The Death of Ananias

A photograph of the tapestry illustrating 'The Death of Ananias' (Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 5, 1-5) now in the Vatican Museums (inv. no.43869). With Alinari's blind stamp at lower right, and annotations on the back. Not in Ruland (1876). Beneath the central scene is a border depicting episodes from the life of Pope Leo X, whose emblems appear in the central section. The vertical borders at either side incorporates various motifs, including the Three Fates (left-hand border) and the Theological Virtues (right-hand border).

The photographed tapestry is one from a set of ten illustrating stories from the lives of St Peter and St Paul, commissioned by Pope Leo X in 1514-15. The tapestry designs were executed by Raphael and his studio and transported to Flanders, where the tapestries were woven in the workshop of Pieter van Aelst. Seven of the tapestry cartoons survive (including that of 'The Death of Ananias'), now in the Victoria and Albert Museum on loan from the Royal Collection. The ten original tapestries, intended to be hung in the Sistine Chapel, are housed in the Vatican Museums.