The Crucifixion of Saint Andrew

Saint Andrew is nailed to the cross in the centre of this dark canvas, his executioners straining at the ropes and ladder around him. Painted in Naples in 1606–07, it is one of the rare late works of Caravaggio, the revolutionary master whose tenebrist light and uncompromising naturalism transformed European painting, and the largest religious scene from his years in flight. The harsh illumination, the diagonal thrust of the composition and the frank physicality of the figures are all hallmarks of his Neapolitan manner, and the canvas long held a place among the celebrated paintings of his final years.