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 Raphael’s Sistine Madonna With Saint Sixtus (Left) and Saint Barbara (Right) Scott 1498 (2012) December 4 is the feast day for Saint Barbara, who lived in the late 3rd and early 4th century. She is pictured on the stamp depicting Raphael’s Sistine Madonna, shown above and issued in 2012. St. Barbara is said to have lived in Helioplis (Syria). Dioscorus, her father, locked her up in a tower when she became a Christian and reported her to local authorities. After she was tortured, her father was ordered to kill his daughter. Legend has it that he took her to the top of a mountain and beheaded her. As he returned to his village, he was struck by lightning and died, being consumed in flames. The painting below portrays the martyrdom of Saint Barbara:  The Beheading of St. Barbara by Giulio Quaglio the Younger (1668–1751) Ljubljana Cathedral, Ljubljana, Slovenia From Wikimedia Commons In the public domain This account comes from the 13th century author Jacobus de Voragine, who wrote The Golden Legend, a collection of stories on the lives of saints of the medieval church. These events are said to have occurred during the persecution of Maximian (286-305) who ruled jointly with Diocletian (284-305). An alternative version, suggested by historian Donald Attwater, is that she was a maiden of great beauty who was shut up in the tower to keep various suitors away from her. The date of her martyrdom is also assigned earlier in the third century, to ca. 235. She is the patron saint of people struck by lightning and miners. The cult of St. Barbara became popular during the Middle Ages and she was one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers who were called upon during the bubonic plague of the 14th century. However, legend and no exact details exist about this saint. References are dated from the 6th century with the first artistic representation, an 8th century fresco at San Maria Antiqua in Rome. She is depicted on Raphael’s painting, The Sistine Madonna (shown above on a 2012 Vatican City M/S), along with St. Sixtus II, a third century Roman martyr and pope who died during the persecutions of Valerian. REFERENCES: |
