science

Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand

Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand rather than just read about it. In short: The Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand is an oil painting by Albrecht Dürer, dating to 1508 and now at the Kunsthistorisches Museum of Vienna, Austria. It is signed on a cartouche which hangs from the artist's self-portrait in the center, saying Iste faciebat Ano Domini 1508 Albertus Dürer Aleman.

Key takeaways

Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand is an oil painting by Albrecht Dürer, dating to 1508 and now at the Kunsthistorisches Museum of Vienna, Austria. It is signed on a cartouche which hangs from the artist's self-portrait in the center, saying Iste faciebat Ano Domini 1508 Albertus Dürer Aleman.

History The painting was commissioned by Frederick III, Elector of Saxony for the All Saints' Church, Wittenberg. Frederick had been Dürer's patron since 1496. He himself chose the subject, as his collection of relics included some of the Ten thousand martyrs.

Dürer had used the same subject for a woodcut of some ten years before, but in the new work he eliminated some macabre details such as the torture of the bishop Acacius, having his eyes stripped through a drill. This scene was replaced by a crucifixion on the right and by the presence of the bishop in chains behind it.

The work was repeatedly mentioned in the correspondence between the artist and Jakob Heller of Frankfurt. Dürer received 280 florins for it.

Description The painting illustrates the legendary martyrdom of ten thousand Christian soldiers perpetrated on Mount Ararat by the King of Persia, Shapur II, by the order of the Roman emperor Hadrian or Antoninus Pius, or, according to other sources, Diocletian. Dürer painted numerous different martyrdom scenes within a forest with clearings and cliffs. In the foreground are crucifixions, decapitations, crushing with a hammer. The Persian King is portrayed as an Ottoman sultan, riding a horse on the right. The executioners also wear gaudy Ottoman dress. In the background are prisoners walking through to a cliff from where they are thrown down against rocks and thorny bushes, as well as scenes of fighting, stoning and hitting with huge clubs. At the center of the crowded scene, dressed in black, are two characters who walk placidly, apparently unaware of the horrors around them: one is Dürer's self-portrait (holding his signature), the other his friend and humanist Conrad Celtes, who had died a few months before the execution of the painting.

See also List of paintings by Albrecht Dürer

References

Sources Costantino Porcu, ed. (2004). Dürer. Milan: Rizzoli.

External links Page at the museum's website (in German)

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand

In research: Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1508 paintings, Christian art about death, Mount Ararat, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand in simple terms?

Why does Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand.