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George Hare - Victory of Faith - Public domain painting
Summary
Two sleeping Christian martyrs waiting to be devoured by wild beasts, seen behind bars on the left
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"Two Christian maidens, nude, one fair the other a negress, lying asleep on some straw on the pavement before a lion's cage, through the bars of which the animals are glaring at the figures"
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—Academy Notes from the Royal Academy of Arts, 1889
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"Victory of Faith" represents two converts to Christianity - a Caucasian and Ethiopian, mistress and maid - asleep on their dungeon bed of straw, and is masterful in design, whilst contrast is effected by opposites without any resort to glaring or overpowering leading lights."
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—1893 review of the Chicago's World's Fair printed in the Otago Witness
Damnatio ad bestias is a Latin phrase that translates into English as 'condemnation to the beasts'. It refers to a form of capital punishment in ancient Rome where criminals, prisoners or slaves were condemned to be killed by wild animals, typically in public spectacles held in arenas such as the Colosseum. The condemned person would be forced to face dangerous and predatory animals such as lions, bears or leopards in an often brutal and gruesome manner. The practice was used as a form of entertainment and punishment, both to entertain the spectators and to act as a deterrent to potential criminals.
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