C27/113-drawing-saint Agapit-italian School-christians Delivered To The Lions-18th

SAINT AGAPIT Italian school of the 18th century Christians delivered to the lions (or The Martyrdom of Saint Agapit) Drawing in pen, black ink, brown wash and gouache 30.5 x 37 cm Pencil inscription on the back : “Sant Acapito” Very good state of conservation. A credible inscription on the back tells us that this scene represents the martyrdom of Saint Agapit, under the reign of Emperor Aurelian. A young man of fifteen from Praeneste, near Rome (today Palestrina), Agapit was condemned to martyrdom because of his attachment to Christianity. Neither being starved in a dungeon nor being burned by hot coals dissuaded him from giving thanks to God. His executioners then hung him by his feet over a blazing fire, scalded him, broke his jaws, without being able to overcome his courage. On the contrary, it was his judge who died falling from the court. Seeing this, the furious emperor had him exposed to the beasts in a circus, but the beasts spared him. Agapit, finally, was beheaded. Pope Felix III built a sanctuary for him in the basilica of Saint-Laurent. Although little known today, Agapit has been honored in Italy and France, and a town is named after him in Quebec. Our drawing thus shows Agapit who seems to tame a lion, while the other martyrs are devoured. If the painters of the 19th century loved cruel scenes in ancient arenas, the same is not true of the artists of the Baroque centuries. The reconstructed architecture of the arenas, the audience suggested on the stands, testify to an already modern archaeological and historical concern, although this rare drawing is indisputably from the 18th century. SOLD WITH ITS CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY