Ananias and Sapphira

Ananias (/ˌænəˈnaɪ.əs/; Biblical Hebrew: חָנַנְיָהּ‎, romanized: Chānanyah) and his wife Sapphira (/səˈfaɪrə/; סָפִירַה‎, Ṣafīrah) were, according to the biblical New Testament in Acts of the Apostles chapter 5, members of the early Christian church in Jerusalem. The account records their sudden deaths after lying to the Holy Spirit about money.

Their story is rarely shown in art, but is the subject of one of the Raphael Cartoons, and a panel on the Brescia Casket, both illustrated here. It is also shown on a 1590s painting by Ambrosius Francken the Elder.