Year 1644 Artist Jusepe de Ribera Period Baroque | Medium Oil on canvas Created 1644 Media Paint, Oil paint, Canvas | |
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Dimensions 202 cm × 153 cm (80 in × 60 in) Location Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona Similar Jusepe de Ribera artwork, Artwork at Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Baroque artwork | ||
Martyrdom of saint bartholomew
The Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew is a painting by Lo Spagnoletto conserved at the National Art Museum of Catalonia.
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Description
The painting illustrates martyrdom and physical torment. The almost naked apostle Bartholomew looks at us helplessly, while a sadistic drunken executioner delightedly flays him. On the ground, a classical sculpture, which has been identified as the god Baldach, and in the background two priests, their heads covered, are witnesses to the torture. The painting follows the text by Jacobus de Voragine in the 'Golden Legend', which is the Christian version of the fable of the satyr Marsyas, who suffered the same punishment as Saint Bartholomew. This is a work demonstrating the excellent art of Lo Spagnoletto. Before entering the MNAC it belonged to the illustrator Alexandre de Riquer.