''Saint Agnes'' is an oil-on-canvas painting executed 1635–1640 by the Italian

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

painter

Massimo Stanzione Massimo Stanzione (also called Stanzioni; Frattamaggiore 1585 – Naples 1656) was an Italian Baroque painter, mainly active in Naples, where he and his rival Jusepe de Ribera dominated the painting scene for several decades. He was primarily a ...

. It is now in the

National Art Museum of Catalonia The (; ), abbreviated as MNAC (), is a museum of Catalan visual art located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Situated on Montjuïc hill at the end of Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina, near Pl Espanya, the museum is especially notable for it ...

Description

A three-quarter length depiction of

Agnes of Rome Agnes of Rome (21 January 304) is a virgin martyr, venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as the Anglican Communion and Lutheranism, Lutheran Chu ...

shows the saint in direct communication with God. Her head is slightly raised, her mouth half open, and the fingers of her hand are spread open over her heart while with her other hand she caresses the Mystic Lamb. Her neckline shifts sideways to reveal part of her shoulder, the highest degree of eroticism in the work of Stanzione.Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya: Guide, Barcelona: MNAC, 2005, P. 180-181

History

The work was attributed to

(

Frattamaggiore Frattamaggiore (locally also known as Fratta) is a ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, Italy. It is located north of Naples and southwest of Caserta. It was awarded the title of "City of art" in 2008 and named Benedictine ci ...

1585 –

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

1656) in 1954 by José Milicua, who viewed it in the collection of Tomás Harris at that time.Caravaggio i la pintura realista europea / comissari José Milicua; coordinació científica María Margarita Cuyás. Barcelona: MNAC, 2005. Traducció a l'anglès p. 431-433 The work made its way to the collection of Santiago Espona who bequested it to the

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya The (; ), abbreviated as MNAC (), is a museum of Catalonia, Catalan visual art located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Situated on Montjuïc hill at the end of Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina, near Plaça d'Espanya, Barcelona, Pl Espanya, th ...

in November 1958.

Exposition catalogue listingsCaravaggio i la pintura realista europea / comissari José Milicua; coordinació científica María Margarita Cuyás. Barcelona: MNAC, 2005. Bibliography

*1958 Barcelona p.11 Cat #78 *1963 Barcelona P.16 *1987 Girona p.48 Cat #46 *1989 Barcelona p.49 Cat #46 *1998 Palma p.114 Cat #32

Analysis

In attributing this painting to Stanzione, José Milicua offers comparisons between this painting and another portrayal of the same saint by Stanzione which belonged to the Laliccia Collection in

which makes use of the same model and is differentiated only by a slight turn of the model's head. In both paintings, Stanzione has dispensed with the halo and palm leaf, omissions that are common in Neapolitan painting of the 1600s. Although lacking the traditional external signs of sainthood, her status as one of God's elect is evidenced in the raised head and upturned eyes, an open mouth, and the hand with fingers spread over the heart. The block of stone closing off a corner of the composition is a device commonly used in Neapolitan painting of this century. However, in the case of Saint Agnes, the stone block also serves to represent the altar on which the

Agnus Dei is the Latin name under which the "Lamb of God" is honoured within Christian liturgies descending from the historic Latin liturgical tradition, including those of Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism and Anglicanism. It is the name given to a spec ...

, or sacrificial lamb is placed. Stuck to the back of the canvas are some lines of poetry in English in praise of

Saint Agnes Agnes of Rome (21 January 304) is a virgin martyr, venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as the Anglican Communion and Lutheranism, Lutheran Chu ...

, cut from printed matter which looks like it might be from the nineteenth century or earlier.

References

External links