Saint Agatha Visited in Prison by Saint Peter

The altarpiece Saint Agatha Visited in Prison by Saint Peter is the work of Federico Zuccar (Sant'Angelo in Vado, around 1540 – Ancona, 1609), an artist with whom Federico Borromeo—Archbishop in Milan at the time—had particular links. The work was commissioned by the Veneranda Fabbrica in 1597 to decorate the altar dedicated to Saint Agatha located within the sixth span of the Cathedral's southern nave. The painting forms part of a wide-ranging set of works designed for the construction of new side altars within the Cathedral and related decorative items. Plans for the new altars are credited to Pellegrino Tibaldi, Saint Charles Borromeo's favorite artist and architect.

Saint Agatha, martyr and Virgin of exceptional virtue and beauty: the Passio  recounts events involving Agatha, placing her life during the time of Emperor Decius (251 CE), in Catania. The procurator, desirous of and lustful for her, but rejected, had her arrested and made a prisoner. She did not yield to flattery and did not renounce her Christian beliefs—her faith was strong. Imprisoned, her breasts were cut off as a punishment, and at the point of greatest suffering, she received a visit from Saint Peter, who restored her amputated breasts. Zuccari's canvas depicts the moment of the encounter between the two of them: the Saint is holding a flask of miraculous ointment. Saint Agatha's commemoration takes place on February 5. The altarpiece depicts the episode when the Sicilian virgin and holy martyr was in prison following torture and received a visit from Saint Peter.

A silver plate holding her amputated breasts and her clothes stained with blood, Agatha points to the sky with a clear and theatrical gesture. A young boy holding candles enters the scene on the left.

Saint Peter performs a miracle, healing the amputated breasts. "But I have whole breasts inside, within my soul, with which I feed all of my thoughts, and which I have consecrated to the Lord Christ from childhood."

The figures, rendered with solemn monumentality, have a theatrical and eloquent gestural expressiveness that makes the scene immediately readable.

The work is a response to the view of Cardinal Federico Borromeo—Archbishop of Milan from 1595—of painting as a means of promoting understanding of the sacred narrative and devotion on the part of the faithful.

The signature of the artist F.Z. is recognizable at the bottom of the work.

Temporarily displayed within the Church of San Gottardo in Corte, the work has today been returned to its original location in the Cathedral, above the altar of Saint Agatha.

With the latest conservative restoration of 2019, by the restorer Eliana Tovagliaro in agreement with the Superintendence of Archeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the metropolitan city of Milan, the cleaning and recovery of the legibility of the figures. In fact, it has been highlighted how the painting has "suffered a lot" due to the heavy alterations that have taken place over the centuries. The restoration of the altarpiece was made possible thanks to the generous contribution of the “ArPiCa” Committee, in memory of the donor Enrico Marini (1916-2014), architect, painter and sculptor

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