Saint Lucy is from Syracuse, it is thought Caravaggio painted this subject for his friend Mario Minniti (he also may have actually helped paint it), whom he fled to after various arrests and expulsion, also lived in Syracuse. The upper part of the painting was left dark and empty, adding to the drama and gloominess. To the far right the scene is broken by the bishop who is blessing the body of Saint Lucy whilst in the foreground the gravediggers are digging her grave. Caravaggio had orginally painted her beheaded, but eventually joined it back to the body with just a slit in the neck. In many other paintings Saint Lucy is represented with her eyes on a plate, this is because before her execution her eyes were gouged out, her legend states that even when her eyes were removed, she could still see.
