Saint: Santa Rosalía de Palermo/Saint Rosalía of Palermo

Pedro Antonio Fresquís, Active 1780-1825 Gesso, and water-soluble paint on wood 16” x 10” History Collection NMHM, 2007.32.130

A recluse from youth, Saint Rosalie died in a grotto near Palermo. The presence of her bones carried in a procession miraculously quelled an outbreak of the plague in 1624. She portrayed in a simple tunic, tied at the waste with a cord or rope, her hair unbound, her head crowned with a wreath of roses, sometimes beside a skull and crucifix, traditional symbols of penitence.