The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer

A lion pads slowly across the sand of a Roman arena, closing in on a huddle of Christians who kneel in prayer. This tense scene is "The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer," finished by the French painter Jean-Léon Gérôme in 1883. Gérôme worked in the academic style, which prized sharp detail and careful research above all else. He poured years into this canvas, and it shows in the enormous columns, the flickering torches, and the endless rows of faces crammed into the stands. Over on the right, figures already hang tied to crosses, a chilling clue to what waits for the group at prayer.

The real force of the picture comes from the stillness of the believers. Around them the crowd hungers for the spectacle and the lion prowls, yet the kneeling martyrs stay calm, their faith holding steady against their fear. Gérôme had a lifelong love of the ancient world and traveled far to sketch ruins and study old objects, which gave his historical scenes their convincing texture. His work also tapped into a wider craze during the 1800s for early Christian tales and the brutal dramas said to have unfolded in the Colosseum.

Today the painting hangs at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, where it stays among Gérôme's most discussed works. Picture the hush of that final prayer set against the deafening roar of the crowd, and you feel the contrast the artist was after.