The Martyrdom of Saint Florian

Albrecht Altdorfer painted this Martyrdom of Saint Florian around 1510 for the Uffizi Gallery. The panel belonged to a cycle illustrating the life of Saint Florian, the patron saint of Upper Austria, whose martyrdom by drowning connected to Altdorfer's mastery of landscape and water painting Altarpieces featuring rows of standing saints served both liturgical and devotional functions, identifying the church's patron saints and giving worshippers specific objects for personal prayer.

The panel demonstrates Altdorfer's revolutionary integration of figure and landscape, with the dramatic martyrdom scene set within a luminous river landscape that is as much the painting's subject as the narrative action itself.