2-930-982 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Sketch for the chapel of Sainte-Suzanne in the church of Saint-Roch in Paris, c.1857. Left: Empress Prisca with the body of St Susanna. Right: Maximus (Gaius Galerius Valerius Maximianus) steps back at the sight of the Angel which protects Susanna. Susanna was the niece of Pope Caius, who was close to emperor Diocletian. He had given his daughter Valeria in marriage to Maximus, but as she died soon after, he chose to marry Susanna. The young Christian refused his advances and underwent martyrdom. (Esquisse pour la chapelle Sainte-Suzanne de l'église Saint-Roch : "L’impératrice Prisca ensevelissant le corps de sainte Suzanne" - "Maximien reculant à la vue de l'ange qui protège sainte Suzanne").