. Sacred and legendary art . t; the blood flows from her lips;and at the piteous sight tears flow from the eyes of the specta-tors ; their hearts melt within them. ^ In the background is seen the interior of a dungeon. , seated on the earth, raises her hands to heaven, andprays for mercy, and for strength to bear her sufferings : overher head, behold! the cross appears; either to show her con-fidence in the sign of our redemption, or to signify that she toomust suffer. Then, near to the prison, we see a pile of fagotskindled, and in the midst stands the beautiful and courageousmarty
. Sacred and legendary art . t; the blood flows from her lips;and at the piteous sight tears flow from the eyes of the specta-tors ; their hearts melt within them. ^ In the background is seen the interior of a dungeon. , seated on the earth, raises her hands to heaven, andprays for mercy, and for strength to bear her sufferings : overher head, behold! the cross appears; either to show her con-fidence in the sign of our redemption, or to signify that she toomust suffer. Then, near to the prison, we see a pile of fagotskindled, and in the midst stands the beautiful and courageousmartyr. She extends her arms towards heaven; her counte-nance is radiant with hope, with faith, with joy. 550 THE GREEK MARTYRS The description ends here, and Asterius does not mentionany further circumstances attending her martyrdom ; but, accord-ing to the legend, the flames, as was usual in such cases, wererendered innocuous by miraculous intervention: she was thenthrown to the lions, but they crouched and licked her feet, and. St. Euphemia (Mosaic) refused to harm her. Priscus, on seeing this, was like to swoonwith despite and mortification; so one of his soldiers, to do hima pleasure, rushed upon the maiden, and transfixed her withhis sword. This form of the legend must have prevailed inthe time of St. Ambrose ; but in other Legendaries it is relatedthat the lions attacked her, but did not devour her, and that theexecutioner finished her with the sword. ST. EUPHEMIA 551 St. Euphemia suffered in the tenth persecution, at Chalcedoniain Bithynia, not far from Byzantium, and about the year 307or 311. The picture described by Asterius must have beenexecuted soon after the death of the saint, when her memory,was fresh in the minds of the people, and at a period whenclassical Art, though on the decline, retained at least its splendidforms, and influenced all the Christian representations. Wemay therefore infer the beauty and the accuracy of the delineation ; it shows also that the man
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