Extracting the Heart of Saint Ignatius by Sandro Botticelli

The long wooden panels that covered the space under the altar picture often became a stumbling block for artists. Usually they were filled with multi-figure scenes from the lives of saints, but Botticelli preferred simple compositions based on a certain event.

In this case, the event is the extraction of the heart of St. Ignatius, probably Ignatius of Antioch, an elderly man who ended his days a martyr in Rome, where he was thrown to the lions to be torn. The painting was written, like the Vision of St. Augustine, for the altar of the church of San Barnaba.

Related Paintings

The Altar of St. Barnaby by Sandro Botticelli Miracle of St. Eligia by Sandro Botticelli Repentance of Saint Jerome by Sandro Botticelli The Story of Saint Zinovy by Sandro Botticelli Return of Judith to Vetiluy by Sandro Botticelli Saint Sebastian by Sandro Botticelli Three miracles of Saint Zinovy by Sandro Botticelli Madonna with the Child and Saints Mary Magdalene, John the Baptist, Kozma, Damian, Francis of Assisi and Catherine of Alexandria by Sandro Botticelli