The Martyrdom of Saint Thiemo

Paudiss was trained in Rembrandt’s studio, where he became familiar with the chiaroscuro technique that he used to create eerie effects in his bizarre paintings. This picture, which he designed as an altarpiece for a side chapel of Salzburg Cathedral, portrays with frightful cruelty the martyrdom of Saint Thiemo, a scene that is otherwise seldom depicted. From 1077 to 1090 the saint was the abbot of St. Peter’s Abbey in Salzburg and was later the archbishop of the city. According to legend he was martyred at Ascalon in the Holy Land in 1102, during the First Crusade.