Martyrdom of Peter and Paul

On the east side of the capital the Emperor Nero is enthroned; behind him, to the right is the vertical inscription NERO. In his right hand he holds a sceptre and with the index finger of his left hand he orders the execution of Saints Peter and Paul. This judgement is transmitted by a soldier. On the broad north side Peter is crucified head downwards. His executioners holding their hammers stand behind him; the two towers to their left and right represent the city of Rome. On the opposite side Paul is beheaded by a soldier and sinks to the ground. Behind him a large angel removes the veil which Plantilla – according to the legend transmitted by Dionysius the Aeropagite – had given to the Apostle, so that he could bind his eyes. So once again we find the motif of the “unveiling” of Holy Scripture (recurrent in the sculptures of the cloister). On the narrower west side, looking onto the inner court, an angel receives the small soul of the martyr with outspread wings.
Between the soldier and Paul a small square cavity is hewn into the capital; its recessed frames show that it could at one time have been closed. In fact a tiny reliquary is known to have been contained in it in 1793; each year it was censed by the Abbot on the June 29th, name-day of the Apostles Peter and Paul.
This kind of reliquary in the form of a coffer is most unusual and shows that the capital was far more than a mere surface for sculptural decoration or for pious stories.
The inscription that runs round the top of the impost block reads: MARTIRIO S[AN]C[TV] S PE/TRE MARTIRIO S[AN]C[TU]S P/AULE SAVLE SAVLE QV[ID] M[E] PERSEQ[V]ER[IS] (“Martyrdom of Peter, Martyrdom of Paul, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?“). The latter part is a quotation from the Acts of the Apostles 9:4.

Paul Peter NERO PERSEQ[V]ER[IS] M[E] QV[ID] SAVLE inscription Martyrdom MARTIRIO S[AN]C[TV] S PE/TRE MARTIRIO S[AN]C[TU]S P/AULE SAVLE Nero Rome Plantilla reliquary relic inscription