''Saint Andrew'' is a 1635-1640 painting by Francisco de Zurbarán of the apostle

Andrew Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in List of countries where English is an official language, English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is freq ...

. Since 1949 it has been part of the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

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The Apostle Andrew

The New Testament describes how Andrew and his brother Simon Peter - fishermen on the Sea of Galilee - met

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and became his first followers. Later, Andrew would be present at many important events in Jesus' life. After his death, according to tradition, Andrew preached around the

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, before his execution in

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on the Peloponnese, tied to a Latin cross. During the Middle Ages, it became a common belief that Andrew had died on an X-shaped cross, the symbol of which has come to bear his name, because he did not consider himself worthy to suffer on the same cross as Christ.

Presentation

The veneration of Andrew likely reached Spain during the reign of Charles V. Zurbarán depicts him in the style of the

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...

, without other characters and with his attributes clearly visible. He holds a book in both hands, a common symbol of the apostles. Behind him, an X-shaped cross of rough wood is visible under a heavily cloudy sky. His appearance is very similar to the traditional depiction of Peter, his brother.

History

This painting probably comes from the college of ''Santo Tomás'' in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

, although there is no conclusive evidence for this. The college, founded by the Archbishop of Seville at the beginning of the sixteenth century, was difficult for outsiders to access, so there are few known descriptions of it. It is well known that there was a chapel there dedicated to Andrew, which was a rarity in Seville. It is very likely that a painting of the Archangel Gabriel - which is the same size - was ''Saint'' ''Andrew's'' counterpart. During the

French occupation French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

, many works of art were taken from churches and monasteries. In 1810,

Marshal Soult Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia, (; 29 March 1769 – 26 November 1851) was a French general and statesman, named Marshal of the Empire in 1804 and often called Marshal Soult. Soult was one of only six officers in Frenc ...

was able to take possession of the work. In 1835 it was sold to the

Duke of Sutherland Duke of Sutherland is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom which was created by William IV in 1833 for George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Marquess of Stafford. A series of marriages to heiresses by members of the Leveson-Gower family made th ...

and kept in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. On July 11, 1913, it was sold to the London art dealership Knoedler and Co., where it was bought by the Hungarian collector Baron Ferenc Hatvany who took it to Budapest. It was later acquired by the Jewish collector Baron Leopold Herzog, who also kept in Budapest, until it was confiscated during the Nazi occupation of Hungary in 1944. The Hungarian government refused to return the artwork after the war, and it was admitted to the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest in 1949. The heirs of Leopold Herzog brought a lawsuit against the Hungarian state in 2010 to regain possession of his collection, including ''St Andrew''; the claim remained unresolved as of October 2020.

References

{{Francisco de Zurbarán

1630s paintings Paintings by Francisco de Zurbarán Paintings in the Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest) Books in art