St Edith Stein

St Edith Stein

50x50 cm

Giclée print on canvas
2011

model: Ewelina Koscielniak

Saint Edith Stein (St Teresia Benedicta of the Cross), was a German Catholic philosopher and nun, regarded as a martyr and saint of the Catholic Church. Born into an observant Jewish family but an atheist by her teenage years, she converted to Christianity in 1922, was baptized into the Catholic Church and was received into the Discalced Carmelite Order as a postulant in 1934. Although she moved from Germany to the Netherlands to avoid Nazi persecution, in 1942 she was arrested and sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where she died in the gas chamber.

St Lucia

St Lucia

50x50 cm

Giclée print on canvas
2011

model: Ilaria 

With a name derived from lux, lucis "light", St Lucy is the patron saint of those who are blind.

Hagiography tells us that Lucy was a Christian during the Diocletian persecution.

She consecrated her virginity to God, refused to marry a pagan, and had her dowry distributed to the poor.

Her would-be husband denounced her as a Christian to the governor of Syracuse, Sicily. Miraculously unable to move her or burn her, the guards took out her eyes with a fork.

In another version, Lucy's would-be husband admired her eyes, so she tore them out and gave them to him, saying, "Now let me live to God".

In art, her eyes sometimes appear on a tray that she is holding.

Interview with Sinzine

Thanks Holly!

http://sinzine.com/component/k2/item/29-warning-severe-squelchy-knickers-time-ahead-the-art-of-matteo-alfonsi

St Apollonia

St Apollonia

50x50 cm

Giclée print on canvas
2011

model: Amanda Papoyans

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 legend, her torture included having all of her teeth violently pulled out or shattered. For this reason, she is popularly regarded as the patroness of dentistry and those suffering from toothache or other dental problems. in art, she is seen holding tongs.