Their statues are in the 3rd chapel south of the nave.
These are polychromatic stone statues. The two brothers wear square doctor's caps.
St. Cosimo is applying ointment with a spatula to the temple of a ragged man standing at his feet, supported on two crutches and whose physiognomy indicates suffering. This figure is treated in reduced proportions (the statue of the saint is about 1 m high).
The fluting on the ointment vase indicates the Renaissance period.
Saint Damien holds a closed book in his right hand (symbol of science) and a pot of panacea (universal remedy) in his left.
These two statues date from the first half of the reign of François 1er.
What then is the extraordinary story of these two martyrs?
Twin brothers, they were born in Arabia to a Christian mother, and after studying medicine in Syria, went to practice their art in the Turkish town of Aigeai. They quickly acquired a great reputation, treating both men and animals, but accepting no remuneration, they found their reward in the Christian faith, which they were thus able to propagate. They are also known as the Anargyres Saints, meaning "without money".
Under Emperor Diocletian (244 - 313), Proconsul Lysias demanded that they sacrifice to the cult of the Emperor. When they refused, he had their three younger brothers brought to him, and having loaded them with heavy chains, had them thrown into the sea. As the waves parted, leaving them unharmed, he had them thrown into a great fire, but the flames spared them, turning instead on the spectators. Flagellated, then stoned, here too the stones turned against their executioners. As with the arrows, Lysias had them beheaded.
Their martyrdom is said to have taken place on September 27, 287, and their bodies were first buried at Cyr in Syria, before being transferred by Emperor Justinian (527 - 565) to Constantinople. During the Crusades, the relics of the Anargyres Saints were handed over to various European churches.
From the time of their death, the two saints performed numerous miracles, the most famous of which is the "black leg" (illustration in this article): the janitor of the church erected in their honor in Rome was suffering from a gangrenous leg. While he slept, the two saints appeared to him and grafted onto him the leg of an Ethiopian who had just died. When he awoke, the sacristan found himself with one white leg and the other black, while in the cemetery, the body of the Ethiopian carried the sick leg of the janitor.
The two brothers are said to have invented a remedy: opopira. In use in the 14th and 15th centuries, this 65-element remedy could be kept for 6 months and was a panacea for eyes, mouth, throat, hands and feet.
The cult of these two saints was widespread as early as the 5th century. In the 12th century, during the Crusades, relics of the two saints were offered to the Lord of Luzarches, who divided them between Luzarches and Paris.
Como and Damiano are celebrated on September 26 and are considered the protectors of all those who practice the art of healing, which is why they are cited as patrons of surgeons, doctors and apothecaries.
