Oil on canvas.The work is a faithful copy of the masterpiece of the same name by Tanzio da Varallo (1580-82 /1633), made by the painter from Valsesia for the Franciscan convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Varallo, and currently kept at the Brera Art Gallery.The painting depicts the martyrdom that took place in 1597 in Nagasaki of twenty-three Franciscan friars, who were later beatified in 1627, a date that allows the work to be placed in the last years of the artist's activity. Tanzio da Varallo was probably inspired for its creation by the text 'Lives and Enterprises of the Martyridel Japan' by the Spanish Franciscan Marcello di Ribadeneira; of the Brera painting we know a partial preparatory drawing (preserved at the Pinacoteca di Varallo), a sanguine drawing published by Testori (1964) and a canvas (from a private collection in Borgosesia)) published by Ferro. The replica proposed here is faithful to the original, even in its dimensions, which are smaller only by a few centimeters in height, probably lost during the retouching of the work.Although it is a copy of remarkable quality, where in particular the richness of the highlights that stand out on the warmer and darker tones of the flesh tones, one notices compared to the original a lesser executive finesse, a tendency to simplification and a pathetic accentuation, which depict the hand of a copyist concerned to reproduce the model in every detail, without allowing himself any license. Such a copyist, moreover, seems to have been very familiar with Tanzio's style, to the point of perfectly imitating even his hooked hands.One can therefore think of a pupil of Tanzio or of his workshop (which at Tanzio's death was carried on by his brother Melchiorre), or of an artist who saw and appreciated his works, such as, for example, Pietro Francesco Gianoli, who worked mainly in the churches of Valsesia and Novarese and of whom other replicas of works by Tanzio da Varallo are known, such as the David with the head of Goliath. Since, moreover, the 'work presented here, before being acquired by a private collector, remained placed for centuries at a Lombard Franciscan monastery, it is plausible that it is a copy of Tanzio's commissioned by the Order itself, for another monastery, by a painter who was stylistically close to Tanzio and could look to the original.The painting has been re-tinted and restored.It is presented in a late 19th-early 20th-century frame. This piece is attributed to the mentioned designer/maker. It has no attribution mark and no official proof of authenticity, however it is well documented in design history. I take full responsibility for any authenticity issues arising from misattribution less