José Rafael Aragón
San Acacio

Retablo, circa 1820
Paint on wood panel
Denver Art Museum, accession 1972.73

This is the St. Acathius who led the ten thousand soldiers who were martyred for their faith, crucified on trees by order of the Emperors Hadrian and Antoninus. Because of the trees in the story the saint's attribute is usually a leafy branch, but in this case he is pictured like Christ, on a cross with his head drooping to the right. At the foot of the cross are his two companions, Eliades and Carterius, like Acathius in contemporary dress. Their status as soldiers is expressed by their rifles and by the drum and military standard in the lower left.

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