The Martyrdom and Last Communion of Saint Lucy

c. 1585/1586

Veronese

Painter, Venetian, 1528 - 1588

Veronese

Attributed to

A man stabs a woman, Saint Lucy, in the chest while another man, a priest, holds a gold cup and offers her a small white wafer in this horizontal painting. Two man flank the priest, and the group is in front of a town square. Saint Lucy has pale skin and the men have tanned skin. In the center, Saint Lucy faces us and kneels with her body angled to our right. She turns her head away from us and toward the communion wafer with hermouth slightly open. Her copper-red hair is pulled back under a golden-brown cloth, which falls over her shoulders. The bodice of her thistle-purple gown has been pulled down, and blood trickles from the dagger held there. Her long sleeves are lined at the cuffs with white ruffles, and her skirt puddles on the ground. The gown has a sheen, suggesting satin or silk. She holds one hand down by her side, palm facing us, and holds up the gold cloth by her chest with the other. The man with the dagger is to our left. He hunches over Saint Lucy, stepping onto his front foot from behind her shoulder. He has dark hair, and his face is in shadow. His white shirt and butterscotch-yellow clothing expose the muscular shoulder of the stabbing arm. His pants end at the shin, and his feet are bare. To our right, the priest is balding with a white beard. His face is lined as he looks down at Saint Lucy, his head tipped toward us. He wears a white robe with a gold stole. A man wearing celestial blue and holding a thick candle kneels facing away from us between us and the priest. Another man wearing red and plum purple looks at Saint Lucy from under dark, lowered brows on the far side of the priest. Across from this group, a sixth person edges into the scene from our left, so only their profile, a shoulder, and a hand are visible. Deep in shadows, they seem to look into the town square. That space is lined with tall stone buildings to our right and an arch on the far side. A few people and oxen gather around a woman wearing pink, who stands on a platform in the square. Two more people sit atop a platform above the woman, flanking an upward shooting pink stream, like a wide ribbon. Thin white and gray clouds veil the shadowy, marine-blue sky in the upper left quadrant.

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While exposing her breast to the thrust of the dagger that will kill her, Saint Lucy turns her head to accept communion from a priest. This unconventional addition of the sacrament to the scene of Lucy’s martyrdom is a reminder of the Counter-Reformation climate that shadowed Veronese’s career. Twice, the artist had defended himself against allegations of impropriety in his treatment of religious subjects.

Sketchily rendered in the background is a team of oxen; these are the beasts who had failed to drag the chaste Lucy—made miraculously immobile—to the brothel where she had been condemned for her Christian faith. A glimpse of fire behind Lucy alludes to another failed attempt to martyr this third-century saint.

Veronese was celebrated for his sumptuously painted histories and mythologies, which he translated into opulent contemporary surroundings and dress. Here, Veronese’s own Venice, and not Lucy’s ancient Syracuse, is the backdrop to the scene. Veronese’s distinctive style typically draws on a light color range, with pale shadows, but The Martyrdom and Last Communion of Saint Lucy is a masterpiece of his late style and reveals a different aspect of his temperament. Cast in evening light, the colors have deepened and acquired a muted glow.

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More About this Artwork

Scholarly Article:  Italian Paintings of the Sixteenth Century: The Martyrdom and Last Communion of Saint Lucy, c. 1585/1586

