Nam virtus in infirmitate perficitur

A crucified woman might seem provocative, almost blasphemous. Yet even Hieronymus Bosch painted one in his Triptych of the Crucified Martyr. She is saint Liberata, a seventh-century martyr known as Wilgefortis (Virgo fortis), to whom the motto taken from saint Paul and inscribed on the arm of the cross refers (Nam virtus in infirmitate perficitur). Bodies are battlefields, and in particular the female body, often violated and sacrificed. But the work does not intend to align itself with a perhaps banal feminism, so much as to propose a reflection on freedom. It speaks of the profound beauty of being fragile. Free from the pretense of merit and excellence. Worthy of life in any case, even when not included among the self-proclaimed best. Virtue is exalted even more in fragility. And this applies to everyone, men and women alike.