|
St. Nereus
Died - early 2nd century
Feastday
- 12 May
Sculptor
- Lorenzo Ottoni
He received 80 scudi for the work.
Statue
created - c.1703
The documents show that in June 1703,
Ottoni had already finished the statues of Sts Nereus, Achilleus
and George.
Height
- 3.1 m. (10ft 4in) travertine
The saint dressed in a
tunic, turns his bearded face to the sky. His right hand
is on his chest, while his left holds the palm of martyrdom.
This
statue is a close correlation with the style of St Achilleus
(89), to reaffirm the spiritual bond between the two saints.
The
old Roman Martyrology of the 5th century contained the names
of the two martyrs Nereus and Achilleus, whose graves were in
the Catacomb of Domitilla on the Via Ardeatina. The epigraph
by Pope St Damasus for their catacomb shrine was recovered in
excavation
|
