04 works, Today, October 22nd, is the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus day, her story illustrated #293

Workshop of Jeanne and Richard de Montbaston

Holy Seven Youths of Ephesus

Fourteenth-century manuscript

Richard Montbaston was a copyist in Paris in the late 14th  century. From his workshop came out in particular the Roman of the rose , illuminated by his wife, Jeanne.

Having sworn in the booksellers' oath in 1338, Richard de Montbaston is mentioned as a "bookseller" in the colophon in the Life of the Saints . On the other hand, his wife, Jeanne, took the oath of the booksellers in 1353 as illuminatrix and libraria , which gave rise to speculations according to which if Richard had the title of copyist and was indeed the owner of the workshop, he it would be impossible to attribute to him the illuminations of his manuscripts and that they should be due to his wife, Jeanne, although her work is not documented in any surviving manuscript. More on Richard Montbaston

During the persecutions by the Roman emperor Decius, around 250 AD, seven palace officers were accused of following Christianity; they were Maximian, Malchus, Marcian, Dionysius, John, Serapion and Constantine. They were given some time to recant their faith, but they refused to bow to Roman idols. Instead they chose to give their worldly goods to the poor and retire to a mountain cave to pray, taking their evening meal they mysteriously fall asleep. The Emperor, seeing that their attitude towards paganism had not improved, ordered the mouth of the cave to be sealed.

Unknown artist

Seven Holy Youths

 Monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai

Decius died in 251, and many years passed during which Christianity went from being persecuted to being the state religion of the Roman Empire. At some later time–usually given as during the reign of Theodosius II (408–450)–in 447 A.D. when heated discussions were taking place between various schools of Christianity about the resurrection of body in the day of judgement and life after death. 

Symeon Axenti (1513)

Council of Ephesus - 431ce

Fresco 

Church of St Sozomenos, Galata, Cyprus

The Council of Ephesus was a council of Christian bishops convened in Ephesus (near present-day Selçuk in Turkey) in AD 431 by the Roman Emperor Theodosius II. This third ecumenical council, an effort to attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all of Christendom. More on the Council of Ephesus

I have no information on Symeon Axenti

Piero della Francesca  (1415 – 1492)

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, c. 1463

Mural in fresco and tempera

225 × 200 cm (88.5 × 78.7 in)

Sansepolcro, Arezzo, Rimini, Rome

Piero della Francesca (1415 – 1492) was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. As testified by Giorgio Vasari in his Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, to contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and geometer. Nowadays Piero della Francesca is chiefly appreciated for his art. His painting was characterized by its serene humanism, its use of geometric forms and perspective. His most famous work is the cycle of frescoes The History of the True Cross in the church of San Francesco in the Tuscan town of Arezzo. More on Piero della Francesca

The emperor and the Church leaders prayed fervently that somehow the doubters would be convinced of the most basic Christian truth, the resurrection. And God, in His own time, used the Seven Sleepers to answer their prayer.

A landowner decided to open up the sealed mouth of the cave, thinking to use it as a cattle pen. He opened it and found the sleepers inside. They awoke, imagining that they had slept but one day, and sent one of their number to Ephesus to buy food, with instructions to be careful.

Upon arriving in the city, this person was astounded to find buildings with crosses attached; the townspeople for their part were astounded to find a man trying to spend old coins from the reign of Decius. The bishop was summoned to interview the sleepers; they told him their miracle story, and died praising God. More on the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus

Unknown artist

Seven Sleepers of Ephesus

Russian orthodox icon

Tempera on wood

32×27×3 cm

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