PRE-ROMANESQUE SCULPTOR, Greek
(active c. 1000)

The Fourty Martyrs of Sebaste

c. 1000
Ivory, 19 x 24 cm (open)
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

This triptych is a masterpiece from Byzantium's Macedonian Renaissance. The central scene depicts a legend of the time when Emperor Constantine ruled jointly with Licinius around 320. On their commander's order, 40 Christian converts from the garrison of Sebaste, in Asia Minor, were driven naked onto a frozen lake and left there for the night.




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