Saint Sebastian

German (Artist)

1525-1540 (Renaissance)

boxwood
(Renaissance Europe )

According to legend, Sebastian was a Roman soldier who refused to deny his Christian faith and worship the emperor as a god. In consequence, he was tied to a tree and shot with arrows. He survived but was then beaten to death. Sebastian's strained gesture with one arm extended presupposes the existence of a tree (now missing), probably also in wood. Even in its awkwardness, the saint's lean, wiry body appears to be based on observation of nature.

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.**

Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
1/12/1962	Treatment	cleaned
10/28/1987	Examination	examined for condition
10/28/1987	Treatment	cleaned

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Geographies

Germany, Rhine (Place of Origin)

Measurements

H: 15 15/16 × W: 4 5/16 × D: 4 1/2 in. (40.5 × 11 × 11.5 cm)

Credit Line

Acquired by Henry Walters

Location in Museum

Charles Street: Second Floor: Collector's Study

Accession Number

In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.

61.149

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