The Martyrdom of Saint Lucy

The Martyrdom of Saint Lucy by the Master of the Figdor Deposition, painted around 1507 and now in the Rijksmuseum, depicts the execution of Lucy of Syracuse, the early Christian martyr whose very name — from the Latin lux — made her the patron saint of light and of the blind, and whose feast on December 13th fell at the time of the winter solstice. Lucy's martyrdom, which in most accounts involved an attempt to move her to a brothel that miraculously failed before she was killed, was rendered with great variation across different artistic traditions. The Master of the Figdor Deposition, working at the turn of the sixteenth century, brings his characteristic blend of Flemish naturalism and German emotional intensity to this hagiographic subject. The Rijksmuseum panel represents a later work in this anonymous master's oeuvre, showing the continuation of his distinctive style into the first decade of the new century.

The master renders the martyrdom scene with the dramatic intensity characteristic of his Passion and saint panels, the figure of Lucy at the compositional center of an energetic grouping of executioners and witnesses. The blend of Flemish spatial depth and German expressiveness in the figure modeling and emotional engagement is evident throughout the well-preserved panel.