The protagonist of the painting, acquired in 1851 from the Rosa-Prati collection, is Sant'Agata, a young Sicilian from a noble and wealthy family who lived in the first half of the third century, who, made a vow of perpetual virginity, was subjected to martyrdom during the persecution by Decio. Among the many episodes of her life illustrated in painting, Lanfranco chooses a particularly symbolic event: after the torture imposed on her by Quintiniano, the amputation of the breasts, the young woman is visited in prison, during the night, by Saint Peter accompanied by an angel who he guides her path with a torch, who with a particularly delicate gesture applies a miraculous ointment on the bloody wound, healing her breast. Lanfranco proposes a subtle but intense interpretation of the sacred theme, with an unprecedented stylistic code that attests him as an intense painter, with a loose narrative even in the small format, and an essential and touching narrative language, where the classicist refinement derived from the Carraccis blends with the incisive choice of lighting derived from Caravaggio. This is confirmed by the wise mastery of the interior space and the propagation of a dim light that spreads diagonally hitting the chest of the saint, who becomes a living person caught in the full acceptance of martyrdom, with extraordinary naturalness and humanity.
Title: Saint Agatha visited in prison by Saint Peter and the angel
Author: Giovanni Lanfranco
Date: 1613-1614
Technique: Oil painting on canvas
Displayed in: National Gallery
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