Limbourg Brothers
The Drowning of St. Clement
Late 14th or early 15 century
Manuscript illumination
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The image shows the traditional account of the martyrdom. Lest Clement's remains inspire a cult, Trajan's general orders that he be drowned at sea, tossed overboard with an anchor fastened around his neck. Clement is not the only saint thrown into the sea, so the artist clinches the identification by giving him a papal tiara.
The text below the image is an antiphon from the Mass for St. Clement's feast on November 23:
Dedisti, Domine, habitaculum Martyri tuo Clementi in mari, in modum templi marmorei, Angelicis manibus praeparatum, iter praebens populo terrae, ut enarrent mirabilia tua.
("O God, you gave a dwelling in the sea to Clement your martyr, in the form of a marble temple prepared by the hands of angels, and you gave people a way to go to it, so that they might declare your marvelous works.") The reference is to the legend that angels built an undersea temple for Clement's body and the anchor, and that the sea receded three miles once a year so that people could go and pray in the temple.")
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Read more about images of St. Clement.
Photographed at the museum by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.