Ananias and Sapphira

Ananias (/ˌænəˈnaɪ.əs/; Biblical Hebrew: חָנַנְיָהּ‎, romanized: Chānanyah) and his wife Sapphira (/səˈfaɪrə/; סָפִירַה‎, Ṣafīrah) were, according to the biblical New Testament in Acts of the Apostles chapter 5, members of the early Christian church in Jerusalem. The account records their sudden deaths after lying to the Holy Spirit about money.

Their story is rarely shown in art, but is sometimes part of extended New Testament cycles. It is the subject of one of the Raphael Cartoons for the Sistine Chapel tapestries by Raphael, and a panel on the Brescia Casket, both illustrated here. It is a scene in the Brancacci Chapel frescos by Masaccio. There is also a 1590s painting by Ambrosius Francken the Elder, and other treatments.