The Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus is an altarpiece, painted by Nicolas Poussin in 1628–1629, originally displayed in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome.

[3] The Pope first invited Pietro da Cortona to carry out the commission, but Poussin was finally chosen thanks to the intervention of his protector, Cassiano dal Pozzo, the secretary of Cardinal Francesco Barberini.

The latter had previously commissioned him to create The Capture of Jerusalem (Israel Museum) in 1626 and The Death of Germanicus in 1627, assuring Poussin's reputation in Rome where he had arrived four years earlier.

[4] Two preparatory drawings are known, the first kept in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, and the second in the Gabinetto dei Disegni e delle Stampe of the Uffizi in Florence.

[4] The painting represents one of the many tortures suffered by Erasmus of Formia, Bishop of Antioch, taken by an angel to southern Italy, and pursued by the persecutions of Maximian Hercules.

This altar has a decoration that dates back to the time of Pope Clement VIII, made of gilded stucco and polychromatic marble.