This painting appears to be an copy in reverse after Jusepe de Ribera's 1624 print of the same subject, a signed and dated impression of which is held by the British Museum (Inv. no. 1874,0808.746). The print was widely reproduced during the seventeenth century, including an early engraving in reverse by Pierre Brebiette (1598-1642), as well as several later anonymous copies.

The martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew was a popular subject in Counter–Reformation Italy and Spain. Ribera's print portrays the apostle's gruesome final moments as he is flayed alive. The composition is indicative of Ribera's delight in the horrors of human cruelty; his naturalistic forms combining with the complex and varied emotions of those portrayed to create a moving account of the saint's martyrdom. St Bartholomew, tied to a broken tree, gazes skyward toward the martyr's crown and palm frond, which are proffered by heavenly hands breaking through the dark clouds. His open mouth and wide eyes convey a sense of divine communion, as he accepts his fate without struggle. By contrast, the executioner, his feet firmly planted, clenches the knife between his teeth, business-like and wholly focused on his gory task. Behind him, a soldier gazes out toward the viewer, drawing us into the composition. The younger executioner, seen in shadow on the left of Ribera's print is absent from the Royal Collection's painted version.

The style of the mid-eighteenth century gilt frame for the painting indicates that it may have been purchased by George III in 1762 as part of the collection of Joseph Smith, British Consul in Venice. However, the painting was first recorded in the Royal Collection in 1818, when it was ascribed to Lawrence Nottery after a design of Spagnoletto [Ribera] and dated 1630. Nothing is known of Nottery's life or work. The reversal of Ribera's original composition indicates that the painting may have been made from a later print; why the figure to the far left was omitted is unclear. Another painted version of Ribera's composition, in oil on copper, appears in the Wellcome Library Collection (44807i).

The painting appears in Pyne's illustrated 'Royal Residences' of 1819, hanging in The Queen's Closet at Kensington Palace (RCIN 922154).