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Source Description
According to an early Christian legend, when a 3rd-century Roman official of Sicily desired the Christian woman Agatha, and she refused to yield to his advances, he had her tortured, and even ordered her breasts cut off. At night in prison, she was visited by a vision of Saint Peter and an angel, and her breasts were miraculously restored.The gray stone of the prison wall was created by letting the slate show through, and it forms a background for the night scene, illuminated by a torch. As opposed to canvas and wood, slate gave a painting almost unlimited durability and the same kind of permanence as sculpture.For more information on this painting, please see Federico Zeri's 1976 catalogue no. 315, pp. 443-444.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
4579
label
Saint Agatha Attended by Saint Peter and an Angel in Prison
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
citationUrl
pageCount
3
Source metadata
id
4579
sourceUrl
contentType
drawing
stage
normalized
title
Saint Agatha Attended by Saint Peter and an Angel in Prison
description
According to an early Christian legend, when a 3rd-century Roman official of Sicily desired the Christian woman Agatha, and she refused to yield to his advances, he had her tortured, and even ordered her breasts cut off. At night in prison, she was visited by a vision of Saint Peter and an angel, and her breasts were miraculously restored.The gray stone of the prison wall was created by letting the slate show through, and it forms a background for the night scene, illuminated by a torch. As opposed to canvas and wood, slate gave a painting almost unlimited durability and the same kind of permanence as sculpture.For more information on this painting, please see Federico Zeri's 1976 catalogue no. 315, pp. 443-444.
provenance
Hood Blackwood, England, mid 18th century [mode of acquisition unknown]; Ann Blackwood Madox (Mrs. E. Madox), England, late 18th century, by gift; Henry Walters, Baltimore, prior to 1909 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
ca. 1640-1645 (Baroque)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Painting & Drawing
oil paintings (visual works)
imageCount
3
pageCount
3
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
35.2
height
49.5
depth
1
dimensionsRaw
Painted Surface H: 13 7/8 × W: 19 1/2 × D: 3/8 in. (35.24 × 49.53 × 0.95 cm)
Source extras
inscriptions
[Transcription] On wooden backing which holds the picture in the frame: This picture is the property of Anne Hood Blackwood given by her father
Hood Blackwood
April ye 18th
178-
now Mrs. E. Madox 1791; [Inscriptions] On wooden backing are severl labels which tell the legend of St. Agatha
med
oil on slate
creator_ids
4064
collection_ids
BAR
exhibition_ids
736
948
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
7fd5ac7f5478b9da
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
01704a80a1c62660
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
5d14e286ecbaba81
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no