The Death of Ananias and Sapphira

The Sacra Parallela gives the biblical story of Ananias and Sapphira a new frame. This very large and richly illustrated ninth-century codex is a compilation of biblical and patristic texts that have a collective bearing on theological, moral, and social subjects of importance. Individually, the various texts touch on the relationship of God and humankind, the virtues and vices of human nature, religious authority, and the proper conduct of Christians towards fellow humans.

The fates of Ananias and Sapphira are here illustrated separately. In the margin of one page, Sapphira appears before Peter and John, who in the first half of Acts are active leaders in the Jerusalem community. Seated on a cushioned chair to face the viewer directly, they turn to judge Sapphira, standing alongside them. Large gold-leaf halos (bordered in a black line punctuated with tiny white dots) emphasize their divine authority: as the text asserts, the Holy Spirit is present in the apostles, and so in lying to them, Sapphira attempts to deceive the Spirit (Acts 5:9).

Opposite this single depiction of the two apostles, two smaller representations of Sapphira are intended to be read in quick succession. In the first, she stands anxiously beside them, her veiled head inclined towards them, her shoulders drawn upwards, arms held close to her chest, and hands open, perhaps in supplication. In the second, she falls dead before them, her tiny red feet askew but her body folded into a position reminiscent of prostration in prayer. In a third scene, placed below the apostles, Sapphira’s bound corpse is transported away to burial.

Thus with great economy of detail, working alongside the text, the artist draws out both the tragic finality of the judgement upon Sapphira, and the very human face of sin.

This dynamic and monumental painting places Ananias and Sapphira among their community in Jerusalem (see Acts 4). The horizontal scene, filled with colour and vigorous movement, is divided into two parts at the centre of which, raised on a stepped platform, stand the apostles—their divine authority signalled in their fine gold halos. On the left, some distribute money to the needy; on the right, some receive goods.

Created by Raphael and his assistants, this full-scale design was one in a series of ten sumptuous tapestries commissioned by Pope Leo X in 1515 to hang on the walls of the Sistine Chapel. Executed when embezzlement of funds from the church was a serious problem, they presented different moments in Acts featuring Peter and Paul, intended to make a broad statement about the Church’s authority through depiction of these founders of the Christian church and martyrs in Rome.

Peter is positioned in the centre, at the top step of the platform, gesturing and looking down to Ananias. No other movement obscures our view of this pivotal apostle, the ‘rock’ on whom the church was built. Our eye is drawn directly up to Peter by two large male figures sprawled in the foreground. On the right, Ananias collapses dead, his legs splayed before him, head falling backwards, eyes closed, one arm buckling under his weight. On the left, a man recoils backwards onto one knee in surprised horror, his head bolt upright, eyes and mouth wide open, and arms outstretched. At the far right, Sapphira, oblivious to the events taking place, counts coins in her hand.

Another apostle, possibly Andrew, directs our attention to her presence with a gesture and threatening glance, while he points heavenward with his left hand as if to indicate the larger power at work in this scene: the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit is at work, obliviousness can only be temporary.

A rare depiction of Ananias and Sapphira from the early Christian period survives on an ivory casket, exquisitely carved with a variety of stories from the Old and New Testaments. Located at the centre of the back panel, Peter is seated as judge, leaning forward in his chair to accuse Sapphira, who stands cautiously before him. Behind her, the dead Ananias is being removed for burial. Placed between them on the ground is a fat money bag, tied at the neck, above which the artist has carved a clear, open space.

The only details to intrude into this intentional void are gestures: the right hand of Peter, pointing purposefully at Sapphira, and the right hand of the accused, hovering hesitantly above the bag. This depiction cleverly conveys the intensity of Peter questioning Ananias and then Sapphira in the literary narrative, and highlights an important dimension of the couple’s story: while Peter judges Sapphira for the same crime as her husband had committed, her verdict carries a stronger tone of judgement, and the curse-like nature of his words is more explicit in the text (Acts 5:9).

This is highlighted here through Ananias’s being carried by four young men, representatives of the betrayed community, sensitively carved such that the gravity of their movement, and of the dead-weight of Ananias, is palpable. So too is Ananias’s desperation. His eyes are closed as he turns back to face Sapphira, his right arm stretched upwards as though, in the very moment of death, he gestured vigorously to warn his wife. In this way the spectacle of Ananias’s body is used to enhance the visual drama, and it is Sapphira’s impending death that emerges to dominate the scene.