Stories of Saint Barbara

This was a predella which narrates episodes from the lives of the saints represented in the main composition above. The story of Saint Barbara, a legendary figure from early Christianity, begins at left with the tower where her cruel, pagan father has confined her since her conversion to Christianity. Miraculously she escapes, but is recaptured and conducted before a Roman prefect and sentenced to torture for her refusal to abjure her faith. Having survived these atrocities she is then paraded nude through the streets, but an angel descends to protect her modesty. Verona serves as the stage for the story: Piazza dei Signori with the Loggia del Consiglio and the crenelated palaces of the Della Scala and the tomb of Mastino II della Scala, etc., are all recognizable. Finally Barbara is taken before the emperor and condemned to death by decapitation. Her wretched father carries out the deed, but in the end he is struck dead by a lightning bolt.