St. John

St. John stands in the foreground, gesturing toward a chalice that represents the attempt to kill him with poisoned wine. Behind him, the narrative continues with scenes of him drinking the poison while two men lie dead at his feet, and in the far distance, he is shown unharmed in a vat of boiling oil. The scene is rendered with the dramatic, muscular figures and complex spatial arrangements typical of late 16th-century Dutch engraving.

This print emphasizes the physical incorruptibility of the Saint, a theme that resonates with the esoteric concept of the 'refined' body found in Neoplatonic and Hermetic thought. John's association with the Logos and his survival of fire and poison made him a central figure for later Christian mystics who viewed his life as a testament to the power of the Spirit over material corruption.