Etymology:

From the Latin victor, -oris, it intuitively means “winner” “one who conquers”. A name that celebrates triumph and success, originally born as a nickname for those who distinguished themselves in battle.

The information about Saint Victor comes to us from Saint Ambrose, especially in the hymn in honor of the martyrs Victor, Nabor, and Felix, originally from Mauretania, who died in Lodi defending the faith. They were part of Maximian’s army, which had sent them to Milan. Between the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, a purge took place within the army, where Christians were not well tolerated. Victor remained loyal to the emperor in his military duties, but not to the point of questioning his faith; for this reason, he was arrested, imprisoned, and then taken to the circus hippodrome—present-day Porta Ticinese—before the emperor himself. Even there, Victor refused to renounce his faith. He was then taken back to prison, where he suffered unspeakable tortures, but the Lord helped him survive by taking away his pain. Victor managed to escape from prison, but this did not last long: once discovered, he was taken by soldiers into a forest to be beheaded. According to tradition, his body remained unburied and guarded by two wild beasts until it was found by Saint Maternus, who gave it a proper burial. Saint Victor is much loved and remembered by the people of Milan, who over time dedicated to him several churches and monuments, including the San Vittore prison: It is no coincidence that the saint is remembered as the protector of exiles and prisoners.

The history of the statue in the Duomo’s construction site:

The statue depicts Saint Victor imprisoned: he appears as an emaciated man with an exhausted expression, his gaze turned toward the sky. His mouth is open, perhaps praying aloud while waiting for one of the other statues to come and free him. Both his arms and legs are bound with chains.

The work dates back to around the mid-20th century: according to the newspaper L’Eco della Stampa (1949), at that time there were 28 statues of the Duomo awaiting placement on the spires left unfinished after the bombings of 1943, and our Saint Victor appears to have been one of the last to be installed precisely during those days.