Saint Sebastian
Artist
Nicolas Régnier
(Flemish, 1591-1667)
CultureFlemish
Dateca. 1620
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions41 × 31 in. (104.1 × 78.7 cm)
Overall, Frame: 52 3/4 × 42 1/2 × 3 in. (134 × 108 × 7.6 cm)
Overall, Frame: 52 3/4 × 42 1/2 × 3 in. (134 × 108 × 7.6 cm)
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.558
Collections
On View
Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 205
Label TextAnthony van Dyck Flemish, 1599–1641 Saint Sebastian, ca. 1623 Oil on canvas Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.464 far left: Nicolas Régnier Flemish, 1591–1667, active Italy Saint Sebastian, ca. 1620 Oil on canvas Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.558 The eyes have it in these two paintings of Saint Sebastian, an early Christian martyr. Sebastian served as a captain in the Imperial Roman army, but when he refused to give up his faith, his soldiers shot him with arrows. Nicolas Régnier portrayed the story’s grisly climax (at left), showing the bound Sebastian pierced by arrows, while Anthony van Dyck chose an earlier moment when Sebastian’s men prepared him for execution. In one, Sebastian’s eyes look heavenward for deliverance; in the other, the saint looks directly at us while confronting his fate. Both artists dramatized the scene by emphasizing the saint’s eyes, but which gaze speaks more powerfully to you? ProvenanceDelius Giese, New York; collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Chrysler Museum, 1971. Exhibition History"Baroque Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Bowdoin College Museum of Art, 1963. (Exhib. cat. no. 18). "Venetian Baroque Painters," Finch College Museum of Art, New York City, 1964. (Exhib. cat. no. 18). "Vouet to Rigaud, French Masters of the Seventeenth Century," Finch College Museum of Art, New York City, 1967. (Exhib. cat. no. 13). "Saints and Sinners, Darkness and Light: Caravaggio and his Dutch and Flemish Followers," North Carolina Museum of Art; Milwaukee Museum of Art; Dayton Art Institute, September 29, 1998 - July 18, 1999. "Utrecht, Caravaggio, and Europe," Centraal Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands, December 13, 2018 – March 24, 2019. Published ReferencesExhibition catalogue. _La Pittura del Seicento a Venezia_. Ca' Pesaro, Venice. 1959:p. 57, under no. 86. P.L. Fantelli. "Nicolo Renieri, 'Pittor Fiamengo'." _Saggi e Memorie di Storia dell'Arte_. No. 9. 1974:pp. 82, 95, 96, 99, no. 63, fig. 30. Eric Zafran. "From the Renaissance to the Grand Tour." _Apollo_. Volume 107, no. 194. 04/1978:pp. 4-15, ill. Benedict Nicolson. _The International Caravaggesque Movement_. Oxford. 1980. No.26. Jefferson C. Harrison. _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_. The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA, 1991, p. 26, #19. Dennis P. Weller. _Sinners & Saints: Darkness and Light, Caravaggio and his Dutch and Flemish Followers_. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1998 pp.176-177 color ill., p. 229. Bernard Ebert and Liesbeth M. Helmus, editors. _Utrecht, Caravaggio and Europe_. Munich: Hirmer Verlag GmbH, 2018, p. 249, no. 71.
