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St. Sebastian
(Renaissance Europe )
This figure of Sant Sebastian, the saint being by legend a third-century soldier who was martyred for his faith, exemplifies the mass poduction of simple, durable devotional figures in the later 15th and erly 16th centuries in the region of the Meuse valley in present-day Belgium where there were significant deposits of copper. The cast is extremely crude and may have been made from wood sculptures of the period that are of the same scale, much more finely worked, and perfect for models. The same makers produced kitchen hardware in brass. Indeed this figure may have been part of a chandelier.
It is rather surprising to see a depiction of this piece on the table next to the collector Henry Walters in a posthuous portrait from 1938 by Thomas Cromwell Corner (Walters 37.1682). It's not clear who chose these objects for inclusion. In any case the other medieval pieces shown in the portrait are objects of considerable refinement.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Lucien Demotte, Paris [1]; Purchased by Henry Walters, 1925, Paris; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.
[1] Likely inherited from his father, George Joseph Demotte
Geographies
Belgium (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 7 11/16 in. (19.5 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1925
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
53.34