St. Lucy

This painting, by Spanish born Juan (Giovanni) Dò, depicts St. Lucy and derives from a similar composition by Jusepe Ribera, signed and dated 1635. Dò enlists baroque naturalism, which was brought to Naples by way of Caravaggio in the first decade of the seventeenth century. The solitary saint stands against a non-descript background with a dramatic shaft of light falling across her face. She gazes heavenward, bears the palm of martyrdom, and holds a platter on which a pair of eyes—the saint’s attribute—rests.