Panel Painting St Agatha
Object number
LDSAL343
Artist/Designer/Maker
Unknown artist - Artist
Production date
Late 16th century
Material
Wood
Paint
Paint
Technique
Oil on panel
Dimensions
height: 1067mm
Width: 1346mm
Width: 1346mm
Location
Burlington House -
Content description
The painting shows a barefoot and bare-breasted woman with bound hands and a downcast gaze, being led by two armed guards out of a building with panelled walls and a paved floor, and down into a crowd of agitated and gesticulating onlookers. The woman’s exposed breasts are scarred with wheals, indicated by lines of red paint. The foreground of the painting includes some sixteen figures, many in attitudes of alarm or distress.
Paint on panel painting depicting an episode from the legend of St Agatha of Catania, a Christian martyr of the mid-third century.
The painting depicts an episode from the legend of St Agatha of Catania, a Christian martyr of the mid-third century whose story was among the saints’ lives recorded in The Golden Legend, by Jacobus de Voragine. Compiled around 1260, this was a popular source for saints’ lives and was produced in numerous subsequent editions. The scene represented on the Society’s panel is derived from an amplified account of Agatha’s martyrdom, such as that of c 1477 published in Milan by the Italian scholar Boninus Mombritius. As is usual in post-medieval depictions of her torments, Agatha is shown in the Society’s panel without a nimbus or any other attribute of sainthood. The nature of her wounds confirms her identity, however, as does the panic displayed by the bystanders. According to legend, Agatha, a pious Christian virgin from a wealthy noble family in Catania, would not submit to the demand of the Roman consul Quintianus to offer sacrifices to pagan idols. She was imprisoned by Quintianus who again ordered her to deny Christ. She refused and was tortured by being stretched on a tree but still did not recant.
Agatha’s next torment was to have her breasts cut from her body, after which she was imprisoned and denied all aid. The legend states that she was visited in captivity by the Apostle Peter who healed her and made her whole. The Society’s panel shows Agatha having been restored by St Peter but still scarred by the amputation. Once more, Quintianus demanded that Agatha worship pagan idols. When she refused yet again, he ordered her to be rolled on the ground on burning brands. At this point, according to the legend, the earth itself began to tremble. The terrified citizens of Catania ran to the consul’s house, protesting that his ill treatment of Agatha was placing them in danger and must cease. Agatha was returned to prison where she eventually died.
The Society’s panel captures the moment of panic as the earthquake afflicts the city. Since the stake erected on the distant hill still lacks a burning pyre, the smoke filling the sky must be coming from nearby Mount Etna, while the reddened armour of the soldiers on the distant hill presumably reflects the glow of volcanic lava. The man in the foreground points in terror, not at the sight of Agatha but at something outside the composition, doubtless the volcanic eruption triggered by the earthquake. His gesture is repeated by the woman behind Agatha and echoed again by a tiny figure on the horizon.
Agatha’s next torment was to have her breasts cut from her body, after which she was imprisoned and denied all aid. The legend states that she was visited in captivity by the Apostle Peter who healed her and made her whole. The Society’s panel shows Agatha having been restored by St Peter but still scarred by the amputation. Once more, Quintianus demanded that Agatha worship pagan idols. When she refused yet again, he ordered her to be rolled on the ground on burning brands. At this point, according to the legend, the earth itself began to tremble. The terrified citizens of Catania ran to the consul’s house, protesting that his ill treatment of Agatha was placing them in danger and must cease. Agatha was returned to prison where she eventually died.
The Society’s panel captures the moment of panic as the earthquake afflicts the city. Since the stake erected on the distant hill still lacks a burning pyre, the smoke filling the sky must be coming from nearby Mount Etna, while the reddened armour of the soldiers on the distant hill presumably reflects the glow of volcanic lava. The man in the foreground points in terror, not at the sight of Agatha but at something outside the composition, doubtless the volcanic eruption triggered by the earthquake. His gesture is repeated by the woman behind Agatha and echoed again by a tiny figure on the horizon.