The Saint was the brother of Saint Peter, and apart from a brief mention in the Gospel according to Saint John, his later life and acts are legendary. By tradition, the Apostle was martyred by being bound to an X shaped cross. He had been condemned by Egeas, the Roman Governor of Patras in the Peloponnese. The figure of the Saint is clearly by the artist, but the landscape background may well have been added by another hand, as yet unidentified.

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