St Eulalia by John William Waterhouse is the most magnificently evocative painting. I simply adore it. When I saw it at the Tate Britain for the first time it brought tears to my eyes. Eulalia, in the foreground of the painting, was a twelve year old girl who was martyred in the fourth century (AD 304) in Barcelona for refusing to worship Roman gods. Diocletian was Emperor at the time and had ordered the persecution of Christians who did not offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. Eulalia endured hours of torture – her body was torn with iron hooks and her breasts were set alight, until she was finally suffocated as a result of the smoke and flames issuing from her burning body. Legend reveals that upon Eulalia’s death a white dove flew from her mouth and ascended into heaven as miraculously it began to snow. Aurelius Prudentius Clemens, who was a Roman Christian poet, wrote an account of Euralia’s martyrdom. The account is contained in Liber Peristephanon (Crowns of Martyrdom) which is a collection of 14 lyric poems on Spanish and Roman martyrs. Liber 3 is the story of St Eulalia – a story of courage and unfailing faith: (more…)