Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri)
The Martyrdom of St. Barnabas

Before 1643
Ink on paper, 12 x 7.8 in. (30.5 x 19.7 cm.)
National Museum in Warsaw

Above, the angel on the right engages the gaze of St. Barnabas while pointing heavenward; the angel on the left holds in readiness the palm branch signifying martyrdom. Below, as the Golden Legend has it, the Jews of the city of Salome "…bound a cord about his neck, and drew him out of the city, and there anon burnt him." As is common in the art of this period, a turban can be a sign of one's Jewishness. Thus the turbaned figure pointing to the execution may be taken to be a leader of the Jews.

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