Antique Oil Painting

I tend to agree with the camp that thinks it's a Christian theme, whether persecution, sacrifice, or something else. Having said that, it's odd that she's not in any perceived danger. i. e.:

 

If it is a Christian/lions image, appears she is not in the arena but in the quarters where the cats stay between shows. At least it's not this:



On the role of animals in the criminal justice system:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damnatio_ad_bestias

Our girl is in a posture that does suggest she is communicating/interacting with unseen forces beyond her, but it is not a typical way of depicting someone at prayer or appealing for aid.

This touch actually does suggest a Christian connection, as roses are associated with a number of female saints, as well as with Mary. Flowers, & their fragrance, that appear out of nowhere can indicate a sign, as in the flowering of Joseph's staff. The conventional symbol for a martyr is a palm frond. The flower could signify deliverance by divine intervention.

 

Gives a terminus post quem for the framing, some clue as to date.

 

It would not be Circe:

 

Another source of inspiration could be poetry, although that does not in any way rule out a religious theme. Spenser & the Romantic poets were popular. I have a print of Isabella and the Pot of Basil, painted by John White Alexander, hanging in my living room. The story, taken from Boccaccio by John Keats, is a grisly one. You can't imagine why anyone would want a depiction of the conclusion, but it was among my grandmother's things. Notice the white roses by the pot & on the floor by her foot. Where did they come from?

Could well be a painted copy of another work & painter had enough integrity to neither sign it with his own name nor forge the signature of the original author.

 

Thanks for all of the ideas and infomation. I guess we will never know what the artist intended. I had just found this painting in the back room of a little backroad antique shop, buried behind cardboard boxes and felt it should be saved. Thanks again

 

I do a lot of this sort of thing trying to find the original art that is the primary image for one cameo or another. In my experience, you find the answer when you're looking for something else.

 

I agree that this is most likely a religious sort of Christian martyr theme and heavily symbolic with the flower and the lions. For example, lily of the valley is a sign of humility, virginity, and sweetness but I'm not too sure about this red flower - perhaps an indication of sin or perceived sin; and the lion a symbolic guardian of temples, palaces, and tombs in religious art. But then, why is one lion busy bashing up a boar? This actually distracts the viewer's attention away from the woman. Lots going on.

 

I like it myself. Understand why you purchased