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The predella of the St Lucy Altarpiece was constituted by three panels, from left to right: St Lucy at the Tomb of St Agatha; St Lucy before Paschasius and St Lucy Harnessed to Oxen; Teams of Oxen. The altarpiece was commissioned from Lotto by the Confraternity of St Lucy in Iesi in 1523.
The predella scenes reveal Lotto's talent as a painter of lively narrative scenes.
The second scene is restricted to a narrow field on the left of the central predella panel, bounded by the green curtain. Lucy's fiancé, enraged by losing her dowry, complained to the Roman consul Paschasius, who now questions Lucy about her religious beliefs and demands that she worship idols. After an angry altercation, Paschasius orders her to be removed to a brothel.
The story continues on the main panel of the altarpiece which depicts St Lucy Seized by the Panders. In this scene Paschasius summons the panders to "invite the crowd to have pleasure with this woman, and let them abuse her body until she dies; but the panders tried to carry her off, the Holy Ghost made her so heavy that they were unable to move her." At the extreme right, partly cut by the frame, the disappointed fiancé assists the panders in their fruitless efforts.
The story then moves back to the predella where the right-hand section of the central predella panel unites with the right panel, with its atmospheric townscape, to form a single extended scene. Paschasius furiously orders her to dragged away by teams of oxen. Again the Holy Ghost (the white dove) intervenes on Lucy's behalf. The extension of this fourth scene across more than half of the width of the entire predella, represents a highly original approach to predella design. No less than eight teams of powerful oxen are represented in the predella.
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