Urn Of The 40 Martyrs By Antonio And Gaspare Billi In The Museum Of The Basilica Of Saint Stephen In Bologna, Italy. Editorial Photo

Pictured is the Urn of the 40 Martyrs by Antonio and Gaspare Billi in the Museum of the Basilica of Saint Stephen in Bologna, Italy. The wooden carved, sculpted and gilded work of art was created in 1568. The 40 martyrs were Roman soldiers in AD 320 who refused to renounce Christ and were stripped naked and tied down to a frozen lake near Sebaste, present day Sivas in Turkey. They were instructed if they renounced Christ they would be freed and taken to a hot bath nearby to recover. One man relented and renounced Christ and was taken to the hot bath to warm up, leaving 39 soldiers on the ice. However one of the guards watching was allowed to see the supernatural glory resting on these 39 confessors of Christ. Desiring to receive the same glory, he stripped naked and joined them on the ice, thereby restoring the number to forty.