saint lucy Archives - A Long Look

Image of the oil painting being described — Veronese (Venetian, 1528 – 1588), The Martyrdom and Last Communion of Saint Lucy, c. 1582, oil on canvas, Gift of The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation and Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund 1984.28.1

This dramatic scene was painted by Paolo Veronese during the Counter-Reformation. The Church, reeling from years of corruption and the rise of Protestantism, relied on works like these to promote the importance and validity of the sacraments. And martyrs were meant to serve as role models to Catholics. The idea was, “Hey, look what this person is willing to go through for their faith!”

I thought it would be fun to have an actual artist on the podcast! So today, I’m joined by Bruce Campbell, one of the Gallery’s longtime copyists. We discuss technique and what he discovered while copying this painting he describes as operatic.

Lucy was one tough lady. Despite being born into a noble Sicilian family in the third century, she became a Christian at a time when Christians were being persecuted mercilessly. She stood up to an abusive Roman governor and died speaking her truth to power.