Master of San Hermenegildo (active Seville, circa 1630-1640)

Long considered to be an autograph work by Zurbarán, this striking representation of the young Roman martyr, Saint Agnes, was convincingly attributed to a talented member of the master's workshop by Juan Miguel Serrera in a lecture given at a 1998 symposium in Llerena. In their recent catalogue, Odile Delinda and Almudena Ros de Barbero (loc. cit.) link the present painting to two additional works datable to between 1630 and 1640: a canvas of Saints Justa and Rufina (private collection, France) and the large Martyrdom of San Hermenegildo for the high altar of the Church of San Hermenegildo in Madrid, from which derives the artist's placeholder name. Four artists who worked with Zurbarán during this period are known from a 1636 document, which lists José Duran, Diego Muñoz, Alonso de Flores and Ignacio de Ries as workers in Zurbarán's studio. Delinda and Ros de Barbero suggest that the Master of San Hermenegildo was most likely one of the first three.