Saintly Immobility, the Gouged-Out Eye, and the Severed Breast: The Metamorphosis of St Lucy in Early Iberian Art and Literature
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37536/RPM.2024.38.1.103334Keywords:
St Lucy, Hagiography, Torture, Identity, Art, LiteratureAbstract
This article focuses on the representation of St Lucy in early Iberian art and literature, considering the extent to which her identity becomes subject to procedures of evolution. In some artworks, Lucy is characterized as the saint who could not be moved either by men or yokes of oxen. Yet in others she is presented either as the saint who was blinded, or more radically, as a figure who suffers a forced mastectomy. The article argues that her example, which raises broader implications for the study of hagiography and of identity in general, shows that we should avoid focusing on representations of saints that are confined exclusively either to art or to literature.
Downloads
Métricas alternativas
References
Barbón García, Juan Jesús and Álvarez Suárez, M.ª Luisa (2003), «Santa Lucía a través de la pintura», Archivos de la Sociedad Española de Oftalmología, 78:12, pp. 689-692.
Beresford, Andrew M. (ed.) (2007), The Legend of Saint Agnes in Medieval Castilian Literature. (Papers of the Medieval Hispanic Research Seminar 59). London: Department of Hispanic Studies, Queen Mary, University of London.
Beresford, Andrew M. (ed.) (2010), The Severed Breast: The Legends of Saints Agatha and Lucy in Medieval Castilian Literature. (Juan de la Cuesta Hispanic Monographs). Newark DE: Juan de la Cuesta.
Beresford, Andrew M. (2016), «From Scopophilia to Abjection: Vision and Blindness in the Monja que se arrancó los ojos», Miríada Hispánica, 12, pp. 109-125.
Beresford, Andrew M. (ed.) (2020), Sacred Skin: The Legend of St. Bartholomew in Spanish Art and Literature. (The Medieval and Early Modern Iberian World 72). Leiden: Brill.
Beresford, Andrew M. (2023), «Martyrdom, Motherhood, and the Aetiology of Infanticide: The Legend of Saints Quiricus and Julitta in Early Iberian Art and Literature», Magnificat Cultura i Literatura Medievals, 10, pp. 205-254.
Beresford, Andrew M. (in preparation), «“Nulla ars absque magistro discitur”: El Greco, St Jerome, and the Corporeality of Ascetic Piety».
Binski, Paul (1996), Medieval Death: Ritual and Representation. London: British Museum Press.
Black, Krysta L. (2007), «Saints, Saracens, and the Reconquest: Re-imagining Martyrdom in the Antependium of Durro», [MA Dissertation]. Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Department of Art and Art History. Online: <https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/210602888.pdf> [accessed: 10/08/2021].
Capdevila, Miguel (1949), Iconografía de Santa Lucía. (Colección de Publicaciones Médicas Histórico Artísticas 18). Masnou: Laboratorios del Norte de España.
Cómez, Rafael (1990), «La portada de la iglesia de Santa Lucía en Sevilla, iconografía y cronología», Laboratorio de Arte, 3, pp. 33-44.
Couchman, Judith (2012), The Art of Faith: A Guide to Understanding Christian Images. Brewster MA: Paraclete Press.
Dobschütz, Ernst von (ed.) (1912), Das «Decretum Gelasianum de libris recipiendis et non recipiendis». (Texte und Untersuchungen 38). Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs. Online: <https://archive.org/details/dasdecretumgelas00dobs/page/n3/mode/2up> [accessed: 08/08/2021].
Ferguson, George (1954), Signs & Symbols in Christian Art. Oxford: University Press.
Galilea Antón, Ana (1995), La pintura gótica española en el Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao: catálogo. Bilbao: Museo de Bellas Artes.
Garcia Sempere, Marinela; Mas i Miralles, Antoni and Perujo Melgar, Joan M. (ed.) (2022-2023), ‘Flos sanctorum’ o ‘Vides dels sants pares’: ‘Legenda aurea’ en català. (Textos i Estudis de Cultura Catalana 250, 251, 260, and 264), 2 vols. Barcelona: Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat.
González Palencia, Ángel (1942), «La doncella que se sacó los ojos: para la leyenda de Santa Lucía», in Ángel González Palencia (ed.), Historias y leyendas: estudios literarios. Madrid: Instituto Antonio de Nebrija, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, pp. 9-75. [First published in Revista de la Biblioteca, Archivo y Museo del Ayuntamiento de Madrid, 9 (1932), pp. 181-200].
Gudiol Ricart, Josep, and Alcolea i Blanch, Santiago (1986), Pintura gótica catalana. Barcelona: Polígrafa.
Homer, Sean (2005), Jacques Lacan. (Routledge Critical Thinkers). London: Routledge.
Kristeva, Julia (1982), Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection [French edition, 1980]. Leon S. Roudiez (trans.). (European Perspectives). New York: Columbia University Press.
Lacarra, María Jesús (ed.) (1999), Cuento y novela corta en España: I, Edad Media. (Páginas de Biblioteca Clásica 1). Barcelona: Crítica.
Lasterra, Crisanto de, (1969), Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao. Catálogo descriptivo. Sección de arte antiguo. Bilbao: Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao.
