St. Lucia, Virgin and Martyr
1750
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1750
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
St. Lucia, Virgin and Martyr is a 1750 by Jan Punt, depicting Aeneas, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This painting depicts a dramatic scene of a woman being attacked by a man while an angel looks on. The woman, dressed in a flowing robe, is shown with her head thrown back and her arms outstretched as the man, wearing a loincloth and headband, raises his sword to strike her. The angel, with wings spread wide, appears to be trying to intervene. In the background, a tree trunk and some foliage are visible, adding a sense of depth to the composition. The overall mood of the painting is one of tension and drama, with the contrast between the peaceful angel and the violent action creating a sense of unease. To learn more about the artist's use of chiaroscuro, a technique that uses strong contrasts between light and dark to create a sense of volume and depth, look up chiaroscuro.
A print on paper depicts *St. Lucia, Virgin and Martyr*, based on Jan Punt’s 1750 interpretation of Peter Paul Rubens’s original painting located in the Church of the Jesuits at Antwerp. The work portrays the Christian saint holding a palm frond and a dish bearing her eyes, traditional attributes of her martyrdom. The engraving reproduces Rubens’s composition, emphasizing the saint’s serene yet resolute expression.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Jan Punt made prints in 18th-century Holland. His “St. Lucia, Virgin and Martyr” shows the saint holding a palm branch and a dish with her eyes on it—an old symbol tied to her story. The print follows Dutch artists who…
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