Chiesa di Santa Lucia alla Badia

The Chiesa di Santa Lucia alla Badia is dedicated to the city's patron saint, St Lucy, martyred in Syracuse during the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian. The church is home to Caravaggio's arresting masterpiece, Seppellimento di Santa Lucia (Burial of St Lucy, 1609). Caravaggio created the painting in Syracuse after escaping imprisonment in Malta, his own personal struggles depicted in the work (he's the one on the right, looking away in anguish).