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

Saint Sebastian

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

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)

ClassificationsEuropean art

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.464

Terms

Men
Religion
Saints
Saint Sebastian
Christianity
Animals
White
Brown
Red
Black

Collections

European Art before 1945

On View

On view

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?