Maggioni, Giovanni Paolo (ed.) (1998), Iacopo da Verazze, Legenda aurea. 2 vols. Firenze: SISMEL/Edizioni del Galluzzo.
Massó, Jaume, and Foulché-Delbosc, Raymond (eds.) (1912), Cançoner sagrat de vides de sants. 2 vols. Barcelona: Societat Catalana de Bibliòfils.
Melero-Moneo, Marisa (2005), La pintura sobre tabla del gótico lineal: frontales, laterales de altar y retablos en el reino de Mallorca y los condados catalanes. (Memoria Artium 3). Bellaterra: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
Merback, Mitchell B. (1999), The Thief, the Cross and the Wheel: Pain and the Spectacle of Punishment in Medieval and Renaissance Europe. London: Reaktion Books.
Metford, John Callan James (1983), Dictionary of Christian Lore and Legend. London: Thames & Hudson.
Murray, Peter, and Murray, Linda (1998), The Oxford Companion to Art and Architecture: The Key to Western Art’s Most Potent Symbolism. Oxford: University Press.
Ortiz-Hidalgo, Carlos, (2021), «Lucía de Siracusa: santa patrona de las enfermedades de los ojos», Revista Mexicana de Oftalmología, 95.1, pp. 28-34.
Perucho González, Lucía; Santos Bueso, Enrique and García Sánchez, Julián (2014). «Santa Lucía en el Museo Nacional de Arte de Cataluña», Archivos de la Sociedad Española de Oftalmología, 89:7, pp. e49-e51.
Plasencia, Antonio, (1932), Catálogo de las obras de pintura y escultura del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao. Bilbao: Imprenta Provincial.
Post, Chandler Rathfon (1930), A History of Spanish Painting, II: The Franco Gothic Style. 2 vols. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, pp. 42-44.
Post, Chandler Rathfon (1935), A History of Spanish Painting, VI: The Valencian School in the Late Middle Ages and Early Renaissance. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.
Post, Chandler Rathfon (1941), A History of Spanish Painting, VIII: The Aragonese School in the Late Middle Ages. 2 vols. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.
Réau, Louis, (1958), Iconographie de l’art chrétien, III.2: Iconographie des saints, G-O. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
Rice, Eugene F. (1988), Saint Jerome in the Renaissance [1985]. (The Johns Hopkins Symposia in Comparative History 13). Baltimore MA: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Riches, Samantha (2000), St George: Hero, Martyr and Myth. Thrupp: Sutton.
Santos-Bueso, Enrique; Sáenz-Francés, Federico and García-Sánchez, Julián (2014a), «Santa Lucía en el Museo Nacional del Prado (I). Retablo de la leyenda de santa Lucía del Maestro de Estamariú (1357-1385)», Archivos de la Sociedad Española de Oftalmología, 89:4, pp. e33-e35.
Santos-Bueso, Enrique; Sáenz-Francés, Federico; Vinuesa-Silva, Josefa M.ª and García Sánchez, Julián (2014b), «Santa Lucía en el Museo Nacional del Prado (II). Santo Domingo de Guzmán y cuatro santos (1405)», Archivos de la Sociedad Española de Oftalmología, 89:5, pp. e39-e40.
Santos-Bueso, Enrique; Sáenz-Francés, Federico; Vinuesa-Silva, Josefa M.ª and García Sánchez, Julián (2014c), «Santa Lucía en el Museo Nacional del Prado (III). Círculo de Juan de Borgoña», Archivos de la Sociedad Española de Oftalmología, 89:5, pp. e41-e42.
Silva Maroto, Pilar (2023), «Estamariú, Maestro de». Madrid: Museo Nacional del Prado. Online: <https://www.museodelprado.es/aprende/enciclopedia/voz/estimariu-maestro-de/6c56ddaa-e416-476b-a545-edc624e4ddbc> [accessed: 27/07/2023].
Spearing, Anthony Colin (1976), Medieval Dream-Poetry. Cambridge: University Press.
Whitehead, Christiania (2020), The Afterlife of St Cuthbert Place, Texts and Ascetic Tradition, 690-1500. Cambridge: University Press.
Wolf, Kirsten (1999), «Old Swedish Legends of Saint Barbara», Arkiv för Nordisk Filologi, 114, pp. 63-88.
Yalom, Marilyn (1997), A History of the Breast. New York: Ballantine Books.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Andy Beresford
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The opinions and facts stated in each article are the exclusive responsability of the authors. The University of Alcalá is not responsible in any case for the credibility and aunthenticity of the studies.
Authors will retain the rights on their work, even if they will be granting the journal a non-exclusive right of use to reproduce, edit, distribute, publicly communicate and show their work. Therefore, authors are free to enter into additional, independent contracts for non-exclusive distribution of the works published in this journal (such as uploading them to an institutional repository or publishing them in a book), as long as the fact that the manuscripts were first published in this journal is acknowledged.
Works are published under the terms stipulated in the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) that allows third parties to share the work under the following conditions:
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.
Funding data
-
Agencia Estatal de Investigación
Grant numbers PID2019-104237GB-I00