The Lives of the Saints through 100 Masterpieces

Cosmas and Damian

The Lives of the Saints 78 Cosmas and Damian September 26 With these twin brothers of Asia Minor, who lived in the third and fourth centuries, the art of healing moved away from the realm of the miraculous to touch the borders of science, without shedding its extraordinary aspects. Cosmas and Damian practiced medicine gratuitously, using their art to convert their patients. Any cure was attributed to the Holy Spirit, even the healing of a camel’s broken foot—inklings of the sixteenth century French royal surgeon Ambroise Paré’s motto: “I treated him, God healed him.” Their renown drew the attention of the pagan proconsul Lisias, who tried to induce them to worship idols. Tortures were to no avail: stones flung at them were deflected, arrows refused to touch them; thrown in the sea, they were washed ashore by the waves; and the flames of the stake only burned their executioners instead. In the end, they were beheaded. Death, however, did not prevent them from practicing their art. In the sixth century, a basilica was erected in their honor in Rome. It so happened that Justinian, the deacon who was its caretaker, was afflicte by gangrene in one leg. One night, when he was at the point of death, Cosmas and Damian decided to intervene. They amputated Justinian’s gangrenous leg and grafted another one in its place. Since the only body they had at their disposal was that of a Moor who had died the previous day, the deacon woke up in the morning with bicolored legs: one white and one black. The agents of this first case of limb grafting are the patron saints of doctors and pharmacists, and are often depicted with the implements of their profession. Fra Angelico (alias, Giovanni da Fiesole) (ca. 1400–1455) Saint Cosmas and Saint Damian Healing the Deacon Justinian Church of San Marco, Florence ...