''The Church of Lucéram, set within the ancient castle, was built in the Gothic style in the late 15th century and later enriched with stuccowork in the mid-18th century. It still houses five paintings by Les Primitifs Niçois. These include works by Louis Bréa from the early 16th century: the polyptych of Saint Margaret and the panel of Saint Peter and Saint Paul; as well as works by Giovanni Canavesio or his workshop, created around 1500: the altarpiece of Saint Anthony of Padua and that of Saint Bernard of Menthon.''
''Altarpiece of Saint Margaret, c. 1508, Louis Bréa
This “large and magnificent altarpiece,” as it has been described, was dedicated to the parish's patron saint and was dismantled in the mid-18th century. The predella and side panels, having been removed, are now held in Nice at the Musée des Beaux-Arts. The two remaining registers in the church were fixed to the apse wall amid a new decorative setting of stucco cherubs and garlands. Notable elements include the four noble and spiritually radiant saintly figures surrounding the image of Saint Margaret “emerging from the dragon,” and, in the upper register, a tender Virgin and Child of exceptionally beautiful and solemn reserve.''
Saint Margaret Freeing Herself from the Dragon
''Margaret, subjected to numerous torments by the Prefect Olibrius, whom she had defied, was imprisoned between tortures in a dark dungeon. There, the Devil appeared before her in the form of Leviathan and, despite her vigorous struggle, swallowed her whole. Yet miraculously, she emerged unharmed from the monstrous body, thus becoming the powerful protector of mothers and small children in the perilous hour of childbirth.''
Germaine Leclerc, Chapelles peintes du Pays niçois, Edisud, Aix-en-Provence, 2003
