Vestal Virgin Condemned to Death

July 17 2009, 4:29pm

We have just discovered a painting very similar to one of our own, in the book Civiltà dell’Ottocento: Le Arti Figurative. This painting by Pietro Saja (1779-1833), depicting a Vestal condemned to death for breaking her vow of chastity, apparently won the artist great praise and recognition when he presented it in Rome in 1803: within a month Saja was invited to join the prestigious Academy of Saint Luke. The neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova, another member of the Academy, wrote to a friend to “make many praises of [Saja]… assuring me that he is a youth of highest ability… and that he is going to make great profit and progress.” 1