Eufemia was martyred in the year 310 for refusing to worship the god Ares or participate in pagan ceremonies. As punishment, she was subjected to numerous torments. Zurbarán depicts her with a quiet expression, with no other attribute than the saw with which she was martyred.

Probably for use in home worship, this work belongs to a very characteristic type of paintings by Zurbarán. Young and delicate women saints are portrayed with their traditional attributes, standing out over a dark background that emphasizes the delicacy of their features and gestures. In many cases these were “portraits in the divine manner,” in which the facial features of the person who commissioned the work were represented in the personage of the saint.