Agnus Dei
This votive image was wide-spread in seventeenth-century Spain. It represents an Agnus Dei or “Lamb of God”, in allusion to Christ's sacrificial death to save humanity. The straightforward composition consists exclusively of an image of the young animal with its legs bound, lying on a windowsill and brightly light by a single light source.
Zurbarán made six versions of this subject with small iconographic variations, which indicates that it was relatively successful with his private clients. This is the finest version and it corresponds to his mature period.
This work was acquired by the Spanish State in 1986.
