The story of Sergio and Bacco continues to inspire contemporary artists
Article* by Kitretdge Cherry published on his blog Jesus in Love (United States) on October 7, 2015, freely translated by Giacomo Tessaro
Saints Sergio and Bacchus are two Roman soldiers of the third century, Christian martyrs and lovers. We tell here their story in words and images on the occasion of their party, which falls on October 7th.
The close link between Sergio and Bacchus has been underlined since the early early and recent studies have revealed their homosexuality. The oldest stories of their martyrdom describe them how Erastai ("Lovers" in Greek). Scholars believe that they had probably been united with the rite of Adelphopoiesis ("Make brothers"), the homosexual marriage of the oldest Christianity. Sergio and Bacco, a classic example of a couple of saints, were young high -grade officers: Sergio was Primicerius (Commander) and Bacchus secundarius (Subalternal Officer).
They were tortured to death around 303 in the current Syria after refusing to sacrifice to Jupiter, thus revealing their secret Christian faith. The two men were arrested and made to parade through the streets in female clothes in the vain attempt to humiliate them. The oldest stories report that, in response, the two soldiers affirmed by climbing to be dressed like brides of Christ and said to their torturers that female clothes had never prevented women from adoring Christ, therefore they would not have prevented him even from them . Then they were separated and beat so violently that Bacchus died. According to the oldest manuscripts that night Bacchus appeared to Sergio with the radiant face like that of an angel and dressed as a soldier, encouraging him not to give in because they would have revised in paradise and would have been lovers. It is a unique declaration in the history of martyrs: usually the promised reward is the union with God, not with a lover. In the following days Sergio was tortured and then beheaded.
Their homosexual love story is included in the dramatic events of the Roman Empire in the novel, published in 2014, The Passion of Sergius and Bacchus (the passion of Sergio and Bacchus) by David Redino. The two soldiers meet, fall in love, celebrate their mutual commitment and face death threats in this novel based on the historical and archaeological discoveries, which stages the last sobs of paganism, the policies of the newborn Christianity and the homosexual unions celebrated by the Primary Church, rediscovered for some years. From the forests of Gaul to the streets of Constantinople, from the Christian hiding places of the Diagonessa Macrina to the Palazzo dell'Imperatore, the novel consists of adventure and love and examines sexuality, faith, sacrifice, patriotism and nature of God. It was Finalist at the Lambda Prize in the category of gay love stories. Screwing and novelist, Riumer won various prizes for his political activism and has also been very successful as a fashion designer. He graduated in cinematography at the University of Central Florida and lives in Los Angeles.
Sergio's tomb became a famous sanctuary and for almost a thousand years the two were venerated as official patrons of the Byzantine army. Many ancient churches have been dedicated to Sergio, sometimes coupled in Bacchus. The two are recognized martyrs by the Catholic, Orthodox and non -Calcedonese churches and were venerated in the Mediterranean area, in the Middle East, Latin America and among the Slavs.
John Boswell, professor of history in Yale, cites Sergio and Bacchus as one of the three homosexual couples of the primitive church in his book Christianity, tolerance, homosexuality. The Church and homosexuals from its origins to the 14th century (The other two couples are polygheutous and Nearco and Felicita and Perpetua).
The Catholic Church has removed the couple from its liturgical calendar in 1969, the same year in which the Motes of Stonewall founded the modern homosexual liberation movement. Officially they have been "de-chanized" due to the lack of historical evidence of their existence but some believe that this is an anti-gay move, given that several churches were dedicated long before the Middle Ages. Sergio and Bacco continue to be popular among Christian Arabs and now also among the LGBT Christians and their allies.
Since ancient times these "gay saints have inspired beautiful works of art that depict the holiness of homosexual couples, sometimes with a homoerotic flavor. One of the most recent is the Italian icon Alessio Ciani, painted in 2013 and reproduced on top of this article. Alessio Ciani has produced a great variety of LGBT illustrations and homoerotic works exhibited in Milan and Perugia.
The Massachusetts artist Brandon Buhring dedicated a work to Sergio and Bacchus in his Legendary love: Queer History Project. Buhring uses his pencil sketches and his writings "To remind the queer people and our allies our sacred birth rights who see healers, educators, bearers of truth, spiritual leaders, warriors and artists".
The project includes twenty drawings of queer, historical and mythological figures, taken from different cultures. Brandon Buihring has a graduation in counseling with a specialization in LGBT counseling obtained at the University of the State of Carolina in the north of Raleigh. He works in the university administration and as a freelance illustrator in Northampton in Massachusetts.
