Philotheos Scoufos The Forty Martyrs of Sabaste c. 1665 Sign...

Estimate

£30,000 - £50,000

Philotheos Scoufos
The Forty Martyrs of Sabaste
c. 1665
Signed by Philotheos Scoufos

From a Distinguished Collection

Dimensions:
54 cm (H) x 44 cm (W)
21.26 in (H) x 17.3 in (W)

Lot Essay:
Here, we see recounted the martyrdom of forty Roman soldiers of the Legio XII Fulminata. The soldiers are thought to have been martyred in 320 near the city of Sebaste (modern day Turkey). They were victims of the persecutions of the Emperor Licinius.

Bishop Basil of Caesarea (370 - 379) provides the earliest extant account of their martyrdom. The forty soldiers who had openly confessed themselves Christians were condemned by the prefect to be exposed naked upon a frozen pond near Sebaste on a bitterly cold night.

Among the confessors, one yielded and, leaving his companions, sought the warm baths near the lake which had been prepared for any who might prove inconstant. Upon immersion into the cauldron, the one who yielded went into shock and immediately died. One of the guards, Aglaius, was set to keep watch over the martyrs and beheld at this moment a supernatural brilliancy overshadowing them. He at once proclaimed himself a Christian, threw off his garments, and joined the remaining thirty-nine.

Thus the number of forty remained complete. At daybreak, the stiffened bodies of the confessors, which still showed signs of life, were burned and the ashes cast into a river. Christians, however, collected the precious remains, and the relics were distributed throughout many cities; in this way, veneration of the Forty Martyrs became widespread, and numerous churches were erected in their honour.

["Martyr Acacius of the Holy 40 Martyrs of Sebaste". oca.org.]