Saint Ursula

In this painting, Saint Ursula is shown dressed in a rich costume with a long red mantle, whose colour alludes to the split blood of a martyr. All the saint’s usual attributes are depicted which includes the gem-encrusted royal crown; the halo of sanctity around her head, with long ribbon-adorned hair indicating the 17th century; the arrow with which she was martyred; and the fresh green palm frond that rests on a table. The artist has also added her name at the bottom in Latin letters. This oil painting on wood has a gilded red frame in which, the grooves of its Corinthian columns are adorned with foliage; as was common in numerous Mannerist altarpieces. The entablature is decorated with elongated lozenges terminating in a semi-circular broken pediment decorated with early Baroque floral elements.