Saint Sebastian

Description Stripped and bound, Sebastian, a Roman soldier martyred for his Christian faith, strains against pain as the arrows of his tormentors pierce his body. The pathos of the figure is heightened by the forced vulnerability of this naturally tough soldier, conveyed through realistic, incredibly precise detailing, for example the thin ropes tightly binding his hands, which unclench as his body weakens. The tree provides a suggestion of setting as well as structural support.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
1/11/1962	Treatment	cleaned
9/01/1983	Treatment	cleaned
11/19/1987	Examination	examined for condition
11/19/1987	Treatment	cleaned

Provenance Léon Gruel, Paris [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore [date of acquisition unknown], by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters