Domenico Tintoretto (workshop of Jacopo Tintoretto)
The Martyrdom of SS. Cosmas and Damian

Circa 1580-1635
Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, Italy

In the legend Cosmas, Damian, and their brothers were tied to crosses and the people of the city assailed them with stones and arrows. The stones and arrows reversed course, so the proconsul had them beheaded. Here the artist collapses time a bit. The townspeople shoot arrows and cast stones even while the crosses are being erected, the beheading is elided, and the angel arrives with palm branches for the new martyrs.

This painting is over the altar where the relics of the two saints reside.

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Photographed at the church by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.