Sennen is a martyr originally from Persia that lived in the third century, who suffered martrydom in Rome. His identity, along with the one of Abdon, is shrouded by legend, but at the base we have certain news, also because the two are remembered in many official texts and martyrologists, these ones mention the deposition of the relics in the Ponziano cemetary that used to be found in Rome, on the Portuense way. Other texts allure instead to Sennen e Abdon as Persian princes that in their condition as freedman or slaves in Rome did their best to bury the martyrs bodies. This caused them to get targeted by the christian persecution, they were then imprisoned, and after refusing to reject their faith, brought to death and beheaded by gladiators. In the St. Marco’s church in Romethere there is an altar with relics to them dedicated.

The tales of the statue in Dome’s building site:

The statue of Saint Sennen that we can admire today is a reproduction of the original by Pompeo Marchesi, sculptor active near the Dome’s building site in the first half of 800. The saint is represented as a young martyr (and in fact the iconology tells us he probably was younger than his companion Abdon). He looks down, towards the crowd that walks along the Dome’s sides with a sweet and benevolent look.