The painting was located in one of the chapels of the Capuchin church in Parma, together with the paintings by Pittoni and Piazzetta, with which it was transported to France during the Napoleonic government, to return to Parma and join the Gallery collections in 1810. It was probably made between 1752-53, the year in which Tiepolo returned to Italy after a stay in Germany, and 1758, when the artist received the title of "amatore" from the Academy, which would later become that of "academic of honour" . The canvas presents two Capuchin martyr saints canonized by Benedict XIV in 1746: Fedele of Sigmaringen accompanied by an angel in the act of trampling on the allegory of Heresy and on his right Giuseppe da Leonessa in prayer, with his gaze turned towards the sky, both wearing visibly patched sais. The composition of the altarpiece is monumental and balanced, played on the contrast between the figures of the saints, with their dark robes, and the pale female figure of Heresy, half-naked on the ground, writhing in pain, with snakes coming out of her hair, an allusion to sin and the evil one. Behind the two saints, the entrance to a classical building can be glimpsed, probably a church, while a large, verdant landscape opens up in the background illuminated by a blue sky with large white clouds, which evokes other works by the artist.