Pietro Locatelli

(Rome circa 1634-1710)

Saint Lawrence presenting the poor and the sick

Footnotes

The present painting is a modello for the larger canvas for the Cattedrale di San Lorenzo, Tivoli.

Saint Lawrence was one of seven deacons of the early church. The other six were captured by the Emperor Valerian on 6 August in the year 258 A.D. and put to death. As Vatican librarian and archivist, Lawrence was thought by the Emperor to have a list of all the members of the Church, and the locations of hidden hoards of gold. He was ordered to produce all the wealth of the Church and given only two days to bring the treasure to the imperial palace. In defiance, Lawrence gathered up the diseased, the orphaned and the crippled on the appointed day, brought them to the palace, and presented them to the Emperor as his treasures. According to tradition, for his impudence, Lawrence was slowly roasted on a grill on the site of the Basilica di San Lorenzo in Rome, in the expectation that he would publicly renounce his religion and reveal the names of the wealthy Christians. He is usually represented holding a gridiron to memorialise his grisly martyrdom and he is now regarded as the patron saint of cooks. Legend claims that he was so willing to embrace Christ in Heaven, he was happy to bear the pain of the fire and found the strength to request of his executioners: 'Turn me over; I am done on this side.' Historical record, however, suggests that he was in fact beheaded. There is nevertheless reason to believe that he showed great courage in facing his executioners, culminating in widespread conversion to Christianity following his death.