Celsus was the brother of Nazario, their life is linked to the biography of Saint Ambrose, from whom we receive much information. The story of their life portrays the two martyrs as evangelizers of many cities in Northern Italy during the first century. Celsus received from his teacher education in the Christian faith and the sacrament of baptism and continued together with Nazario in the work of spreading the new faith, traveling through southern France to Trier, where they were arrested and put on a ship from which they were to be thrown into the sea: according to legend the two managed to escape death, by walking on water. Then a storm broke out that terrified the sailors, which was calmed by Nazario himself, managing to land in Genoa, where Nazario and Celsus continued their evangelizing work throughout Liguria, pushing themselves up until Milan. There they were arrested and condemned to death.

Tales of the statue in Dome’s building site:

The figure of the martyr Saint Celsus present on the top of the G101 spire is a reproduction made around the middle of the twentieth century by Arturo Malerba. Saint Celsus is depicted dressed in a Roman tunic and sandals, elements that frame him as a Roman, perhaps once also a soldier. The beard in fact seems to suggest the figure of a veteran general, converted to Christianity and then martyred.