Sant'Apollonia Altarpiece is a 1761 oil on canvas painting by

Pietro Scalvini Pietro Scalvini (1718–1792) was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque and Neoclassic period, active in Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Al ...

, still on its original site on a side altar in the church of San Giuseppe in Brescia. Its central figures are

Saint Apollonia Saint Apollonia (; , ) was one of a group of virgin martyrs who suffered in Alexandria during a local uprising against the Christians prior to the persecution of Decius. According to church tradition, her torture included having all of her tee ...

adoring the Madonna and Child, with

Catherine of Alexandria Catherine of Alexandria, also spelled Katherine, was, according to tradition, a Christian saint and Virginity, virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a ...

and

Saint Lucy Lucia of Syracuse ( – 304 AD), also called Saint Lucia () and better known as Saint Lucy, was a Roman people, Roman Christian martyr who died during the Diocletianic Persecution. She is venerated as a saint in Catholic Church, Catholic, Angl ...

at lower left and cherubs holding the palms and crowns of martyrdom at lower right. A group of "devoted boys" requested an altar dedicated to Apollonia in the church on 12 April 1760 and one was granted them by father Guardiano Fortunato.Archivio storico di Brescia, Fondo di Religione, registro 97Begni Redona, p. 175 They commissioned a painting for it. It escaped the art confiscations under the Republic of Brescia and is still in its original location.

References

Paintings in Brescia 1761 paintings Scalvini Scalvini Scalvini Paintings of the Madonna and Child {{1760s-painting-stub