Antonio Bellucci, St. Lorenzo Giuliani Intercedes for the Liberation of Venice from the Plague of 1447
1695
Basilica of San Pietro, Venice
The label in the basilica gives the painting the title San Lorenzo Giustiniani intercede per la liberazione di Venezia dalla peste del 1447. I find nothing about such an occasion in the materials on this saint collected in the Acta Sanctorum (January vol. 1, 549-64) nor in Butler's rather thorough article (III, 489-93). Nor can I even tell which one of the persons depicted in the painting is Lorenzo. On the basis of his close-fitting cap, one might guess that he is the one standing at the top with the golden glow behind him, but that would imply that he is already a saint in Heaven and that the populace is praying for his intercession. Fourteen forty-seven was indeed a plague year in Venice, but Lorenzo was alive at that time.
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Photographed at the basilica by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.