Detail of the Cloisters St. Andrew Altarpiece: The Youth accused of incestuous desires

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

This panel in the altarpiece illustrates the Golden Legend's story of a Christian youth accused by his mother of attempting incest with her. Actually, it was she who had proposed the sin to him. The judge ordered the young man executed, but St. Andrew prayed, the woman was struck dead by a "thunder," and the boy was exonerated.

Read the story in the Golden Legend.

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