Saint Peter Martyr by Giovanni Bellini

The panel was originally located in the chapel of the same title in the Dominican church of Santa Maria la Nova in Monopoli, an Apulian town on the Adriatic coast, which was administered directly by the Republic of Venice between 1495 and 1530.

Born Pietro Rosini (Verona, about 1205 - Seveso, April 6, 1252), he was a preacher belonging to the Dominican Order, who faught against Cathar heresy

He was killed in 1252 by two cathars with a dagger in the chest and an ax in the head. The hagiographies report that he dipped a finger in his own blood and with it wrote the word "Credo" (I trust in God) on the ground, then falling dead.

The palm branch represents the symbol of martyrdom, the book represents the Holy Bible, the Truth against the Heresy: the book is a fundamental attribute to highlight his role as a preacher

on the edge of the step: IOANNES BELLINUS