Image scanned and/or photographed, then color-corrected by Pat Cagney.

Saint Sebastian

Artist After Anthony van Dyck (Flemish, 1599 - 1641)

CultureFlemish

Dateca. 1623

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsOverall: 74 1/2 x 56 3/4 in. (189.2 x 144.1 cm)
Overall, Frame: 89 3/4 x 71 1/2 in. (228 x 181.6 cm)

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.464

Collections

European Art before 1945

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 205

DescriptionThis oil on canvas painting depicts St. Sebastian being prepared for his execution by the Roman emperor Diocletian's henchmen. St. Sebastian, head held by a henchmen, looks at the viewer. A white horse is in the top right background, a dog in the lower left foreground.

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? ProvenanceWalsh Porter, Esq., England, 1810; Sir Abraham Hume, England; William Scrope, Esq., England, 1843; Lady Stewart-Ban, County Donegal, Ireland; Mr. A.L. Nicholson, London; Arthur U. Mentens (?), New York; Central Picture Galleries, New York, 1953; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Chrysler Museum, 1971. Exhibition HistoryBritish Institution, London, England, 1843 (W. Scrope, Esq., lender). Also borrowed by Sir Charles Eastlake, P.R.A., for study by the Students of the Royal Academy, London, England, 1843. "Exposition D'Art Flamand," Antwerp, 1930. "Van Dyck," Los Angeles County Museum, California, 1946. "Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Portland Art Museum, Oregon, March 2 - April 15, 1956; Seattle Art Museum, Washington, April 27 - May 27, 1956; Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, California, June 12 - July 11, 1956; Los Angeles County Museum, California, July 26 - August 26, 1956; Minneapolis Art Institute, Minnesota, Sept. 8 - Oct. 7, 1956; City Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri, Oct. 19 - Nov. 18, 1956; William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, Nov. 30, 1956 - Jan. 2, 1957; Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, Michigan, Jan. 18 - Feb. 17, 1957; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, March 7 - April 14, 1957. "Inaugural Exhibition," Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown, Massachusetts, 1958. "The World of Art in 1910," The Isaac Delgado Museum of Art, New Orleans, Louisiana, Nov. 15 - Dec. 31, 1960. "1550-1650, A Century of Masters from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Fort Worth Art Center, Fort Worth, Texas, Sept. 7 - No. 4, 1962; Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Dec. 4, 1962 - Jan. 23, 1963; University of Texas, Austin, Texas, Feb. 4 - March 31, 1963. (Exhib. cat. pp. 33, 46). "Van Dyck as a Religious Artist," The Princeton University Art Museum, April 7 - May 20, 1979. (Exhib. cat. no. 30). Published References_1550-1650, A Century of Masters from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._. Fort Worth: Fort Worth Art Center, 1962, ill. p. 33; p. 46. John Rupert Martin and Gail Feigenbaum, _Van Dyke as a Religious Artist_. Princeton, NJ: The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1979 no. 30. Eric M. Zafran, "Recent Museum Loans", _The Chrysler Museum Bulletin_. Vol. 8, No. 6 (June/July 1979), ill. p. 3. John Rupert Martin, "Van Dyck's Early Paintings of St. Sebastian," _Art the Ape of Nature: Studies in Honor of H.W. Janson_. NY: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1981, p. 396; pp. 303-400. _Selections from the Permanent Collection: The Chrysler Museum_. Norfolk, VA: 1982, ill. p. 38. Jefferson C. Harrison, "The Seventeenth Century in the North", _The Chrysler Museum Gallery Guide_. Norfolk, VA: 1983, ill. no. 11. _Alte Pinakothek, Erlauterungen zu den Ausgestellten Gemalden_. Munich, 1983, p. 183. Jefferson C. Harrison, _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculptures, and Drawings_. Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum, 1991, No. 20, p. 27; Color plate 20, p. 27.