St Sebastian Altarpiece, Left Wing: St Barbara

Her legend made Barbara one of the most called-upon saints of the late Middle Ages. Her pagan father, the story went, shut her in a tower, and when she became a Christian he had her tried and beheaded her with his own hand. On his way home he was struck by lightning. So she was the saint you prayed to against lightning, fire and a sudden death that left no time for confession and the last rites. In 1516 Holbein painted her on the left wing of this altarpiece, and the panel is painted on both sides. When the altarpiece was closed, its back showed the angel of the Annunciation, and the back of the opposite wing, the one with Saint Elizabeth, showed the Virgin Mary receiving his message, so the closed shutters made a single scene. Barbara herself faced the room only when the wings stood open beside the Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian.