Detail of the St. Andrew Altarpiece:
The Devil disguised as a woman

1420-30
Provenance: Catalunya
The Cloisters, New York City

This panel from the St. Andrew Altarpiece in the Cloisters references the first of the miracles that the Golden Legend attributes to St. Andrew in the afterlife. A bishop who was especially devoted to St. Andrew was visited by a devil who came in the form of a beautiful woman, so beautiful indeed that the bishop began to waver in his dedication to chastity. But St. Andrew appeared and denounced the devil for what he was, and the bishop was saved.

Read the story in the Golden Legend.
View the entire altarpiece.
Read more about images of St. Andrew.

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Photographed at the Cloisters by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.