The Crucifixion of Saint Andrew

About the Artwork

Saint Andrew’s efforts to introduce Christianity to Greece in the first century CE were met with hostility from local authorities. He was sentenced to die on the cross because he refused to acknowledge pagan gods. For two days, Andrew preached from his martyr’s station to an increasingly sympathetic crowd. Bowing to public demand, Andrew’s would-be executioners attempted to untie him, but their hands were mysteriously paralyzed. Andrew’s desire for martyrdom was thus fulfilled and he died enveloped in divine light. Caravaggio’s innovative interpretation involves the viewer more closely in the event by presenting the crucifixion as intimate and private, rather than as a gruesome public spectacle. Bold contrasts of light and dark suggest the presence of God. A masterpiece of Baroque painting, Caravaggio’s Crucifixion of Saint Andrew is the only altarpiece by the artist in America.

Exhibition history

Year in Review, 1976. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 1-March 6, 1977). Painting in Naples from Caravaggio to Giordano. Royal Academy of Arts, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (October 2-December 12, 1982). Caravaggio: The Last Years. Museo di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy (October 23, 2004-January 23, 2005); National Gallery, London, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (February 23-May 22, 2005). Rembrandt - Caravaggio. Van Gogh Museum, 1070 AJ Amsterdam, Netherlands (February 25-June 16, 2006). Masterpieces of European Painting from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Frick Collection, New York, NY (organizer) (November 8, 2006-January 28, 2007). Masterpieces of European Painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, Beachwood, OH (March 29-July 8, 2007). Conservation in Focus: Caravaggio's Crucifixion of Saint Andrew. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 3-September 14, 2014).

Quick Overview

Artist: Caravaggio (Italian, 1571–1610)
Date: 1606–7
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: Framed: 233.5 x 184 x 12 cm (91 15/16 x 72 7/16 x 4 3/4 in.); Unframed: 202.5 x 152.7 cm (79 3/4 x 60 1/8 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: European Painting and Sculpture
Credit line: Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Accession no.: 1976.2

Provenance

1603–1610: Don Juan Alonso Pimentel y Herrera, Eighth Conde de Benavente, Spanish viceroy in Naples. until c. 1652–3: Don Juan Francisco Alonso Pimentel y Ponce de Léon (grandson of above, inherited and lived 1584–1652) Tenth Conde de Benavente, Valladolid. An unidentified convent in Castilla, Spain. A. Tors, Madrid. 1973: José Manuel Arnaiz, Madrid. 24 February 1976: Legatt Brothers (London) sold by Arnaiz to the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 7, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.