CHAMPAIGNE, Philippe de
(b. 1602, Bruxelles, d. 1674, Paris)

Sts Gervase abd Protase Appearing to St Ambrose

1658
Oil on canvas, 360 x 678 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

The twin brothers Gervase and Protase are considered the first martyrs of Milan as Saint Ambrose, guided by a vision, unearthed their remains in 386. The martyrs appeared to Saint Ambrose in an apparition. Even when the relics were discovered, nothing was remembered about them except their names and that they were martyrs in an early persecution, perhaps under Nero.