Scholarly Series:  Italian Paintings of the Sixteenth Century

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Santa Croce, Belluno;[1] sent 1808/1811 to Milan.[2] Generale Conte Teodoro Lechi [1778-1866], Brescia, Italy, by 1814 (no. 49 in 1814 inventory);[3] acquired 1827 by (James Irvine, London and Rome) for Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo, 7th bt. [1773-1828], Fettercairn, Kincardineshire, Scotland; by inheritance to his son, Sir John Stuart Hepburn Forbes, 8th bt. [1804-1866], Pitsligo and Fettercairn;[4] (Forbes sale, by Alexander Rainy, London, 2 June 1842, no. 30, as The Martyrdom of St. Giustina, not sold);[5] by inheritance to his daughter, Harriet Williamina Hepburn-Forbes Trefusis, baroness Clinton [1835-1869], Heanton Satchville, Huish, near Merton, Devon, and Fettercairn; by inheritance [either directly from his mother or through his father, 20th baron Clinton, who died 1904] to Charles John Robert Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis, 21st baron Clinton [1863-1957], Heanton Satchville and Fettercairn; by inheritance to his daughter, Fenella Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis [1889-1966, Mrs. John Herbert Bowes-Lyon], Fettercairn; gift to her daughter, Diana Cinderella Bowes-Lyon [1923-1986, Mrs. Peter Somervell]; (Somervell sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 25 June 1971, no. 23); purchased by Eisenbeiss. private collection, Germany; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 10 April 1981, no. 78); (Matthiesen Fine Art, Ltd., London); sold 1984 to NGA.
[1] The picture is first certainly recorded in the pastoral visitation of the church undertaken by Bishop Rota in 1723: “Vicino all’altar di Santa Lucia sopra la porta del campanile … una bellissima pittura del Martirio di Santa Lucia dipinta da Paolo Veronese” (near the altar of Saint Lucy above the door to the campanile … a very beautiful painting of the Martyrdom of Saint Lucy by Paolo Veronese) (quoted in Mario Dal Mas and Attilio Giacobbi, Chiese scomparse di Belluno, Belluno, 1977: 104). It is again recorded in the church in 1780 by Lucio Doglioni, Notizie istoriche e geografiche della città di Belluno e sua provincia: Con dissertazioni due dell'antico stato, e intorno al sito di Belluno (1780), rev. ed., Belluno, 1816: 36. These references confirm that Ridolfi was referring to the present picture in his laconic mention of a “figura di Santa Lucia” by Veronese in Santa Croce. See Carlo Ridolfi, Le maraviglie dell’arte, overo Le vite de gl'illustri pittori veneti, e dello stato (Venice, 1648), ed. Detlev von Hadeln, 2 vols., Berlin, 1914-1924: 1(1914):317; and Peter Humfrey, “The Provenance of Veronese’s Martyrdom of St Lucy in Washington,” Arte veneta 43 (1989-1990): 89–90. The church was demolished in 1830.
[2] The picture is described with some precision in an inventory of paintings from suppressed religious foundations sent by the superintendent of paintings in Venice, Pietro Edwards, to Milan between 1808 and 1811 as “Il Martirio di Santa Lucia nell’atto di essere comunicata” (The martyrdom of Saint Lucy as she is taking communion) (see Vittorio Malamani, Memorie del Conte Leopoldo Cicognara, 2 vols., Venice, 1888: 2:378). The picture was probably initially destined for the Brera Gallery in Milan, but like many others it was selected by the viceroy Eugène de Beauharnais for his own collection, and was then sold off after the collapse of the Naopoleonic regime in 1813/1814.
[3] Indice e descrizione dei quadri del Sig. Generale Conte Teodoro Lechi di Brescia esistenti nella sua casa in Milano, Milan, 1814: no. 49; Fausto Lechi, I quadri delle collezioni Lechi in Brescia, Florence, 1968: 184, no. 107, with the information that the Napoleonic general Lechi, a former companion-in-arms of Eugène de Beauharnais, acquired the picture in Milan.
[4] The sale to James Irvine is recorded by Fausto Lechi, I quadri delle collezioni Lechi in Brescia, Florence, 1968: 184, no. 107. In a letter of 10 July 1827, Irvine wrote to Forbes: “I forgot to say that the P. Veronese is the best of several he (Lechi) has got, but the subject will not perhaps please you. The saint is receiving the sacrament while the executioner is plunging a dagger in her breast, but it is less shocking than such subjects generally are.” Then, after visiting Brescia in September to conclude the purchase, he sought to provide more reassurance: “The Paul Veronese exceeded my expectation on seeing it down, and I think it may be called his finest work and much superior to all the others in this collection” (letters of 10 July and 24 October 1827, in private family papers; see Peter Humfrey, in The Age of Titian: Venetian Renaissance Art from Scottish Collections, ed. Aidan Weston-Lewis, exh. cat., Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 2004: 192). Sir William died in the following year without ever seeing the collection that Irvine had assembled for him, and it was in vain that the latter tried to elicit some enthusiasm for it from Sir William’s son and heir, Sir John Forbes. See William Buchanan, William Buchanan and the 19th Century Art Trade: 100 Letters to His Agents in London and Italy, ed. Hugh Brigstocke, London, 1982: 29-30.
[5] After Sir John Forbes had failed to sell the picture in London in 1842, William Buchanan tried to sell it on his behalf to King Willem II of the Netherlands, but without success, and it remained in the possession of Forbes’s descendants until 1971. See William Buchanan, William Buchanan and the 19th Century Art Trade: 100 Letters to His Agents in London and Italy, ed. Hugh Brigstocke, London, 1982: 29-30; and Erik Hinterding and Fenny Horsch, “A Small but Choice Collection: The Art Gallery of King Willem II of the Netherlands (1792-1849),” Simiolus 20 (1989): 31.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1960

