Spanish school of the XVIII century.

Spanish school of the XVIII century.
"Saint Barbara".
Oil on canvas
Relined.
Measurements: 103 x 80 cm; 120 x 100 cm (frame).
The tower is enough to identify this painting as Saint Barbara. Represented with her hair uncovered, without veil, as it corresponds to her virgin condition, the Saint wears a long red tunic, tight to the waist. She holds in her hand the palm that identifies her as a martyr. In the background, next to the tower, a lightning bolt is represented, a motif that identifies her as the patron saint of the artillery.
Compiled late in the 10th century and popularized in the West in the 13th century by the Golden Legend, the legend of Saint Barbara narrates that she was the daughter of the satrap Dióscuro who, to keep her away from Christian proselytism, locked her in an open tower with only two windows, piercing a third one herself in allusion to the Holy Trinity. However, Barbara received the teachings of a priest who pretended to be a doctor, and to express her faith in the Trinity she pierced a third window in the wall. She managed to flee but was captured by her father, and when she refused to abjure Christianity and marry a pagan she was handed over to the judge Marcian, who tortured her in various ways. She was stretched on a rack and flogged, torn with iron combs, rolled on fragments of pottery and burned with red-hot irons, and finally the executioners tore out her breasts with pincers. Finally, her father beheaded her. The patronage of Saint Barbara is very broad; she was considered a protector against lightning because her father, after killing her, was struck by lightning. Her name also used to be inscribed on church bells, which were rung during storms. Her attributes are the palm of martyrdom and the crown, for her royal origin, and the tower with three windows. It can also appear accompanied by a peacock feather, a chalice topped with a host, a cannon or a cannonball, since it became the patron saint of artillerymen in the fifteenth century to protect against lightning and bad death.