of Aragon
French (Tours), 1501-1504
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 10532, fol. 382 |
According to tradition, Lucia was born in the Sicilian town
of Syracuse, with its mixture of Roman and Greek, in the later years of the
third century. Her father’s family name
must have been Lucius, as Roman women took the feminine form of their father’s
family name as one of their two names.
Her
family may have been Christian, or she became a convert at an early age and,
like many other young Christian women, decided on the counter-cultural embrace
of chastity. As with so many others, in
a culture where women had little chance of autonomy until they became widows,
coming under the domination of first their fathers, and then their husbands
(who were often chosen for them by their fathers), this decision brought her
trouble.
 |
After Jacopo Bassano, Baptism of Saint Lucy by Saint Valentine
Italian, c.1600
Douai, Musée de la Chartreuse
|
In addition to wishing to remain unmarried, Lucy was determined
to share her fortune (probably money intended as her dowry) with the poor, over
opposition from her widowed mother. Cleverly,
Lucy persuaded her ailing mother to go on a pilgrimage to the tomb of Saint Agatha in Catania, also in Sicily. On visiting
the tomb, Lucy had a dream in which Saint Agatha appeared to her and promised
that her mother would be cured. When she
woke up, Lucy found that her mother had indeed been cured. Taking advantage of her mother's gratitude for the miraculous healing,
Lucy managed to persuade her mother to allow her to distribute her money to the
poor.
 |
+Anonymous, Saint Lucy and Her Mother at the Tomb of Saint Agatha
Italian, 1292
Melfi, Cappella di Santa Lucia |
,%201348_Parid,%20BNF_MS%20Francais%20241,%20fol.%2013v.jpg) |
+Richard de Montbaston, Saint Lucy at the Tomb of Saint Agatha
from Legenda aurea of Jacobus de Voragine
French (Paris), 1348
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 241, fol. 13v |
,%201404_Paris,%20BNF_MS%20Francais%20414,%20fol.%2016v.jpg) |
*The Master of Virgil, Saint Lucy and Her Mother at the Tomb of Saint Agatha
From a Lengenda aurea by Jaccobus de Voragine
French (Paris), 1404
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 414, fol. 16v |
 |
Lorenzo Lotto, Saint Lucy at the Tomb of Saint Agatha
Italian, 1532
Iesi, Pinacoteca Civica
This picture tells the entire story of the visit of Lucy and her mother to the tomb of St. Agatha. It reads from left to right.
At the far left, Lucy and her mother attend Mass at an altar near the tomb. In the center of the picture, Lucy sleeps at the foot of the tomb, while her mother kneels in prayer. The the right of this, Lucy and her mother argue. And, at the far right the victorious Lucy distributes her fortune to the poor.
|
A young man who had been a suitor for Lucy’s hand in
marriage heard about this distribution of wealth and, probably angry about
being deprived of money he felt was really his, denounced her to the Roman
governor of Sicily.
 |
+Saint Lucia is presented to proconsul Pascasius
Italian, 1292
Melfi, Chapel of St. Lucy |
This was at the time
of the Diocletian persecution, the last one endured by the early Church
(recognition by Constantine was only a few years away). So, Lucy was summoned to appear before the
governor and there to offer sacrifice to the gods.
 |
Lorenzo Lotto, Saint Lucy Before the Governor
from the Saint Lucy Altarpiece
Italian, 1532
Iesi, Pinacoteca Civica |
This was typically how Christians were placed
into the category of impious traitors, since one of the gods in question was
usually the “divine” Emperor.
This
sacrifice was considered a civic duty and those who refused (with the official
exception of the Jews) were considered to be traitors to the state. People were regularly required to make a public
sacrifice to the gods and were actually given an official certificate to show
that they had done their duty.2
Lucy refused to sacrifice. As usual this refusal was met with savage
reprisals. A common part of the story of
the female martyrs is an attempt to corrupt them by placing them in a
brothel. This was tried with Lucy, but
the legendary part of her story says that, on her refusal she became extremely
heavy and could not be moved. A team of
oxen were called in to help move her, but she remained immobile.
 |
Master of the Legend of St. Lucy, Legend of Saint Lucy
Flemish, 1480
Bruges, Sint-Jacobskerk
This altarpiece presents several "moments" n the early phases of the martrydom of St. Lucy. At the left she bids farewell to her mother, in the center she faces the Governor and at the right the oxen attempt to move her.
