The St. Thecla Altarpiece in Burgos Cathedral
18th century
Burgos, Spain
In the legends St. Thecla gained protection from the fire by making the sign of the cross. To represent this act the images of her martyrdom conventionally have her holding a cross, as here. In the legend the servants charged with her execution were Iconians, but here they are dressed as Moors. Similarly, the altarpiece's high pinnacle has Moors in similar attire being trampled by Santiago Matamoros, St. James the Moor-killer.
Trees identical to those represented in this work may be seen in the riverside promenade near the cathedral.
Read more about images of St. Thecla.
Read more about ancient altarpieces.
Photographed at the cathedral by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.