The Forty Martyrs of Sebasteia

During the reign of Emperor Licinius in 320 A.D., a garrison of forty Christian Roman soldiers was stationed in the Armenian town of Sebaste. When the Emperor issued an edict condemning to torture and death those who would not perform the traditional pagan rites, the soldiers were captured. All forty of them refused to reject Christ, thus a cruel death was planned for them. They were forced to stand naked in the cold, along the shores of a lake, close to the baths and fires of the pagans, where they could go if they renounced the Lord. Only one soldier succumbed and left the scene. As death approached, a band of angels came down from heaven and placed crowns on the heads of the martyrs. Due to the wondrous sight and their remarkable faith, the Roman that guarded them removed his clothes and rushed to die by their side. The inscription of the scene is written in red capital letters on the golden ground, among the nimbi of the martyrs: ΟΙ ΑΓΙΟΙ ΤΕΣΣΑΡΑΚΟΝΤΑ ΜΑΡΤΥΡΕΣ. The Forty Martyrs, varying in age, stand next to a domed building on the left, the baths. The one that lost his courage is seen entering the baths, turning his back to the spectator. The guard is depicted throwing his clothes away and joining the Martyrs in the lake; he raises his left hand towards Christ and holds his garment with his right. The other thirty-nine Saints are arranged in rows, crowded and wearing only an undergarment or a loincloth. Their heads are forming an almost unnoticed loose geometric arrangement in ascending rows that trace triangular schemes. Above, Christ in bust is depicted blessing with both hands, placed on a light blue semi-cyclical segment of heaven. There is great variety in the attribution of the Martyrs, each of them having a different position with varying gestures and the head turned in agony. The agitation of the scene expresses not only the personal anguish, but also the sympathy and compassion felt towards the fellow martyrs. This feeling is accentuated by the representation on the right foreground of a middle-aged man trying to help the collapsing old martyr next to him. The composition, even though dramatic, displays elements of abstraction. The lake acquires a symbolic dimension, as the feet of the Saints are not in the water, but step upon it. The absence of landscape and of any space indication creates the impression that the thick mass of the Martyrs’ bodies stand up like a flat plane. On the other hand, the painter has handled the colours with great sensitivity, with greenish, rosy and blue shades dominating. The icon was created by an excellent artist and stands very close to the work of famous painter Theofanes.