in the archive of the university of Heidelberg / Germany you will find a detailed description
I took a little time to try translating the German comments on the painting in the documents revealed by Zephyros.
Note that there is some confusion about Styka’s birthplace. Recent sources mention Lviv (Lemberg, Lvov, Lwόw), now in Ukraine. The mention of Leopoldstadt (referring to Leopoldov, Lipotvar or Ujvároska depending on the language, and nowadays located in western Slovakia), could originate from confusion with the Latin name of Lviv (Leopolis)?
Also note that no data have been found yet about the dimensions of the painting.
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“There is hardly any artwork that creates such a contemplation in the soul of the spectator, as well as heart shuddering horror from the depicted subject, and thereby appealing such a high degree of admiration for the art of the painter, than Jan Styka’s colossal artwork “The Martyrdom of the Christians in Nero’s circus”.
We must go back to the year 64 A.D. The hate of the exasperated Romans against the young Christian community led to outrageous mass crucifixions of the Christians. It was not satisfying to just witness the last moments of the dying adepts of the Christian faith - that had been a too short moment of the titillating horror – no, butchering Christians took a full day long of shivering pleasure. For hundred thousands, Nero had prepared hospitable places, and hundred thousands enjoyed to attend his feasts. But down in the arena, it was endless misery. Endless rows of wooden crosses standing in the blood saturated sand. The Christian victims are dragged to the crosses, nailed to them by rude hands, and are hanging writhing in their pain. Elder with hollow eyes, strong men in the prime of their life, women with looks at the verge of erupting frenzy, lads watching half curious, half apathetic the preparations of their crucifixion, maidens hiding behind their tears soaked wavy long hair. Still bigger numbers are brought in, and the number of crosses rapidly increases, under the capable hand of the executioner. The doomed victims are rudely drawn over the ground, taking away man from wife, father from son.
Some apathetically await their fate, their feelings already killed by the gruesome scene around them. Others raise threatening hands. Cursing. Imprecating. Everywhere in the circus, lamentations rise above the overall noise. But the feast still has to come to its height. The emperor has not arrived yet. His lodge is still empty. Then, cheering calls are heard in the circus. All look at the ruler’s lodge, because he has appeared, the organizer of this horrifying première. Nero, the imperial actor who has himself, with an expert hand, arranged the preparations of this bloody feast. Decorated with all the signs of his dignity, dressed in an amethyst purple tunica, sitting in an ivory chair, he shows himself.
Next to him stands Tigellinus, his faithful companion, his master of ceremonies on all the feasts. In front of him sits the beautiful Poppea Sabina, Caesar’s rich, immoral, horny, but spiritual spouse. Left from the emperor’s lodge are the Vestals, in their white gowns, for the glorification of the event, while right, the most important senators are sitting. The background shows the imperial guards, with their dark brown shiny bronze breast harnesses.
Gradually, the sun approaches the western horizon, its purple rays breaking upon the colorful marble stones. On the columns, the light of the first weak evening red is playing. There – a hint by Tigellinus, down in the arena, bundles of twigs, that had been put at the crucified’s feet, start flaming. Smoke rises, flames surround the bodies of the tortured. A thousand fold cry of pain rises, drown out by the outcry’s of admiration for the magnificent atrocity of the spectacle. With bestial joy, the beautiful eyes of the Roman ladies gloat the last convulsions of pain of the dying Christian martyrs. Definitely, this is an insane moment of World history, that lets our heart shudder.
Jan Styka is Hungarian, born in 1858 in Leopoldstadt in the Neutra County. After studies in his homeland and in Krakow, he went to Vienna in 1877, to Paris in 1888 and back to his homeland in 1893. The subjects of his other work are inspired by the history of his country and by biblical stories. His brushwork and his artistic creations are clearly influenced by three famous painters : Matejko, Makart and Munkacsy. Anyone considering this artwork will recognize these influences. Matejko’s influence is visible in the glaring color contrast and in the pleasure of creating large compositions. Makart left him some of his ornamental genius, while from Munkacsy, he took over the historical framing and also the astonishing ethnographic reality. Jan Styka is definitely an extraordinary artist and his “Martyrdom of the Christians in Nero’s circus” is a piece of art that provokes both admiration and a warm delight. “