St Barbara

Although her father locked her in a tower, Barbara succeeded in having herself baptised. Her father wanted to strike her dead, and dragged her before Marcianus, prefect of the province, who had her whipped. Overnight, in prison, Christ healed her wounds. Marcianus had her beaten with cudgels, burned with torches, and her breasts cut off. As she was about to be whipped naked across the market-place, an angel appeared in answer to her prayer, and wrapped her in a shining snow-white garment. Her father, having executed the order to behead her with a sword, was promptly
consumed by flames falling from heaven. St Barbara’s long girded dress and cloak conform to the representation prevalent until the end of the 15th century. The white outer side of the cloak recalls the garment in which the angel wrapped her in her hour of need. Her head surrounded by a halo, the saint presents her main attribute, the tower.

Ducke Astrid: Master of the Liefering Paintings, St Barbara (presumably the right wing of a Gothic winged altar), in: Ducke Astrid, Habersatter Thomas (Hrsg./Edi.): von | from 0 auf | to 100. Residenzgalerie Salzburg 1923-2023. Salzburg 2023, S./p. 318-319