Saint Agnes

Poor little Agnes..sentenced to death by burning, her captors were vexed to find the wood would not light.

So they cut her head off instead.

She's often depicted holding a lamb..no real significance , it's just that her name sounds a bit like "lamb" in Latin-- really! (that's what wikipedia says anyway)

I just liked the paintings I've seen of this virginal little girl with a great big gash in her throat.
So I just swiped the idea.

In some images she is seen with a dagger in her throat--come to think of it that would have been much better!

might come back to this one..

St Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc- another very familiar image. Commander of the entire French army at 17, executed by the British at 19. Famously portayed in film by Ingrid Bergman( mmm) and also Milla Jovovich (mmmm mmm) amongst others.

But when I think of her I don't think of injustice, misogyny, a peculiar soldier girl from France from the history books..

No.. I think of this pop song by OMD from the 80s..

I'm sure Joan would be thrilled

Saint Sebastian

Sebastian, martyr, human pin-cushion, gay icon..

There are many, many depictions of this saint and the one thing that strikes me is that he seems to know a photo-op when he sees one; making luurve to the camera like Jonathan Rhys Myers.

Saint Agatha

The girl who started it all...

Here is Agatha, brutally tortured and killed then, perhaps most insultingly being mistaken for having a fondness for bells.

Saint Lucy. What's this then?

The Martyrs. Noble, selfless, prepared to die (preferably in a horrible way) for their beliefs.

Some of the saints I'll be adding here met with bizarre deaths. There are the usual burnings, beheadings and so forth but some are so twisted I found myself laughing out loud at the sheer ..perverse horror of it all.

I began thinking of this project some time ago when I first heard about Saint Agatha, 'Patron of the Bells'. She is traditionally depicted holding a tray on which rest two bells. Well, It turns out that the bells are actually her breasts that her interrogators have cut off. Nice eh?

So here, the first in the series is my first martryed saint, St. Lucy (Lucia). She is also a tray carrier but what's that she's serving up? Why it's her own eyes! Because a man complimented her on their beauty, she plucked them out and told him he could have them, for she was betrothed to the lord. That's pretty convincing.