Agnus Dei
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A young ram lies on its side on a stone ledge, its four legs bound together with a cord, its eyes closed. The wool is painted with extraordinary attention, thick and cream-white, each tuft modeled individually against the deep black background. Two small curved horns emerge from the top of the head. The animal is still and quiet, not struggling. "Agnus Dei" means "Lamb of God," and the bound lamb is a symbol of Christ's sacrifice that runs through Christian art from the earliest centuries. Zurbarán painted several versions of this subject, and they are among the most recognized images in Spanish Baroque painting. He was a contemporary of Velázquez in 17th-century Seville, known primarily for his paintings of monks, saints, and religious still lifes, all rendered with the same intense, silent clarity seen here.