Dolci painted three versions of this subject for the senator Paolo del Sera and two other collectors in Florence of which this is the primary version. Several of the figures are portraits of well-known contemporaries including a tiny self-portrait of the artist just below the saint's right hand. The armed man with a moustache is Raffaello Ximines, a noted connoisseur and one of Dolci's earliest patrons. Dolci also included references to several other works of art in the background - pictures which may have been in the del Sera collection. The man in the red cap is a famous Titian portrait while the turbanned figure is a quote from Rubens.Legend recounts that St. Andrew fell to his knees before his cross in adoration because he was to die in the same way as Christ.