The Martyrdom of Saint Andrew

The masterpiece by the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens The Martyrdom of Saint Andrew is on display in Room 16 B of the Villanueva Building along with its original frame, the piece was painted by Rubens during the same period he was working on the decorative programme of the Torre de la Parada. The Museo Nacional del Prado, home to the world’s largest and most important collection of works by Rubens, will, from now until 2026, host The Martyrdom of Saint Andrew, a masterpiece from the artist’s final years, thanks to the generosity of Fundación Carlos de Amberes. 

The oil painting was commissioned from Peter Paul Rubens by Jan van Vucht, a Fleming living in Madrid, for the high altar of the church of the former Hospital de San Andrés de los Flamencos, the origin of the Fundación Carlos de Amberes.  It has belonged to the Fundación ever since Van Vucht donated it on his death in 1639.

The painting captures the moment when Aegeas, the proconsul of the Roman province of Achaia, imprisoned and crucified Saint Andrew after learning that much of the population of Achaia had converted to Christianity, including his own wife. During his martyrdom Andrew never stopped preaching and the crowd soon rebelled against Aegeas, who then tried to free him, but the saint refused.

Sir Peter Paul Rubens was a Flemish artist born in 1577 and he is considered the most influential artist of Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens’s highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of classical and Christian history. His unique and immensely popular Baroque style emphasized movement, color, and sensuality, which followed the immediate, dramatic artistic style promoted in the Counter-Reformation. Rubens specialized in making altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects.

Image credits:

The Martyrdom of Saint Andrew (c.1638-1639). Peter Paul Rubens. Fundación Carlos de Amberes, Madrid