Saint Lucy
Francisco de Zurbarán·c. 1625/1630
Historical Context
Zurbarán's Saint Lucy from around 1625-30 belongs to a series of female martyrs he produced throughout his career, combining portraiture-like specificity with sacred symbolism. Lucy carries her attribute — the eyes she gouged out to discourage a suitor's attention, presented on a dish — with the calm composure of someone utterly certain of her spiritual state. Zurbarán typically dresses his martyrs in sumptuous contemporary Seville fashion, creating a productive tension between worldly richness and otherworldly detachment. The series likely served as private devotional images, each saint presented as a specific human being whose example invited imitation, reflecting the Counter-Reformation emphasis on concrete, accessible sanctity over abstract theology.
Technical Analysis
Zurbaran's oil on canvas renders the saint with his characteristic combination of dramatic tenebrism and meticulous realism in the textiles, creating a figure of imposing physical presence and spiritual dignity.
Provenance
Art market, Paris, 1927-1928;[1] Paul Somazzi, Izmir, Turkey;[2] sold 1930 or after through Lily Buser, Philadelphia, to (Ehrich Galleries, New York);[3] sold February 1934 to Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York;[4] gift to NGA 1943. [1] In Auguste S. Mayer, "Unbekannte Werke Zurburans", _Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst_, 56 (1927-1928): 291, the credit line for _Saint Lucy_ is given as "Paris Kunsthandel". [2] The city of Izmir was known earlier as Smyrna, which is the name used often in the Zurbarán literature. [3] According to the notarized statement dated 11 August 1930 in which Paul Somazzi authorizes Miss Lily Buser to act as his agent in selling the painting; in NGA curatorial files. [4] According to the Dale collection records, in NGA curatorial files.
