Saint Agatha

Zurbarán painted Saint Agatha around 1630, one of his female martyr series in which the saint who had her breasts removed with pincers is depicted holding the instrument of her torture — the pincers and the removed breasts on a plate — with the composed dignity characteristic of his saint figures. Zurbarán's female martyrs wear the rich fabrics and jewels of contemporary Spanish noble dress, giving them a vivid material presence that grounds the miracle of their spiritual endurance in the recognizable social world of seventeenth-century Seville. The combination of contemporary dress and hagiographic attribute created images simultaneously accessible and transcendent, perfectly calibrated to the devotional requirements of the Counter-Reformation religious culture that formed his market.

The monumental figure stands against a dark background in Zurbarán's signature manner, with the sculptural drapery and precise rendering of fabrics creating a powerful iconic presence.