"The Christian Martyrs."

DORE, 1871. OIL PAINTING. HEIGHT, 4 FT. 10 IN.; WIDTH, 7 FT. 6 IN.

One of the most memorable events in the reign of Diocletian was his fierce persecution of the Christians, 303 A. D. Dore's picture represents the interior of a Roman amphitheatre, on the night succeeding a great festival, when, for the amusement of the multitude, a crowd of Christians had been thrown to the wild beasts in the arena. The bodies of the martyrs lie on the sand, and savage animals are prowling around or mangling the remains. Above, descending from a star-lit sky, is seen a troop of angels, whose mission is to welcome the departing spirits of those whose life is not yet extinct. The stone seats of the amphitheatre are empty; the cruel, pleasure-seeking crowd, the emperor, the prefect and the consul have gone to their homes. The loneliness and horror of the scene they have left behind would give no pleasure, even to lovers of art, were it not that in the cold, dreary sky above, the stars are shining and the blessed angels are descending from the realms of eternal peace. The Victoria Magazine says: "We confess that we took more pleasure in that one picture ("The Christian Martyrs"), at the Dore Gallery, than in all the pictures at the Royal Academy put together." Every victim lying there--his agony over, and a heavenly rapture on his face--would seem to have expired saying, with Queen Katherine:--