St. Valerian the Martyr

Painting

Purdue University Galleries

Name/Title

St. Valerian the Martyr

Entry/Object ID

2005.02.059

Description

Full painting under silver riza with halo in relief backed on wood with cursive parchment. The painted face shows a young clean shaven man with curly brown hair. The riza gives the young man robes with floral etching and a spiked halo. Handwritten note on back and makers mark under bottom edge.

Type of Painting

Panel

Collection

Betsy Scheuring Icon Collection

Acquisition

Accession

2005.02

Source or Donor

Betsy Scheuring

Acquisition Method

Gift

Credit Line

Gift of Betsy Scheuring

Made/Created

Artist

Trofim Semionovich Bogdanov

Date made

1845 - 1894

Place

* Untyped Place

St. Petersburg, Russia

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Type

Makers Mark

Location

bottom edge of riza

Transcription

ДТ/1845, ТСБ, 84, city hallmark image, 23

Language

Cyrillic

Translation

DT (Dmitriy Tverskoy)/1845, TSB (Trofim Semionovich Bogdanov) 84, St. Petersburg, 23

Type

Label

Location

Back of painting on a slip of paper

Transcription

Cursive script, 22/?, 1894

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Icon

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Symbol, Religious

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Religious Objects

Nomenclature Class

Ceremonial Objects

Nomenclature Category

Category 08: Communication Objects

Dimensions

Height

5-3/4 in

Width

4-1/2 in

Depth

1/2 in

Exhibitions

25: A Selection Works from Purdue Galleries’ Permanent Collection (2024)

Surveying the Sacred: Analysis of the Scheuring Collection of Eastern Orthodox Icons (2025)

Interpretative Labels

Label Type

Cultural/Historical Context

Label

"St. Valerian lived in Rome in the 5th century. He was converted to Christianity by St. Cecilia on the night of his arranged marriage to her. In addition, he converted his brother Tiburtius, and they set about burying the bodies of Christian martyrs. The men were caught and executed, along with Maximus, a Roman officer whom they had converted after their arrest. When Cecilia tried to bury the men’s bodies, she too was apprehended and executed. St. Valerian holds a palm leaf of martyrdom, plainly rendered in the painting but shown more elaborately in the riza. The luster of the gilt riza accents the painting, softening the figure’s features and emphasizing the halo. The metal halo suggests that rays of light stream from the saint’s head, but the painting underneath only shows a thin circle for the halo."