Cesare Pronti, Martyrdom of Saint Agatha, 17th Century, Oil on Canvas, Framed

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Cesare Pronti (Cattolica, Italy, 1626 - Ravenna, Italy, 1708)
Title: Martyrdom of Saint Agatha
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: Without … Read more Cesare Pronti (Cattolica, Italy, 1626 - Ravenna, Italy, 1708)
Title: Martyrdom of Saint Agatha
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: Without frame 57.7 x 37 cm – with frame 64 x 42.7 x 3.5 cm

Publications: Cesare Pronti da Cattolica (1626 – 1708). Un omaggio in quattro atti, curated by Alessandro Giovanardi, Pazzini Editore 2021, Villa Verucchio (Rimini, Italy), pp. 13-14, 90-93.

Cesare Pronti (1926 – 1708) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period and he was mainly active near Ravenna, Italy. As a child he showed an innate artistic bent, for this reason he moved to Bologna to train under Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, better known as (il) Guercino (1591-1666). He subsequently became an Augustinian friar commonly called “Padre Cesare da Ravenna”.
The painting depicts the martyrdom of Saint Agatha where a barely visible single angel, bearer of the crown of Christian heroism, appears like a silvery-white apparition. Agatha was put to death during the Decian persecution (250–253, Third Century AD) in Catania, Sicily, for her determined profession of faith. She was a 15-year-old young woman coming from a rich and noble family who made the vow of virginity and rejected the amorous advances of the Roman prefect Quintianus, who wanted to marry the young woman.
It is a very refined monochrome, executed in oil, which highlights the painter's technical skills. The exact name of the painting technique used in this artwork is Grisaille, and it indicated a monochrome work that is painted in grey. The martyrdom of St. Agatha is part of a series of paintings, many of them produced using the chiaroscuro technique. I have official proof of authenticity such as vintage catalogs,
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