4233 - The Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus of Antioch

The Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus of Antioch Depiction of the Roman Catholic saint, Erasmus of Antioch (c. 240, Antioch [Antakya] - 303, Formia), according to legend, Erasmus served as an early Christian bishop in Antioch in what is now Turkey; following the persecution of Christians under Emperor Diocletian, Erasmus took refuge on a mountain in Lebanon, where, it is said, an angel appeared to him and urged him to return; upon his return, he was captured, tortured and flayed; in this scene, the saint is depicted lying naked on the ground, bound beside his mitre, whilst executioners, at the behest of an Oriental man and a man caricatured as Jewish, wind his intestines around a winch. It is said that Erasmus survived this torture only through God’s intervention and later died at a very advanced age whilst serving as a pastor in Formia, on the right, on a pedestal, a suggested bust of Diocletian; above the scene, an angel with a laurel wreath and a martyr’s palm frond; a religious genre painting with a slightly impastoed texture, oil on canvas, probably 17th century, unsigned, mounted on a plywood panel, signs of wear, in an old frame, inner dimensions approx. 82.5 x 64 cm.