3-098-921 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Eudorus and Cymodocea in the Amphitheatre, 1884. Depiction of the moment when Cimodocea embraces Eudorus, who holds her with his left arm, raising his right to heaven to ask God for help. At their feet, a man is being devoured by a tiger; another old man stands with his head raised, surrendering his soul to heaven as he is about to die; another figure lies on the ground, hiding his head in his hands, overcome with fear; and in the background, a group of Christians prepare to be sacrificed. Clothes scattered on the ground, nails, and other details complete the scene. To create this work, Bermudo spent time in Tarragona, sketching its walls and Roman amphitheatre. Eudorus and Cymodocea are the tragic lovers in "Les Martyrs" (The Martyrs, or The Triumph of the Christian Religion), a French prose epic by François-René de Chateaubriand [1809].