The Martyrdom of Saint Agatha

The Martyrdom of Saint Agatha

"One of the most classic creations from Tiepolo's Venetian years is the former high altar picture of the Benedictine monastery church of S. Agata in Lendinara near Rovigo, which the artist painted around 1755 after his return from Würzburg in 1753. It depicts the death of the titular saint, who lived in Catania in the first half of the 3rd century and suffered martyrdom in 251. She came from a wealthy noble family and dedicated her life to Christ from an early age. She was subjected to various temptations, arrested and tortured by young Quintian. An executioner severed her breasts. Brought back to the dungeon, Peter appeared to her and healed her. When tortured again, part of the building suddenly collapsed, burying two executioners. An earthquake broke out in Catania. After the prayer of thanks that her body was unharmed, she died. Etna erupted on the anniversary of her death. The cloth covering her grave was carried towards the flow of lava, stopping it. Her protection was henceforth invoked to ward off earthquakes. While early Baroque Italian painters were fond of depicting the episode of St. Agatha's healing by Peter in prison, Tiepolo's picture depicts her martyrdom. Half slumped on the steps of an ancient building, she gazes submissively upwards while a servant with the A cloth covers the mutilated breast and a youth next to her carries the severed breasts on a bowl. Tiepolo did not depict the moment of the execution of the torture, thus avoiding the drastic nature of the horrible, bloodthirsty man. Rather, what is decisive is the impression of firmness, calm trust in God and strength of faith that emanates from the saint. Her face is held and framed, as it were, by the heads of the youth and the servant, who gently and snuggly turn towards her, while the impetuous, threatening figure of the brutal executioner, appearing behind and above her on the right and pointing his right arm, forms the dramatic counterpart. The energy of his head, which is thrown to the left, is checked by the mighty towering column, the vertical of which symbolically and formally absorbs the saint's upward gaze. However, the column is no longer visible in its full original height. As the etching by Giovanni Battista's son Giovanni Domenico shows, the picture originally ended in a semicircle at the top. The shaft of the column ended in a fracture, the ruinous state perhaps alluding to the collapse of the palace and the earthquake. On the left in the clouds was the vision of the saints, the flaming heart of Christ surrounded by the crown of thorns, with two angels' heads hovering around it. As early as 1795 the picture was in poor condition. It disappeared from the church when the monastery was secularized in 1810 or at the latest in 1832/35 when a priest acquired the church building from the Austrian administration and handed it over to the Capuchins, who redecorated the church and dedicated the high altar to St. Francis. Tiepolo's image was also cropped by 15 centimeters at the bottom. Two preliminary drawings for the head of the saint are in the Berlin Print Room, a study for the youth's hands holding the bowl, is kept in the Museo Correr in Venice. | 200 masterpieces of European painting - Gemäldegalerie Berlin, 2019 ______________________________ One of the most classical creations of Tiepolo's Venetian years is the former high altar of the Benedictine monastery church of Sant'Agata in Lendinara near Rovigo, which the artist painted 1745–50 after returning from Würzburg in 1753. It depicts the death of the tutelary saint, who lived in Catania during the first half of the third century, and suffered martyrdom in 251. Saint Agatha came from a wealthy noble family, and devoted her life to Christ already in her younger years. She was exposed to various temptations, imprisoned, and tortured by the young Quintian. An executioner cut off her breasts. After she was returned to prison, Saint Peter appeared to her and healed her. Upon continued torture, a section of the building suddenly collapsed, burying two executioners. Then an earthquake occurred in Catania. After giving thanks for the fact that her body had remained unharmed, she died. On the anniversary of her death, Mount Etna erupted. The sheet that had covered her grave was held up to the stream of lava, bringing it to a standstill. She has been invoked as a protectress from earthquakes ever since. While the Italian painters of the early Baroque preferred as a rule to illustrate the episode when Agatha is healed in prison by Saint Peter, Tiepolo's picture depicts her martyrdom. She has slumped down halfway onto the steps of an antique building, and gazes upward into the heavens with an expression of surrender, while a female servant uses a cloth to cover her mutilated chest and a nearby youth carries the severed breasts on a tray. Tiepolo has not depicted the moment of the actual act of torture itself, hence avoiding the greatest extremes of cruelty and gruesomeness. Decisive here instead is an impression of steadfastness, of belief in God, and strength in faith that is expressed by the figure of the saint. Her face is held so to speak and framed by the heads of the youth and the female servant, who turn toward her with gentleness and solicitude, while the ferocious, brutal figure of the executioner, a dramatic antagonist, looms up behind her making an expansive pointing gesture with his right hand. The energy of his head, turned toward the left, is arrested by the powerfully towering column, whose vertical takes up the saint's upward gaze, both symbolically and formally. The column is however no longer visible in its original height. As shown by an etching executed by Giambattista's son Giandomenico, the upper terminus of this picture was originally semi-circular. The top of the shaft of the column was broken off, its ruinous condition perhaps an allusion to the collapse of the palace and the earthquake. Depicted on the left-hand side in the clouds was the saint's vision, the flaming heart of Christ surrounded by the crown of thorns and flanked by a pair of angel's heads. As early as 1795, the picture was found in poor condition. It vanished from the church when the monastery was secularized in 1810, or perhaps as late as 1832/35, when a priest acquired the church building from the Austrian administration and transferred it to the Capuchins, who redecorated the church and dedicated the high altar to Saint Francis. Approximately 15 centimeters were removed from Tiepolo's picture at the bottom. Two preliminary drawings for the head of the saint are found in the Berlin Kupferstichkabinett, while a study of the youth who holds the tray, is preserved in the Museo Correr in Venice.| 200 Masterpieces of European Painting - Gemaldegalerie Berlin, 2019"
187,8 x 135,5 cm

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

Place of manufacture: Italy (country)
Place of origin: Venice (city)

1753-55

Staatliche Museum
https://id.smb.museum/object/866587/das-martyrium-der-heiligen-agathe

1878 Ankauf von Charles Sedelmeyer, Paris