The painting below is from the Californian gay artist Rick Herold: "Over the years I have been interested, as a painter, in the idea of the spirit and meat that become one. I started being influenced by tantric art and later I used my Catholic origins " He told our blog. Rick Herold paints with enamel on transparent plexiglas.
He graduated in art and theology at the Benedictine monastic university of St. John in Minnesota and graduated in Fine Arts from the Otis Institute of Art in Los Angeles. Among his religious works we find a Via Crucis commissioned by Bob Hope for a church in Ohio, before a conflict on the theme of modern art with the archbishop of Los Angeles led him to the distrust of the Church. Later Herold made no gay out and started painting male nudes and homoerotic works that you can see on its site.
One of the most recent works dedicated to the two saints is a window donated in September 2011 to the church of Santa Marta di Morton Grove in Illinois by the LGBT parishioners (see above). The parish priest, Father Dennis O'Neill, believes it is the first window dedicated to Sergio and Bacchus in the United States. Dennis O'Neill is the author of Holinss passonate: Marginalized Christian devotions for distinctive people (passionate holiness. Marginalized Christian devotions for people who stand out). A chapter of the book tells the love story of Sergio and Bacchus, full of historical details. The window is part of a project designed and financed by the members of the parish of Santa Marta, of different national origins: a series of twenty windows of saints of the different homelands.
LGBT members contributed with the "Window of friendship" which depicts Sergio and Bacchus, partner of the "Window of the wedding" Which depicts Santa Elisabetta of Hungary with his bridegroom, the Blessed Ludovico di Turingia. The artist Plamen Petrov He worked with Daprato Rigali studies to draw and create windows. Petrov was born in Sevision in Bulgaria in 1966 and lives in Chicago. He graduated in graphics (press and pedagogy of the figurative arts) from the University of Saints Cyril and Methodium of Veliko Tarnovo, the Faculty of Fine Arts Bulgarian, in 1995 Shapes: mosaics, murals, oils, acrylics, photography and graphic design. His works are widespread in Chicago and Illinois as well as in many countries around the world.
A cartouche with writing "Patron of homosexual couples" It appears above Bacco and Sergio in a colorful icon of Maria Cristina, an artist from Las Cruces in the New Mexico.
One day the Californian artist Ray Avito heard for the first time the story of Sergio and Bacchus and designed a delicious and very simple portrait of the couple (see above), based on "I suspect that the two were more than commiltoni."
Sergio and Bacco are some of the many saints painted by Tony De Carlo, an artist from Georgia who, of the Catholic family, began to paint saints to counterbalance the demonization of LGBT people by the Church.
The American artist Ryan Grant Long paints men who love other men taken from history, including Sergio and Bacchus, in his series Fairy tales. The two are usually portrayed as static icons, standing side by side while looking straight in the viewer's eyes. Long, on the other hand, catches them while looking into their eyes in a private moment in their cell.
The renowned British photographer Anthony GaytonIt produces stylized homoerotic photos that are based on the history of gay culture. Here he shows Sergio and Bacchus prisoners, stripped and tied, in two separate photos. The two images are designed to be exhibited together but can also be separated. In the cartouches, two appropriate biblical citations. For Bacchus: "But I will not take away my grace and my loyalty I will never come without" (Psalm 88 [89]: 34). For Sergio: “Truth are all your commands; They are wrongly persecuting me: come to my help " (Psalm 118 [119]: 86). This work belongs to the series Five saints. Gayton's works also use historical themes inspired by various sources such as mythology, Renaissance and Baroque painting and the primordies of photography.
The living circle (living circle), a center of spirituality LGBT Interfede founded by Dennis O'Neill, commissioned the icon that you can see above. He was painted by Fra Robert Lentz, Franciscan friar and iconographer known all over the world for his innovative icons.
That of Saints Sergio and Bacchus is one of the ten icons of Fra Robert to have been the subject of a dispute in 2005: some critics accused him of sanctifying sin and of making propaganda for progressive socio -political values. The controversy caused such a fracasso that, in order to maintain peace between its Franciscan province and the archbishop of Sante Fe in the new Mexico, between Robert temporarily sold the copyright of the controversial images to his distributor, Trinity Stores.
Various icons of Sergio and Bacco as "Patron of homosexuality" They were created by the artist known as Shoushan. Twins, necklaces, pendants and bracelets are available on his page My Altar Shop.
* The biblical passages are taken from the Jerusalem Bible/CEI.
Original text: Saints Sergius and Bacchus: Male Couple Martyred in Ancient Rome
