"The Apotheosis of St. Ignatius" by Giovanni
Battista Baciccio (1639-1709)

Apotheosis - Elevated to a Level with God "I am the wheat of God. I must be ground by the teeth of wild beasts to become the pure bread of Christ." With these words, Ignatius, the third bishop of Antioch, pleaded with his influential friends in Rome not to interfere with his impending martyrdom. Thus on the 20th day of December in the year 107, Ignatius was escorted from the Roman galley that had taken nine years to deliver its prisoner from Antioch to Rome and was brought to the Flavian Amphitheater, the Coliseum, where at the conclusion of the Roman festival Ignatius knelt down and was quickly killed by the lions.

"Saint Augustine Polyptych" { detail of angels } by Pietro Perugino {1450-1523}