Alessandro Turchi - Saint Agatha Attended by Saint Peter and an Angel in Prison [c.1640-45]

Alessandro Turchi - Saint Agatha Attended by Saint Peter and an Angel in Prison [c.1640-45], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

According to an early Christian legend, when a 3rd-century Roman official of Sicily desired the Christian woman Agatha, and she refused to yield to his advances, he had her tortured, and even ordered her breasts cut off. At night in prison, she was visited by a vision of Saint Peter and an angel, and her breasts were miraculously restored. The grey stone of the prison wall was created by letting the slate show through, and it forms a background for the night scene, illuminated by a torch. As opposed to canvas and wood, slate gave a painting almost unlimited durability and the same kind of permanence as sculpture.

[Oil on slate, 34.7 x 49.5 cm]

Alessandro Turchi - Saint Agnes Protected by an Angel [c.1620]

Alessandro Turchi - Saint Agnes Protected by an Angel [c.1620], originally uploaded by Gandalf's Gallery.

Alessandro Turchi (Verona, 1578 – Rome, January 22, 1649) was an Italian painter.

[Oil on polished marble, 42.55 x 33.02 cm]

Alessandro Turchi - Diana and Actaeon

Alessandro Turchi - Diana and Actaeon, originally uploaded by Gandalf's Gallery.

Alessandro Turchi (1578 – 1649) was an Italian painter of the early Baroque period, born and active mainly in Verona, and moving late in life to Rome. He also went by the name Alessandro Veronese or the nickname L'Obetto.