Martyrdom of Saint Cipriano from Heiligenleben (Lives of the Saints), Plate 18 from Woodcuts from Books of the 15th Century

This simple woodcut book illustration, from an early printed edition of Jacobus de Voragine’s famous Lives of the Saints, depicts the martyrdom of the now little-known Saint Cipriano. This theologian quickly rose in the ranks of the Church, becoming bishop of Carthage in A.D. 248. After serving for a decade, Cipriano fled and survived the first organized persecution of Christians by the Romans. Nonetheless, the Roman Emperor Valerian eventually apprehended him in another purge. Surrounded by thousands of his devoted citizens, Cipriano bravely accepted his death sentence, knelt in prayer, and was beheaded with one powerful stroke.