  • Italian Art and Britain. Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1960, no. 67, repro.

1988

  • The Art of Paolo Veronese, 1528-1588, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988-1989, no. 97, repro.

  • Paolo Veronese: Disegni e dipinti, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, 1988, no. 66, repro.

2004

  • The Age of Titian: Venetian Renaissance Art from Scottish Collections, Royal Scottish Academy Building, Edinburgh, 2004, no. 71, repro.

2012

  • Paolo Veronese: A Master and His Workshop in Renaissance Venice, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, 2012-2013, no. 26, repro.

2014

  • Paolo Veronese. L'illusione della realtà, Palazzo della Gran Guardia, Verona, 2014, no. 5.18, repro.

2025

  • Paolo Veronese 1528-1588, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 2025, no. 84, repro.

Bibliography

1814

  • Indice e Descrizione dei Quadri del Sig. Generale Conte Teodoro Lechi di Brescia esistenti nella sua Casa in Milano. Milan, 1814: no. 49.

1816

  • Doglioni, Lucio. Notizie istoriche e geografiche della città di Belluno e sua provincia: Con dissertazioni due dell'antico stato, e intorno al sito di Belluno (1780). Rev. ed. Belluno, 1816: 36.

1888

  • Caliari, Pietro. Paolo Veronese, sua vita e sue opere: Studi storico-estetici. Rome, 1888: 281.

1914

  • Ridolfi, Carlo. Le maraviglie dell’arte, overo Le vite de gl'illustri pittori veneti, e dello Stato(Venice, 1648). Edited by Detlev von Hadeln. 2 vols. Berlin, 1914-1924: 1(1914):317.

1959

  • Watson, Francis J. B. “Venetian Art and Britian: A Partial Survey of the Royal Academy’s Winter Exhibition.” Arte Veneta 13-14 (1959-60): 267.

1960

  • Vertova, Luisa. “Some Late Works by Veronese.” The Burlington Magazine 102 (1960): 68.

  • Brooke, Humphrey, ed. Italian Art and Britain. Exh. cat. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1960: 38-39.

1961

  • Pallucchini, Rodolfo, “La pittura veneta alla mostra Italian Art and Britain: Appunti e proposte.” In Eberhard Hanfstaengl zum 75. Geburtstag. Edited by Eberhard Ruhmer. Munich, 1961: 75.

1965

  • Ballarin, Alessandro. “Osservazioni sui dipinti veneziani del Cinquecento nella Galleria del Castello di Praga.” Arte Veneta 19 (1965): 79-80.

