Martyre de sainte Agnès

The Master of the Turin Adoration painted this Martyrdom of Saint Agnes for the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg. The young virgin martyr Agnes was one of the most popular saints in both Eastern and Western Christianity, her story of steadfast faith in the face of persecution serving as a model of Christian courage. The oil medium allowed for rich tonal transitions and glazed layers of color that created luminous depth impossible with the older tempera technique. Such devotional panels served both liturgical contexts in churches and chapels and private devotional use in the homes of wealthy families who maintained personal altars and oratories.

The martyrdom scene presents the saint with her traditional lamb attribute, rendered in the detailed Northern European manner with careful attention to costume, setting, and the dramatic action of the execution.