Saint Rosalia of Palermo (Santa Rosalia de Palermo)

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FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

Painted in New Mexico, this small religious scene, or retablo, was meant for private devotion in a chapel or home. Retablos typically depict saints, angels, or the Virgin Mary. Saint Rosalia of Palermo, shown here wearing a coarse woolen cloth, typical of Augustinian nuns, and a crown of roses for her chastity, is often invoked during times of plague or disease. Saint Rosalia became the patron saint of Palermo, Italy, when her bones were said to have ended the plague there in 1624. She also holds a skull and scourge (whip), objects related to her martyrdom and ascetic life.

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