Red Terror (Spain) on 25 July, feast day of St James, patron saint of Spain. August saw a further 2,077 clerical victims. After just two months of civil war, 3400 priests, monks and nuns had been murdered. According to recent research, some of the Republican death squads were heavily staffed by members of the Soviet Union's secret police, the NKVD. According to author Donald Rayfield, "Stalin, Yezhov, and Beria distrusted Soviet participants in the Spanish war. Military advisors like Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko, journalists like Koltsov were open to infection by the heresies, especially Trotsky's, prevalent among the Republic's supporters. NKVD agents sent to Spain
The Martyrdom of Saint Philip work by Ribera. It is less caravagesque than his previous works, showing the influence of Guido Guido Reni and Domenichino. "The Martyrdom of Saint Philip " was likely commissioned by the II Duke of Medina de las Torres as a gift to King Philip IV of Spain; Philip the Apostle was his patron saint. For a long time, the painting was part of the royal collection. It survived the fire in de Royal Alcázar in 1734 was subsequently installed in the Buen Retiro Palace and the Royal Palace of Madrid. Sometime after 1818 the painting was moved to the Prado.