H. Anastasia de jongere 1565 - 1630

Antonio Tempesta made this small etching of H. Anastasia de jongere in the Netherlands, sometime around the turn of the 17th century. It depicts the grisly scene of the Christian martyr Anastasia being burnt at the stake. Martyrdom was a popular theme in Counter-Reformation art. It was a way for the Catholic Church to assert its authority in the face of the Protestant Reformation, which questioned the power of the papacy and the veneration of saints. Tempesta would have been working in a society where religious imagery was a powerful tool for shaping public opinion. This image makes a strong statement about the importance of remaining faithful to the church, even in the face of death. This print and others like it were designed to circulate widely, influencing viewers across different social strata. As historians, we can look at the way these images were made, distributed, and interpreted in order to better understand the social and political context of the time.