Description
Pietro Lorenzetti painted this Saint Agnes in 1329 as one of the lateral panels of the great Carmine altarpiece in Siena. Now preserved in the city’s Pinacoteca Nazionale, the work shows the youthful martyr standing beneath a pointed arch against a gold ground. Her red dress, the delicate turn of the head and the presence of two small angels in the upper section emphasize the refined elegance of Sienese Trecento painting.
The saint holds a lamb, the main attribute of her iconography and a visual allusion to her name. The figure was conceived in dialogue with the other parts of the altarpiece, especially the central Virgin and Saint Catherine on the opposite side. Even when seen today as an isolated panel, the painting preserves the balance of solemnity, linear grace and chromatic richness that characterizes Pietro Lorenzetti at maturity.