|
Other images present the various aspects of the story. First comes the story of the attempt to coerce her to the brothel by using a team of oxen to move her.
 |
A Team of Oxen Attempt to Move Saint Lucy
from a Picture Bible
French (St. Omer, Abby of St. Bertin), c.1190-1200
The Hague, Koninklijk Bibliothek
MS KB 76 F 5, fol. 40 |
 |
Master of the Roman de Fauvel, A Team of Oxen Attempt to Move Saint Lucy
from Vies de saints
French (Paris), c. 1300-1325
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 183, fol. 108 |
 |
Domenico Gargiulio, A Team of Oxen Attempt to Move Saint Lucy
Italian, c.1650
Beauvais, MUDO, Musée de l'Oise |
Following this failure to move her other tortures were
applied. One of them was the removal of her eyes. This particularly gruesome torment is the one that became one of her attributes. However, I have not yet uncovered any images of this particular torture. Perhaps it was simply too frightening for artists, who must rely on their eyes to obtain work.3
Then they attempted to
set her on fire, but she didn't burn.
 |
Mahiet and Collaborators, Martyrdom of Saint Lucy
from Speculum historiale by Vincentius Bellavacensis
French (Paris), c.1334
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Arsenal 5080, fol. 281
This illumination shows three moments in her martyrdom. At the left, the oxen try to move her, while on the right she is being simultaneously burned and killed with a spear thrust.
 | *Martyrdom of Saint Lucy
From a Legenda aurea by Jacobus de Voragine
German, 1362
Munich,Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
MS Cgm 6, fol. 10v |
|
 |
The Master of the Figdor Deposition, Martyrdom of Saint Lucy
Dutch, c 1505-1510
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum
A great deal is going on in this painting. At the top, in the distance we can see the episode in which the oxen try to move Lucy, while in the upper right a male saint is being beheaded. In the upper part of the middle ground,, at the left, a bound Lucy is being brought to the brothel. In the lower part of the middle ground, at the right, Lucy receives Communion in a kind of grotto, suggesting the sometimes clandestine nature of the Mass in her time. In the center foreground, Lucy is being simultaneously burned and stabbed as officials and apparently sympathetic executioners look on.
|
Eventually, she was killed by a sword or spear thrust.
 |
Martyrdom of Saint Lucy
from Livre d'images de Madame Marie
Belgian (Hainaut), c. 1285-1290
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Nouvelle acquisition francaise 16251, fol. 99v
,%20c.%201400_Rennes,%20Bibliotheque%20municipale_MS%20266,%20fol.%2015v.png) | +Follower of the Polycratic Master,
From a Legenda aurea by Jacobus de Voragine
French (Paris), c. 1400
Rennes, Bibliotheque municipale
MS 266, fol. 15v |
 | +Domenico Veneziano, Martyrdom of Saint Lucy
Italian, c.1445
Berlin, Gemäldegalerie der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin |
|
 |
Jean le Tavernier and Follower, Martyrdom of Saint Lucy
from Hours of Philip of Burgundy
Belgian (Oudenaarde), 1450
The Hague, Koninklijk Bibliothek
MS KB 76 F 2, fol. 278v |
 |
Peter Paul Rubens, Sketch of the Martyrdom of Saint Lucy
For the ceiling painting in the Jesuit Church at Antwerp
Flemish, c.1616-1620
Quimper, Musée des Beaux-Arts |
Occasionally she is shown receiving Holy Communion either just before or during her execution.
 |
*Master of the Coronation of the Virgin and Workshop, The Last Communion of Saint Lucy
From a Legenda aurea by Jacobus de Voragine
French, c. 1400
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de Franc
MS Francais 242, fol. 9v |
,%201493+Paris,%20BNF_MS%20VELINS-689,%20FOL.%2013V.jpg) |
*Master of the Chronique scandaleuse, The Last Communion of Saint Lucy
From a Legenda aurea by Jacobus de Voragine
French (Paris), 1493
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS VELINS-689, FOL. 13V |
 |
Veronese, The Martyrdom and Last Communion of Saint Lucy
Italian, c.1582
Washington, DC, National Gallery of Art |
 |
Govanni Battista Tiepolo, Last Communion of Saint Lucy
Italian, 1747-1748
Venice, Church of Santi Apostoli |
Her memory was preserved and devotion to her
spread far beyond Sicily, reaching Rome by the sixth century and the rest of the
Christian world in ensuing years.
 |
+Altichiero da Zavio, Funeral of Saint. Lucy
Italian, c. 1378-1384
Padua, Oratory of Saint George |
 |
+Caravaggio, Burial of Saint Lucy
Italian, 1608
Syracuse (Sicily), Bellomo Museum |
She appears
in the famous mosaic procession of virgin martyrs that stretches down the nave
of the church of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, built in 526.
 |
Procession of Female Martyrs
Byzantine, 526
Ravenna, San Apollinare Nuovo
Saint Lucy is the figure second from the right. At this early stage all the female martyrs look alike. No one has any particular attribute.
|
Lucy is considered to be the patron saint of the blind and
her feast day is celebrated on December 13.
