At the centre of this painting, the apostle Saint Andrew is being tied to the X-shaped cross on which he will die. His muscles are taut and he raises his eyes heavenward, where several angels carry the palm and crown of martyrdom. The cross is tall, allowing Murillo to place the saint in the middle ground, surrounded by a great variety of figures who play different roles and express a range of emotions. Murillo has turned Andrew´s death into an exemplary spectacle: labourers prepare the scene of his martyrdom; authorities on horseback direct the execution and keep order; the populace mills about the nearby hill to witness his death; and a group of figures occupy the foreground, providing a counterpoint to the general hubbub. One member of this group is a woman whose back is turned to the viewer, and who holds a young child. Before her, another woman dries her tears with a cloth, while nearby two men converse, one extends his right arm and points at the saint, the other looks at his interlocutor with an expression of anguish. All of this activity is represented on a surface that is little wider than a metre and a half, in which the artist has also found space to depict numerous other objects, including an axe, a shovel and other work tools, the base of a toppled column, as well as a dog. The central subject of the composition derives from a painting by Peter Paul Rubens depicting Saint Andrew´s martyrdom, created for the Hospital of Saint Andrew of the Flemings (Hospital de San Andrés de los Flamencos) in Madrid, which Murillo could have seen either firsthand when he travelled to the court from his native Seville, or in prints based on it. The vitality, dynamism and drama that predominate in the present painting also recall Rubens, as does the use of a range of warm colours. An abundance of pastel tones serves to unify the scene and contributes to an enveloping atmosphere. The work is typical of Murillo´s late period, which scholars have described as characterised by a vaporous style. Also characteristic of this painter from Seville is an ability to combine both a sense of variety and of unity, along with attention to detail and a balanced manner of executing the composition. These allow for a clear reading of an easily identifiable principal subject and secondary subjects, all the while presenting the various elements interacting with each other. The relatively small scale of this religious painting and Murillo´s free painting style do not impede his ability to finely describe objects and figures, all of which attain a rare, individual quality. Such is the case, for instance, with the tools scattered on the ground or the two characters at the feet of the cross: a crouching man is depicted with exactitude as he looks over his shoulder toward his companion, a black man who is described with the same enthusiasm for individuality with which Murillo might paint a portrait. This work was acquired by Charles IV, an indication of the interest in Murillo´s works that developed among Spanish monarchs in the eighteenth century, as they sought to complete their collection of the most highly regarded Spanish painters, which they displayed in the royal palaces. There is another work by Murillo in the Museo Nacional del Prado, The conversion of Saint Paul (La conversión de San Pablo) c.1675-82 (P984), with similar dimensions and which was executed in a similar style, although, for thematic reasons, chiaroscuro was prominently used in that painting. The similarities have led to speculation that the two works might have been pendants (Text drawn from Portús, J.: Portrait of Spain. Masterpieces from the Prado, Queensland Art Gallery-Art Exhibitions Australia, 2012, p. 142).