With its plunging diagonal composition and high narrative drama, the "Martyrdom of St. Erasmus" is Poussin’s most overtly “baroque” work. Despite its adherence to the pictorial idiom of the day, for unknown reasons, the "Martyrdom of St. Erasmus" seems to have met with official displeasure and generated no further papal commissions. This disappointment, and the loss of a competition for a fresco cycle in San Luigi dei Francesi, convinced Poussin abandon the pursuit of large-scale, public commissions and the burdensome competitions, content restrictions, and political machinations they entailed. Instead, Poussin would re-orient his art towards private collectors, for whom he could work more slowly, with increasing control over subject matter and style.