She is a particular patron of her native Sicily and of a neighborhood in
nearby Naples on the mainland of Italy, best known from the famous song “Santa
Lucia”.
The name Lucia/Lucy derives from the Latin word “lux”
(genitive case = lucis, etc.) which means “light” and by extension “sight”,
which can help explain where the association with her two main attributes, a
lamp and the disembodied eyes derive from.
In addition to the story told above about the putting out of her eyes as
a torture, there is a story that Lucy did this herself to dissuade her
suitor. I think this second story is
highly unlikely and that it is much more likely that her eyes were blinded,
assuming that they were, as a form of torture.
Consequently, Lucy can be identified in art by either
holding a lamp or holding a plate or dish with her eyes. This does not mean, of course, that images of
Lucy as a saint show her as blind. In
her sanctified state, she is whole again.
St. Lucy with a Lamp
 |
Jacopo del Casentino and Assistant, Saint Lucy
Italian, c.1330
El Paso, Museum of Art
|
 |
Andrea di Bartolo, Saint Lucy
Italian, c.1400
Oxford, The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology |
 |
Meister Arnt, Saint Lucy
Dutch, 1478
Venray, Church of St. Peter in Chains |
 |
+Pietro Perugino, Saint Lucy
Italian, 1507
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art
|
Saint Lucy with Her Eyes Attribute
 |
Carlo Crivelli, Saint Lucy
Italian, 1430
Avignon, Musée du Petit Palais |
 |
Attributed to the Master of the Donato Commission, Saint Lucy
Leaves from an Book of Antiphons
Italian (Venice), c.1460-1470
London, British Library
MS Additional 22310, ff. 1-9, fol. 5v
|
 |
Francesco del Cossa, Saint Lucy
Italian, c.1473-1474
Washington, DC, National Gallery of Art |
 |
Carlo Crivelli, Saint Lucy
Italian, c.1476
London, National Gallery |
 |
Francisco de Zurbaran, Saint Lucy
Spanish, c.1640
Chartres, Musée des Beaux-Arts |
Lucy in the Sacra Conversazione
In addition to scenes from her life and her martyrdom Lucy appears in the Sacra Conversazione type of painting and in paintings with groupings that either contributed to the genre or derived from it.
 |
+Domenico Veneziano, Madonna and Child with Saints Francis, John the Baptist, Ambrose and Lucy
Italian, c.1445
Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi |
In fact, it is a painting of a Sacra Conversazione by the Quattrocento artist Domenico Veneziano that includes Saint Lucy which is frequently presented to students to introduce them to the concept of this category of painting.
 |
Anonymous, Madonna and Child with Saint Lucy
Italian, 1292
Melfi, Cappella di Santa Lucia
|
 |
Hans Memling, Madonna and Child in a Garden with Saints Catherine of Alexandria, Agnes, Cecilia, Lucy, Margaret of Antioch and an Unidentified Saint
German, c.1490
Paris, Musée du Louvre
|
 |
Giovanni Bellini, Madonna and Child with Saints Peter, Catherine of Alexandria, Lucy and Jerome
The San Zaccaria Altarpiece
Italian, 1505
Venice, Church of San Zaccaria
|
 |
Giovanni Battista Cima da Conegliano, Saints Roch, Anthony Abbott and Lucy
Italian, c.1513
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art |
 |
Workshop of Federico Barocci, Madonna and Child in Glory with Saints Anthony Abbot and Lucy
Italian, c.1500
Paris, Musée du Louvre
|
 |
Alessandro Allori, Madonna and Child with Saints Francis and Lucy
Italian, 1583
Cardiff, National Museum of Wales |
Sometimes she appears with a one, two or a group of other saints, either from the wings of a now dispersed altarpiece, or as witnesses or participants in some heavenly event.
