The three-channel film presentation explores the mythological history of the rebellious Christian martyr, Saint Barbara, in parallel with a narrative about Goldin's elder sister, Barbara Holly Goldin, who was sent to a psychiatric detention centre aged 12.
Goldin's work was originally conceived in 2004 for the chapel of the Hôpital de la Salpêtriere in Paris which was founded as an asylum in 1656. In 2006, Goldin explained the impetus for the film, saying: "I intend to explore the relationship between the story of my sister, myself, and Saint Barbara, and, more generally, the parallel between saints and modern rebellious women."
Goldin told The Guardian: "I don't think you ever come to terms with a suicide especially if it is someone you admired and needed and whose death was so violent. It's an act that never destroys just one person. But there was no ambiguity about what she did and I take that as courage."
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