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Martyrdom of Saint Januarius

Girolamo Pesce

1727
Oil on canvas, 262 x 193 cm
Bishop's Library
Vác, Hungary

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The Martyrdom of Saint Januarius

Luca Giordano

about 1690
The National Gallery
(model for altarpeice in S. Spirito dei Napoletani, Rome)

Saint Januarius, Bishop of Benevento and patron of Naples, was tortured by wild animals (Gentileschi's painting) and then beheaded near Pozzuoli about AD 305. The miraculous blood of St, Januarius was collected by a woman as depicted by Pesce. In the painting by Gordano the executioner stands behind the saint and an angel descends with a palm of martyrdom.