Paul Somazzi

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Shown from about the hips up, a young woman with smooth, light skin, rosy cheeks, and dark brown hair stands in front of a dark background holding a pewter plate with two human eyes on it, and a tall palm frond in this vertical painting. She stands with her body and face angled to our right but she looks to our left from the corners of her dark eyes, under dark eyebrows. She has a long, straight nose, and her pink lips are closed. A strong light falls on the woman’s face from our left, leaving the other half of her face in darkness. She wears a crown of ruby-red, buttercup-yellow, shell-pink, and white flowers on her head. A faint gold halo catches the light above the flowers and then is swallowed in shadow. Her dress has a close-fitting, scarlet-red bodice over puffy white, long sleeves. A teal-blue ribbon on her chest frames a gold and red brooch-like medallion. Three strings of white pearls encircle her neck above the neckline. Olive-green fabric that drapes over her left shoulder, farther from us, and around her waist is gathered with a gold brooch at her left hip. In her right hand, closer to us, she holds the pewter plate with two lidded human eyes with dark pupils; they seem to look out at us. In her left hand, she holds a long yellow palm frond, which is bright against the dark brown background. The identify of the woman is written in capital, gold letters in the upper left corner “S. LVCIA.”
Francisco de Zurbarán, Saint Lucy, c. 1625/1630, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1943.7.11

Saint Lucy

Francisco de Zurbarán · c. 1625/1630 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1943.7.11