Andrew is considered to have been “the first” apostle. He also brought his brother Simon to Jesus, who told them both: “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” As an apostle, Andrew was a missionary around the Black Sea and in Greece. While in Patras, a Roman consul sentenced him to crucifixion on a slanted cross (St. Andrew’s Cross) for not sacrificing to the pagan gods.
As opposed to the more common depictions of Andrew’s martyrdom, this time we see the saint in religious ecstasy; his left leg is bent upon the rock and the left side of his body is leaning on the cross. His right hand is held up in surrender and his gaze is cast towards the sky, towards the light of god in the upper right-hand corner. Two cherubim are floating above them, with the palm frond of martyrdom and the laurel wreath of victory. The half-naked figure comes across as a nude study done in the painter’s studio. The body’s plasticity is highlighted, the details inscribed sharply with a cold colour palette – all of this corresponds to Metzinger’s later style of painting in the 1850s.
The painting likely adorned the walls of the church choir in Škocjan pri Turjaku.