Saint Agatha

Francessco Furini painted Saint Agatha from 1635-45; the medium used to paint the portrait was oil and tempera on canvas. This devotional image shows the saint contemplating God while tenderly holding the pincers, the instruments of her sufferings through which she achieved her sanctity. The way in which the saint is modeled with soft sfumato (an almost invisible rendering of the transitions from light to shade) and emerges from a dark background is characteristic of Furini's work. Francessco Furini’s piece Saint Agatha is a prime example of seventeenth-century Italian baroque elements.
Saint Agatha was painted with oil and tempera paints on canvas. This technique was widely used during the Baroque era of painting in the seventeenth century. The process used was traditional of baroque style painting with realistic looking skin against the darker backgrounds with a sfumato between the saint portrayed and the background(Sewter9). This technique became well known through a popular Italian Baroque painter named Caravaggio [Michelangelo Merisi]. Francessco Furini was born in 1603 to a large poor family; his father trained him in drawing as a young child forever inspiring him to create art. Furini traveled to Rome in 1619 to study art. During his time in Rome he was introduced to the works of Caravaggio (his most well known works included the calling of St. Mathew and David with the head of Goliath) and other baroque artists. Upon Francessco’s return to Florence he was in demand as a painter. Over the years Furini received significant amounts of harsh criticism over his female nudes he chose in 1633 to become a priest at the church of Sant’Ansano in Mugello, Tuscany. Francessco Furini died in the year 1646 in Florence, Italy (visitflorence.com).
Baroque art had two movements; high baroque painting in Italy during the 17th century was the focus of Furini. Sypher describes this movement to be directly inspired by the grand style of the high renaissance art and has