1968

  • Lechi, Fausto. I quadri delle collezioni Lechi in Brescia. Florence, 1968: 184 no. 107.

  • Marini, Remigio. Tutta la pittura di Paolo Veronese. Milan, 1968: 109 no. 122.

1976

  • Pignatti, Terisio. Veronese. 2 vols. Venice, 1976: 1:95-96, 155, no. 279.

1980

  • Cocke, Richard. Veronese. London, 1980: 17, 101.

1982

  • Brigstocke, Hugh, ed. William Buchanan and the 19th Century Art Trade: 100 Letters to His Agents in London and Italy. New Haven, 1982: 29-30.

1984

  • Pallucchini, Rodolfo. Veronese. Milan, 1984: 185.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 423, repro.

1988

  • Brown, Beverly Louise. “Paolo Veronese’s The Martyrdom and Last Communion of Saint Lucy.” Venezia Arti 2 (1988): 61-68.

  • Cocke, Richard. “Paolo Veronese: Disegni e dipinti.” The Burlington Magazine 130 (1988): 490.

  • Bettagno, Alessandro, ed. Paolo Veronese: Disegni e dipinti. Exh. cat. San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, 1988: 104-105.

  • Rearick, W. R. The Art of Paolo Veronese, 1528-1588. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Cambridge, 1988: 188-189.

1989

  • Brown, Beverly Louise. "Replication and the Art of Veronese." Studies in the History of Art 20 (1989):111-124, repro.

  • Hinterding, Erik, and Fenny Horsch. “A Small but Choice Collection: The Art Gallery of King Willem II of the Netherlands (1792-1849).” Simiolus 20 (1989): 31.

  • Pignatti, Terisio. “Il Martirio di Santa Caterina Tallard di Paolo Veronese.” Artibus et Historiae 10, no. 20 (1989): 59-61.

  • Humfrey, Peter. “The Provenance of Veronese’s Martyrdom of St Lucy in Washington.” Arte Veneta 43 (1989–1990): 89–90.

1991

  • Pignatti, Terisio, and Filippo Pedrocco. Veronese: Catalogo completo dei dipinti. Florence, 1991: 318, no. 253.

1992

  • National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 105, repro.

1995

  • Pignatti, Terisio, and Filippo Pedrocco. Veronese. 2 vols. Milan, 1995: 2:489-491 no. 391.

2001

  • Cocke, Richard. Paolo Veronese: Piety and Display in an Age of Religious Reform. Aldershot, 2001: 109, 207.

2004

  • Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 99, no. 76, color repro.

  • Humfrey, Peter, et al. The Age of Titian: Venetian Renaissance Art from Scottish Collections. Edited by Aidan Weston-Lewis. Exh. cat. Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 2004: 192-193.

2007

  • Romani, Vittoria. Tiziano e il tardo rinascimento a Venezia: Jacopo Bassano, Jacopo Tintoretto, Paolo Veronese. Florence, 2007: 304, 306.

2012

  • Brilliant, Virginia, and Frederick Ilchman, eds. Paolo Veronese: A Master and His Workshop in Renaissance Venice. Exh. cat. John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota. London, 2012: 147-148, 265.

  • Rosand, David. Véronèse. Paris, 2012: 236-237, color repro.

2013

  • Harris, Neil. Capital Culture: J. Carter Brown, the National Gallery of Art, and the Reinvention of the Museum Experience. Chicago and London, 2013: 422.

  • Biferali, Fabrizio. Paolo Veronese tra Riforma e Controriforma. Rome, 2013: 101-102.

  • Zamperini, Alessandra. Paolo Veronese. San Giovanni Lupatoto, Verona, 2013: 265.

2014

  • Marini, Paola, and Bernard Aikema, eds. Paolo Veronese: L’illusione della realtà. Exh. cat. National Gallery, London; Palazzo della Gran Guardia, Verona. Milan, 2014: 296-297.

Wikidata ID

Q20176813

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