Saint Sebastian

The full-length figure of Saint Sebastian (c.255-c.288 CE) commands the centre of this composition, his angled limbs mimicking the sturdy trunk and branches of the tree behind. Sebastian, a third-century Roman soldier, was condemned to death by the Emperor Diocletian for aiding Christian sympathisers. Tied to a post or tree and shot with arrows, he was left for dead. Miraculously, the saint survived his wounds, only to be clubbed to death later. Historically called upon during times of plague, Sebastian was a popular saint, and his iconography changed over time. Initially, he was depicted pierced by a multitude of arrows. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, artists – like this Italian painter – took the opportunity to portray the figure as an idealised form of male beauty, the Saint’s nude torso only punctured by one or two wounds.

In this painting by an Italian artist, the saint is depicted in a classical pose, his toned form reminiscent of ancient Greek or Roman statuary. He adopts a contrapposto stance, an Italian word used to describe the twisting form of the human body in motion, often achieved by having a figure balanced on one leg. A sense of living flesh is portrayed in the muscled biceps and carefully observed hands with fingers curled, which have the vitality of having been drawn directly from life.