St Elizabeth of Hungary's Great Act of Renunciation  

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All worldly goods and wealth, which once I loved,
I do now count but dross: and my beloved,
The children of my womb, I now regard
As if they were another’s. God is witness
My pride is to despise myself; my joy
All insults, sneers, and slanders of mankind;
No creature now I love, but God alone.
Oh, to be clear, clear, clear, of all but Him!
Lo, here I strip me of all earthly helps—

[Tearing off her clothes.]

Naked and barefoot through the world to follow
My naked Lord—And for my filthy pelf—

--The Saint's Tragedy (1848) by Charles Kingsley

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St Elizabeth of Hungary's Great Act of Renunciation[1] (1891) is a painting by Philip Hermogenes Calderon.

It won the Chantrey bequest but caused considerable controversy because of its perceived anti-Catholic message. It depicted the saint Elisabeth of Hungary bending naked over an altar watched by monks.

From the Tate site:

Elizabeth of Hungary (1207-1231) was the wife of Lewis, Landgrave of Thuringia. After his death in 1227 during one of the Crusades, she entered a convent and devoted herself to good works. Before becoming a nun, she passed through a spiritual crisis, torn by the need to renounce the world, and therefore her children, in order to fulfil her desire to serve God. Pressed by a domineering monk, Conrad, whose natural affections had been starved by celibacy, Elizabeth finally vowed that 'naked and barefoot' she would follow her 'naked Lord'. Calderon's picture shows this moment of self-abasement. Calderon took his subject from a play by Charles Kingsley, 'The Saint's Tragedy', first published in 1848. It was based on fact.
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