Jose' Bernardo de la Meana
St. Eulalia
Circa 1753-62
Ambulatory, Cathedral of St. Savior, Oviedo, Spain
The artist disregards both Prudentius's evocation of Eulalia standing enwrapped in flames and the latter-day use of a cross saltire as St. Eulalia's attribute. Instead, the statue refers to the 9th-century Cantilène d'Eulalie, in which the king's men Enz enl fou lo getterent com arde tost, "threw her into the fire so she would burn up quickly" (my emphasis). In the statue the symbol of this is the maquette of a flame-topped horno, an outdoor oven common in the Spanish countryside.
The book on which the horno sits is a frequent element in images of St. Eulalia. The palm branch in her left hand is of course a symbol of her status as a martyr.
Eulalia is one of the patron saints of Oviedo.
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Read more about St. Eulalia.
Photographed at the cathedral by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.