A Recurring Theme in Orthodox Art
Byzantine artists were fascinated with the subject that allowed them to graphically show human despair. The martyrs were typically represented at the point when they were about to freeze to death, "shivering from the cold, hugging themselves for warmth, or clasping hands to their faces or wrists in pain and despair". This is particularly evident in the large 10th-century ivory plaque from the Bode Museum and the Palaiologan portable mosaic set in wax, from Dumbarton Oaks.
The subject continues to be popular among Orthodox iconographers.
Read more about this topic: Forty Martyrs Of Sebaste
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