Spanish school; 17th century. "Saint Agatha of... Lot 25

Spanish school; 17th century. "Saint Agatha of Catania". Carved wood. Remains of polychromy. It presents important faults in the carving. Measurements: 74 x 19 x 21 cm. Round sculpture representing a young woman tied to a tree with her chest sectioned in such a way that it is the devotional representation of Saint Agatha of Catania, a young Sicilian woman who lived during the 3rd century. Quintilian, unable to persuade her to offer sacrifices to the gods, had her taken to a brothel run by the courtesan Aphrodisia, where she was subjected to ritual rape. But, like St Agnes, she miraculously preserved her virginity. Later, in prison, the prefect threatened her with flogging, tied her upside down to a pillar and had her breasts torn off with pincers. She was cured by St. Peter, who appeared to her in the dungeon. The tyrant ordered her cell to be carpeted with pieces of glass and embers. At the time of her death, which would have occurred in 251, Mount Etna erupted. Romanesque sculpture pursues primarily didactic purposes, and its images are conceived as a visual narrative, which must always be clearly legible. At this time, prior to the quest for naturalism that would emerge during the Gothic period, language is purely conceptual, and functions on the basis of symbols and conventions accepted by all. In this sense, anatomy is synthetic, representative rather than a reflection of the natural, as is the treatment of the face.