Saint Agnes

The painting can be dated around 1620 on the evidence of style. Comparisons may be made with the two large altarpieces of the Madonna del Rosario and the Martyrdom of Saint Agnes, both in Bologna (Pinacoteca), although in terms of scale and the drawing of the putto, King David playing the Harp (Versailles) provides a more suitable juxtaposition. All these works appear to have been painted in Bologna before Domenichino returned to Rome for his third extended stay in 1621. The relationship between the Saint Agnes and the two large paintings in Bologna is confirmed by a drawing at Windsor Castle which has on the recto a study for the Madonna del Rosario and on the verso one for Saint Agnes.

The painting is a fine example of what is known as Bolognese classicism, which evolved out of the late work of Annibale Carracci. Domenichino here combines harmonious colouring with purity of line. His ability as a landscape painter is only hinted at in the background of the composition. There is a certain resemblance between Saint Agnes and the figure of Saint Cecilia in the altarpiece of Saint Cecilia with Four Saints by Raphael, which was painted for a Bolognese patron. The flying angel may be borrowed from the Worship of Venus by Titian (Madrid, Prado), which was in the Aldobrandini collection in Rome at the beginning of the seventeenth century. The classical vase and the low relief on the left symbolise the pagan world which Saint Agnes rejected in favour of Christianity. The relief shows a sacrifice which is perhaps an allusion to the saints own martyrdom. The lamb held by the putto is the attribute of Saint Agnes. The uncovering of her remains in the church of Sant'Agnese fuori le mura in Rome in 1605 may have encouraged a revival of interest in her cult, of which this picture is almost certainly a product.