Saint Rosalie Interceding for the Plague-stricken of Palermo

Anthony van Dyck painted Saint Rosalie Interceding for the Plague-stricken of Palermo in 1624. The work shows Saint Rosalia, the patron of Palermo, during a plague outbreak. Monte Pellegrino and the port of Palermo appear in the background.

The painting measures 39 1/4 x 29 inches. It is oil on canvas. The Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased it in 1871, initially mistaking it for an Assumption of the Virgin.

Van Dyck produced this work while Palermo was quarantined. It was one of six paintings of Saint Rosalia he created in late 1624 and early 1625. An autograph copy exists in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.

Van Dyck became a master in the Guild of Saint Luke in 1617. He worked in Italy from 1621 to 1627, mostly in Genoa.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436257