Martyrdom of a Saint n.d.

"Martyrdom of a Saint" is a drawing by Antoine Coypel, made with black and white chalk on grey-blue paper. Coypel lived during the reign of Louis XIV, and his artistic output very much reflected the values of the French court. It depicts a saint, possibly female, about to be martyred; this was a very common trope in baroque art. The viewer is meant to see the moment before death when the saint is looking up to the heavens. We see an angel coming down to assist the saint, perhaps even save them. Yet, at the same time, the saint's martyrdom is also meant to reinforce the legitimacy of the church and the state. The emotional complexity of this drawing is quite intense. Coypel invites us to feel both the terror and the grace of this moment. How do we reconcile the saint's personal sacrifice with the institutions that benefit from it? This drawing asks us to consider the power dynamics at play in the construction of religious and political identities.