Simon of Trent’s martyrdom

The relief depicts the iconography f Simon’s martyrdom, precociously disseminated thanks to the use of printing. The composition is organised around the figure of ‘Simonino’ shown naked and stretched out on a kind of bench while he is slowly being suffocated by a Jew who is tightening a strap around his neck. Another four torturers in the meantime are tormenting the child’s body (the only torture instrument remaining visible is the knife held by the figure on the left) that is forced to hold the classical crucifix pose. At the ends of the relief are the figures of a man holding the pail with the ‘martyr’s’ blood, and a woman, identifiable as Brunetta, to whom the inquisitors assigned an active role in the alleged infanticide. The figure of the small dog in the left-hand corner of the scene is a symbol of the innate cruelty attributed to Jews.