Etching
Height: Height: 563 millimetres
Width: Width: 306 millimetres
Inscription content: Lettered below image with production detail: 'J. B. Cignarolius pinxit - D. C. D.' and dedication to 'Clarissimo Viro D. Carolo Emanuelli Groscavalli Comiti Palatii...' (Carlo Emanuele Cavalleri di Groscavallo, 1706-1787 ?).
The engraver's monogram was described by Nagler (Die Monogramisten No.1017) as the signature of an unidentified 18th century engraver active in Italy, possibly a member of the David family.

Professor Robert Randolf Coleman has kindly drawn our attention to his work identifying the printmaker as Angelo Ghizzardi (see R.R. Coleman, "The Ambrosiana Albums of Giambettino Cignaroli (1706-1770): A Critical Catalogue", Milan; Rome: Biblioteca Ambrosiana; Bulzoni Editori, 2011, pp. 14, 89, 91, 117, 119, fig. 55 and p. 221, no. 343). Carmen Nagel (email Dec 2022): this etching shows a painting that was made for the chapel in the Royal palace in San Ildefonso and is now in the Prado (POOOO99).]]> After: Giambettino Cignaroli]]> https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1951-0714-110
Purchased from: Colnaghi
Previous owner/ex-collection: Liechtenstein]]> Dou, Gerrit (Gérard), 1613-1675]]> ]]> ]]> https://wellcomecollection.org/works/g6y546aj]]> ]]> S. Agatha virgo et martyr (title on object)]]> collector's mark: Lugt 2228
DescriptionDe rijkgeklede Agatha is aan een pilaar gebonden. Twee mannen snijden haar borsten af met tangen. Op de voorgrond stookt een man met een blaasbalg het vuur op in een schaal. In de marge een vijfregelig onderschrift in het Latijn.

Materialpaper
Techniqueengraving
Measurementsheight 255 mm × width 185 mm]]> print maker: Antonie Wierix (II)
after drawing by: Jan van der Straet (mentioned on object)
Philips Galle (mentioned on object)]]> http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.332082]]> ]]> collector's mark: Lugt 2228
DescriptionDe heilige Agatha is aan een boom vastgebonden. Twee mannen snijden met grote scharen haar borsten af. Agatha kijkt naar een engel in de hemel die haar een palmtak komt brengen, het teken van het martelaarschap.

Materialpaper
Techniqueengraving
Measurementsheight 304 mm × width 210 mm]]> after design by: Giulio Clovio
publisher: Antonio Lafreri (mentioned on object)]]> http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.98994]]> New Hollstein Dutch 102-2(3)]]> collector's mark: Lugt 2228
collector's mark: Lugt 1967
DescriptionDe heilige Agatha is aan een boom vastgebonden. Twee mannen snijden met grote scharen haar borsten af. Agatha kijkt naar een engel in de hemel die haar een palmtak komt brengen, het teken van het martelaarschap.

Materialpaper
Techniqueengraving
Measurementsheight 304 mm × width 210 mm]]> after design by: Giulio Clovio
publisher: Giovanni Orlandi (mentioned on object)
publisher: Antonio Lafreri (mentioned on object)]]> http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.98993]]> New Hollstein Dutch 102-3(3)]]>
Materialpaper
Techniqueengraving
Measurementswidth 145 mm × height 239 mm

collector's mark: Lugt 2228]]> print maker: Cornelis Galle (II) (possibly)
after design by: Gaspar Huybrechts (mentioned on object)]]> http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.506747]]> 132 x 178 cm

"This is one of the most important examples of Venetian painting from the 16th century, signed and dated Sebastianus Venetus faciebat Rome 1520 on the parapet in the foreground, where the henchmen’s knife has been placed. In a letter dated 29 December 1519, and addressed to Michelangelo Buonarroti, Sebastiano talks about a newly finished painting for Cardinal Rangone. Critics have highlighted the fact that the work was commissioned by Ercole Rangone, appointed cardinal by Pope Leo X in 1517 and holder of the church of Sant’Agata in Rome. The painting’s particular shape (rectangular but developed across its width), suggests that it was for private worship, meaning that the cardinal did not intend to display it on the altar of his church but rather, to keep it for himself. The painting shows the martyrdom of Agatha, a Sicilian virgin, who was born and lived in Catania in the 3rd century A.D. According to tradition, the proconsul of Catania, Quintianus, who desired Agatha, accused her of blaspheming the state religion and ordered her capture. In order to bend her to his will, he subjected her to an increasing amount of torture. The suffering that has most remained in popular memory, and the most widespread of the images, is when Agatha’s breasts were cut off with enormous pincers. The painter has included a building in the background that’s in danger of falling into the flames, a reference to the earthquake that occurred during the saint’s martyrdom.

Giorgio Vasari saw the painting in the Guardaroba of Guidobaldo della Rovere in the Palace of Pesaro while on his travels in the Marches in 1566; he mentioned it two years later in a short informative piece in the Life of Sebastian del Piombo. The painting was brought to Florence in 1631 as part of Vittoria della Rovere’s dowry, last of the family and wife of Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinando II de’ Medici.

From a style point of view, critics have highlighted how Sebastiano del Piombo chose a formal solution for this violent scene, characterized by the composition’s strong horizontal accent, as was frequently used by his fellow countrymen for subjects with a meditative or domestic tone, such as the Ages of man (for example in Giorgione's painting) or the numerous Madonnas and saints. There are also style elements of Venetian origin, such as the profil perdu of governor Quintianus on the far left, a technique previously used by Giorgione."]]> https://www.uffizi.it/en/artworks/martyrdom-of-st-agatha]]> Abbazia di San Giovanni Evangelista, Parma, Italy]]>