
Wikimedia Commons • Public Domain
Nicolas Poussin depicts the brutal martyrdom of St. Erasmus, who according to legend had his intestines wound out on a windlass. The painting shows the saint's torture with Classical restraint, balancing graphic subject matter with formal compositional order typical of Baroque religious art.
Poussin painted this altarpiece for St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, demonstrating his ability to handle large-scale religious commissions. The work is now at the Pinacoteca Vaticana.
Other masterpieces from the Baroque movement

Frans Hals, 1624
Wallace Collection, London
Johannes Vermeer, 1666
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Johannes Vermeer, 1665
Mauritshuis, The Hague

El Greco, 1614
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Johannes Vermeer, 1670
Louvre, Paris, Paris

Johannes Vermeer, 1664
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Johannes Vermeer, 1663
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Diego Velázquez, 1650
National Gallery, London
Luxury wall art with the same mood and energy. Gallery-quality canvas, no museum crowds.
Browse Collection