Tales of St. Peter Martyr, 1365-1367 (fresco)

Tales of St. Peter Martyr (Storie di san Pietro Martire), by Andrea di Bonaiuto, 1365-1367, 14th Century, fresco Detail. The scene depicts Saint Peter's Martyrdom, kneeled and stopped by a man standing behind him who brandishes a sword and he is about to hit; the martyr, with his face tense in suffering, writes something on the ground using the blood that profusely flows from a wound in his head; beside him there is another friar, standind with his hands joined and his head bent in an attitude of deep grief; hidden behind some rocks, other three masculine figures witness the scene, whose heads are only visible with beards and hats; the landscape in the background is dull, rocky, but in its upper part it is possible to notice a row of trees that symbolizes a forest; below the fresco runs a frieze with geometrical and floral motives in red, pink and white shades Andrea di Bonaiuto Church of Santa Maria Novella