medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
> Today (5. February) is the feast day of:
>
> Agatha (?) One of the great virgin martyrs, Agatha met her end in Catania
> (Sicily). Legend tells that she was killed off quite gruesomely,
including
> having her breasts hacked off by the executioners.
+
She is also the subject of one of Tiepolo's finest, most emotionally direct,
compositionally compact, and remarkably restrained religious paintings, "Il
Martirio de Sant'Agata", in the collection of a Berlin museum, but available
for viewing at
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/T/tiepolo/tiepolo_martyrdom_of_saint_agatha
.jpg.html, part of the Web Gallery of Art.
Remarkably, Tiepolo found a way to emphasize the great sacrifice of Agatha
without appealing to either audience titillation or an appeal to our more
gruesome sensibilities.
Instead, the focus is where it belongs, in the center of the painting,
squarely on the face of a martyr addressing her god, while the subliminal
lines in the composition direct us to the subtly displayed severed breasts.
A great religious work.
jmichael
~~~~~~
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|