The Crucifixion of Saint Andrew (Caravaggio)
Encyclopedia
The Crucifixion of Saint Andrew (1607) is a painting by the Italian
Baroque master Caravaggio
. It is in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art
, which acquired it from the Arnaiz collection in Madrid in 1976, having been taken to Spain by the Spanish Viceroy of Naples in 1610.
Giovanni Bellori, in his 1672 biography of Caravaggio, mentions a Crucifixion of Saint Andrew which is presumably this picture. From the 17th century St Andrew was shown on a diagonal cross, but Caravaggio would have been influenced by the 16th century belief that he was crucified on a normal Latin cross. The saint was supposed to have survived two days on the cross, preaching to the crowd and eventually converting them so that they demanded his release. But when the Roman governor - the man in the plumed hat at lower right - ordered him taken down his men were struck by a miraculous paralysis, in answer to the saint's prayer that he be allowed to undergo martyrdom.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Baroque master Caravaggio
Caravaggio
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1593 and 1610. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, had a formative influence on the Baroque...
. It is in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art is an art museum situated in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on Cleveland's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian art, the museum houses a diverse permanent collection of more than 43,000...
, which acquired it from the Arnaiz collection in Madrid in 1976, having been taken to Spain by the Spanish Viceroy of Naples in 1610.
Giovanni Bellori, in his 1672 biography of Caravaggio, mentions a Crucifixion of Saint Andrew which is presumably this picture. From the 17th century St Andrew was shown on a diagonal cross, but Caravaggio would have been influenced by the 16th century belief that he was crucified on a normal Latin cross. The saint was supposed to have survived two days on the cross, preaching to the crowd and eventually converting them so that they demanded his release. But when the Roman governor - the man in the plumed hat at lower right - ordered him taken down his men were struck by a miraculous paralysis, in answer to the saint's prayer that he be allowed to undergo martyrdom.