The Martyrdom of Saint Menas

Ca. 1580. Oil on canvas.
Room 026

Saint Mena extends his arms and raises his gaze to Heaven, refusing to worship the graven idol presented to him at the left of the composition. As a result, he was martyred and decapitated. His suffering occurred in the year 296, under the rule of Diocletian. It is indicated here by the sword held by the person who has seized the saint, and by the pliers in the basket, which were used to pull out his eyes. This Egyptian saint was adopted as the patron saint of the Coptic Christians, who are predominately in Egypt. The composition of this scene is derived from the Martyrdom of Saint George in the Church of San Giorgio in Braida (Verona), which is the source of both the placement of the moment in front of a pagan altar, and the physiognomy of the characters. The IX Admiral of Castile, Juan Alfonso Enríquez de Cabrera, gave this work to Felipe IV (1605-1665), who sent it to the Monastery of El Escorial. From there, it entered the Prado Museum collection in 1837.

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Inventory number: P000497
Author: Paolo (Paolo Cagliari) Veronese
Title: The Martyrdom of Saint Menas
Date: Ca. 1580
Technique: Oil
Support: Canvas
Dimension: Height: 248 cm; Width: 182 cm
Provenance: Royal Collection (Donated by Juan Alfonso Enríquez de Cabrera, IX Almirante de Castilla, to Felipe IV; Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Madrid, “Iglesia Vieja”, 1837)
Entry date: 1837

Bibliography +

Venturi, Adolfo, Paolo Veronese: (per il IV centenario dalla nascita), Ulrico Hoepli, Milan, 1928, pp. 138.

Orliac, Antoine, Veronese, Hyperion, Paris, 1939, pp. 106.

Keller, Harald, Tizians Poesie Fur Konig Philipp II Von Spanien, Franz Steiner Verlag G.N.B.H., Wiesbaden, 1969, pp. 75.

Sánchez Cantón, Francisco Javier, Museo del Prado. Catálogo de las pinturas, Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1972.

Pignatti, Terisio, Veronese: l'opera completa, Alfieri, Venecia, 1976, pp. lám. 627.

Marini, Remigio, La obra pictórica completa del Veronés, Noguer, Barcelona. Madrid, 1976.

Angulo Iñiguez, Diego, Museo del Prado: pintura italiana anterior a 1600, Gredos, Madrid, 1979, pp. 197-198.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Catálogo de las pinturas, Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1985, pp. 756.

Brown, Jonathan, Velázquez: pintor y cortesano, Alianza Editorial, Madrid, 1986, pp. 240 / lám. 296.

Réau, Louis, Iconographie de L'Art Chretien. T. I. Introduction Generale, Kraus Reprint, Millwood, 1988, pp. 950.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Museo del Prado. Inventario general de pinturas (I) La Colección Real, Museo del Prado, Espasa Calpe, Madrid, 1990.

Ruiz Gómez, Leticia, Catálogo de las colecciones históricas de pintura veneciana, Editorial Patrimonio Nacional, Madrid, 1991, pp. 120.

Checa Cremades, Fernando, Tiziano y la monarquía hispánica: usos y funciones de la pintura veneciana en España (siglos XVI y XVII), Nerea, Madrid, 1994, pp. 291, n. 105.

Bettagno, Alessandro, El Museo del Prado, Fonds Mercator Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1996, pp. 267.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Pintura italiana del Renacimiento: guía, Museo del PradoAldeasa, Madrid, 1999, pp. 218.

Antichi disegni dalla Collezione Ligabue a cura di Sebastiano e Pietro Scarpa, Electa, Milán, 2005, pp. 52-53.

González Mozo, Ana, 'Primer plano', Paolo Veronese: 1528-1588, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 2025, pp. 119-137 [130 fg.30.1,134 nt.57].

Other inventories +

Inv. Real Museo, 1857. Núm. 897.
Pablo Veronés. / 897. Martirio de san Gines. / En el centro, sobre una especie de cadalso se ve al santo martir entre los brazos del verdugo, que apoyado con la diestra en una grande espada, espera la orden de la ejecucion. A la izquierda unos sacerdotes del paganismo estan en actitud de amonestarle para que preste adoracion a los falsos dioses, y a la derecha se ven los soldados que le han conducido al lugar del suplicio. (E.) / Alto 8 pies, 10 pulg, 6 lin; ancho 6 pies, 6 pulg.

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1872-1907. Núm. 530.