This rarely depicted subject is taken from the Acts of the Apostles. The moment depicted is the collapse and death of Sapphira, who had with her husband, Ananias, kept back some of their worldly goods, instead of distributing them to the poor as instructed by St. Peter. When admonished by St. Peter, both were stricken dead. The twisted poses of the main figures are typical of Francken’s work in the 1590s.

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