Martyrdom of Saint Ursula by Filippo Vitale, c.1650 Oil painting on canvas. 111x155.5cm. The representation of the martyr's passion is rendered with the characteristics of the Neapolitan Baroque, detectable, for example, in the rich dress of the protagonist of the scene . The work, appreciable for its denotative vigor, ideally refers to the last painting by Caravaggio, with the subject of the same name, kept in the Zevallos Stigliano palace in Naples (De Luca, 2022). The protagonist of the painting [...] is captured in her spiritual solitude, serene in her pain, driven by physical suffering towards an asceticism capable of disarming the convictions of the murderer (ibidem).

References

De Luca, V. (2022), Painted femininity. Carnal grace and mystical ecstasy. Paintings and sculptures from the collection of the De Chiara De Maio Foundation. Enzo Albano Editions