Martyrdom of Saint Andrew1600s
This small devotional picture by an anonymous 17th-century Venetian artist drew his composition from Guido Reni's large St. Andrew Led to Martyrdom fresco in Rome's Church of San Gregorio al Celio. More about this work
About this work
This small devotional picture by an anonymous 17th-century Venetian artist drew his composition from Guido Reni's large St. Andrew Led to Martyrdom fresco in Rome's Church of San Gregorio al Celio. The CMA painting portrays the central image of Reni's 1608 fresco by Reni. St. Andrew and his brother Peter were apostles of Christ and left all of their possessions to follow him. Andrew was martyred in Achaea. He requested to be crucified on the X-shaped cross because Andrew considered himself unworthy of dying on the same cross as Christ. Reni depicted an X-shaped cross in the fresco, while in this painting, the Latin cross is used. The Latin cross was common to Northern art, suggesting that the artist of this painting may have been Venetian. This representation of St. Andrew's martyrdom focuses on St. Andrew's adoration of the cross. The CMA version does not possess the chaos of Reni's larger scene, focusing instead on the central four figures, whereas in the original, a crowd of people surrounds the central group. The figure on the left bends in an unnatural pose and lacks the precision of Reni's original forms, suggesting that this piece is by another artist. The cross, originally seen in the distance, appears in the foreground of the smaller work, brought closer to St. Andrew to emphasize his relationship with God and his acceptance of his coming death.
Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art.
How it was made
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
Guido Reni
Italian, 1575–1642 · Born and died in Bologna.
Reni trained in Bologna, first with Denys Calvaert and then at the Carracci academy, and spent the early 1600s in Rome, where his fresco Aurora won wide fame. Returning to Bologna, he ran a large studio and became the most admired painter of his generation, prized for idealised figures, cool, clear colour and graceful movement. His late works, such as Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist, are freer in handling and paler in tone.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Renaissance
European art from about 1400 to 1600, when painters rediscovered perspective and the classical past.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Cleveland Museum of Art has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 1916.784
- Credit
- Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
