The Mystic Marriage of Saint Agnes
between 1510-30
tempera and oil on oak
58 x 51.5 cm
Inv. 56.452
According to medieval legends, it was not only Catherine of Alexandria who had the honour of becoming Christ’s bride but also Agnes, a noble virgin of Rome. Agnes’ name derives from the Latin word agnus (lamb), the animal that became her attribute. The graceful creature here looks up to her owner in adoration. The young girl is shown in a fashionable Renaissance dress, as the Child pulls the ring on her finger. The music making angel-putti above add to the solemnity of the scene. The work first received international attention in 2001, at the exhibition dedicated to the Master of the Bartholomew Altarpiece of Cologne, the painter, who executed a similar work of the same subject that is now conserved in Nuremberg. The painting in Esztergom, which is not by the Master of the Bartholomew Altarpiece, reveals its author’s familiarity with the works of the Netherlandish Renaissance. It was probably made in Utrecht where Saint Agnes was greatly venerated; its precise attribution is a task for future research.
Zs.U.