 |
Master of St. Ildefonso, Imposition of the Chausable on Saint Ildefonso
Spanish, c.1475-1500
Paris, Musée du Louvre
|
 |
Frankfurt Master, Saints Agnes and Lucy
Flemish, 1492
Frankfurt am Main, Historisches Museum |
 |
Goswijn van der Weyden, Saints Dymphna and Lucy
Flemish, 1503-1505
Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten |
 |
Bartholomaeus Bruyn the Elder, Saints Bartholomew and Lucy
German, c.1530-1535
Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz Museum |
 |
Giacomo Triga, St. John the Baptist with Saints Gregory the Great, Mary Magdalene and Lucy
Italian, c.1720
Vetralla, Cathedral |
In Scandinavia, in spite of the fact that the Scandinavian
nations are overwhelmingly Protestant in orientation, memory of her is still a
living thing. Due to the far northern
location of Scandinavia the December days approaching the winter solstice there
are extremely short and dark. It is in
the first weeks of December that the time of sunset seems to pause (although
the time of sunrise continues to get later and later, right up to the date of
the solstice) and the turn of the year toward summer begins to be felt. At this point, on the feast of Saint Lucy,
all over Scandinavia (and in Scandinavian enclaves elsewhere), a girl is chosen
to become the light bearer for her community in a ceremony that occurs nowhere
else.
She is dressed in white, symbolic
of virginity, wears a red sash, symbolic of martyrdom, and, most astonishingly,
wears a crown of burning candles on her head, as the bearer of the light that
will return with spring. She processes
through the local church (and also through various other public places),
followed by other white-robed girls, also carrying candles, who sing
traditional hymns and songs.
I’ve never
actually seen one of these processions, but they look beautiful, if a wee bit
frightening due to the lighted candles.
Households also have a similar ceremony, in which the girl serves traditional
refreshments, including some that recall Saint Lucy’s eyes, to her family and
guests.
 |
Buns on a plate -- their shape and decoration are
a reminder of St. Lucy's symbol |
Thus, a girl from the Mediterranean island of Sicily is
still remembered and celebrated as far away as the Arctic Circle, demonstrating
again the unity of Christian faith that once reigned in Europe prior to the
Reformation. Some may object that the
Vikings probably had some similar ceremony prior to becoming Christians and
this may be true. However, the specific
linking of such a ceremony with an early Christian saint from far away Sicily,
suggests that, like other pre-existing customs that became incorporated into
the Christian year, this was not only the sanctification of a powerful folk symbol
but, in itself, a sign of Christian unity.
 |
| A reminder of the old, Catholic, roots of the Scandinavian tradition. Here is a photo of the entrance procession for a special Mass for the blind that takes place in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York on the feast of St. Lucy, including a candle-crowned girl in honor of the patron saint of the blind. |
© M. Duffy, 2016
In 2024 I have updated selected images, replacing them with more up to date ones. I also added several new images.
+ Indicates updated image.
* Indicates new image
________________________________________________________
- Most information about Saint Lucy and the history of the
Roman Canon are derived from 1913 edition of The Catholic Encyclopedia, which can be
found online at http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/ Although over 100 years old the information
contained in most entries is still very useful and it is still the “go to”
reference point for much material.
- For
information on how the Roman authorities viewed Christianity and the measures
they used against it see Robert Louis Wilken, The Christians As the Romans Saw
Them, Second Edition, New York and New
Haven, Yale University Press, 2003
- I would like to point out here that, contrary to myth, not all medieval manuscript illumination was done by monks. Some manuscripts certainly were illuminated in monastery scriptoria, especially in the early parts of the Middle Ages. Even then, however, the painters were talented professionals, certainly not your average monk and the best ones were cultivated by their monasteries, much as several hundred years later, Fra Angelico was encouraged in his art by his Dominican superiors. But as time went on the monastery scriptoria could never have hoped to meet the demand for illustrated books and professional artists took over. Therefore, the luxury manuscripts that appear toward the end of the Middle Ages are nearly all illuminated by professional lay painters, working for booksellers or the earliest form of "publishers". They employed professional scribes to copy the texts and professional artists to paint the images that illustrated them. Entire families were often involved in the craft, as for instance the team of Richard de Montbaston and his wife, Jeanne. Sometimes the very same artists who painted full-scale altarpieces also did the delicate illuminations in luxury books. One such is the painter Zanobi Strozzi, a pupil of Fra Angelico, who painted both book illustrations and panel paintings. There was also a trade in lower priced books, with illustrations by less talented or less experienced artists.
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