''Saint Sebastian'' is the subject of three paintings by the Italian Early

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

master

Andrea Mantegna Andrea Mantegna (, ; ; September 13, 1506) was an Italian Renaissance painter, a student of Ancient Rome, Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with Perspective (graphical), pe ...

. The

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

n artist lived in a period of frequent plagues;

Sebastian Sebastian may refer to: People and fictional characters * Sebastian (name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Saint Sebastian, a Christian saint martyred in the 3rd century * Sebastian of Portugal (1554–1578 ...

was considered protector against the plague as he had been shot through by arrows, and it was thought that plague spread abroad through the air.In his long stay in

Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...

, Mantegna resided near the San Sebastiano church dedicated to Saint Sebastian. The three paintings are held by the

Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien ( "Vienna Museum of art history, Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts, Vienna") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, i ...

in Vienna, the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

in Paris, and the

Ca' d'Oro The Ca' d'Oro, or Palazzo Santa Sofia, is a palace on the Grand Canal of Venice, Grand Canal in Venice, northern Italy. Ca' d'Oro or Cadoro translates to "House of Gold" or "Golden House" in English because of the Gilding, gilt and polychrome ext ...

in Venice. Andrea Mantegna 089.jpg, c. 1470, Vienna Andrea Mantegna 088.jpg, c. 1480, Paris St Sebastian 3 Mantegna.jpg, c. 1506, Venice

The ''Saint Sebastian'' of Vienna

It has been suggested that the picture was made after Mantegna had recovered from the plague in Padua (1456–1457). Probably commissioned by the city's

podestà (), also potestate or podesta in English, was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of central and northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a c ...

to celebrate the end of the pestilence, it was finished before the artist left the city for Mantua. Andrea Mantegna 096

According to Battisti, the theme refers to the

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Bible#Christian Bible, Christian Bible. Written in Greek language, Greek, ...

. A rider is present in the clouds at the upper left corner. As specified in Revelation, the cloud is white and the rider has a

scythe A scythe (, rhyming with ''writhe'') is an agriculture, agricultural hand-tool for mowing grass or Harvest, harvesting Crop, crops. It was historically used to cut down or reaping, reap edible grain, grains before they underwent the process of ...

, which he is using to cut the cloud. The rider has been interpreted as

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...

, the Roman god: in ancient times Saturn was identified with the

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

that passed by and all left destroyed behind him. Instead of the classical figure of Sebastian tied to a pole in the Rome's

Campus Martius The Campus Martius (Latin for 'Field of Mars'; Italian: ''Campo Marzio'') was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about in extent. In the Middle Ages, it was the most populous area of Rome. The IV rione of Rome, Campo Marzio, which covers ...

, the painter portrayed the saint against an arch, whether a triumphal arch or the gate of the city. In 1457 the painter had been put on trial for "artistic inadequacy" for having put only eight apostles in his fresco of the ''

Assumption Assumption, in Christianity, refers to the Assumption of Mary, a belief in the taking up of the Virgin Mary into heaven. Assumption may also refer to: Places * Assumption, Alberta, Canada * Assumption, Illinois, United States ** Assumption Town ...

''. As a reply, he therefore applied Alberti's principles of

Classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthe ...

in the following pictures, including this small Characteristic of Mantegna is the clarity of the surface, the precision of an "archaeological" reproduction of the architectonical details, and the elegance of the martyr's posture. The vertical inscription at the right side of the saint is the signature of Mantegna in

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

The ''Saint Sebastian'' of the Louvre

''Saint Sebastian'', though deformed by the nostalgic perspective of his own. Andrea Mantegna 098

The Louvre's ''Saint Sebastian'' was once part of the Altar of San Zeno in

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

. In the late 17th to early 18th centuries it was recorded in the Sainte Chapelle of Aigueperse, in the

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; or ) is a cultural region in central France. As of 2016 Auvergne is no longer an administrative division of France. It is generally regarded as conterminous with the land area of the historical Province of Auvergne, which was dis ...

region of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

: its presence there is related to the marriage of Chiara Gonzaga, daughter of Federico I of Mantua, with Gilbert de Bourbon,

Dauphin d'Auvergne This is a list of the various rulers of Auvergne. History In the 7th century Auvergne was disputed between the Franks and Aquitanians. It was later conquered by the Carolingians, and was integrated for a time into the kingdom of Aquitaine. The cou ...

(1486). The picture presumably illustrates the theme of God's Athlete, inspired to a spurious

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present context ...

Saint Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman province), Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced th ...

. The saint, again tied to a classical arch, is observed from an unusual, low perspective, used by the artist to enhance the impression of solidity and dominance of his figure. The head and eyes turned toward Heaven confirm Sebastian's firmness in bearing the martyrdom. At his feet two iniquitous people (represented by a pair of archers) are shown: these are intended to create a contrast between the man of transcendent faith and those who are only attracted by profane pleasures. Apart from the symbolism, the picture is characterized by Mantegna's accuracy in the depictions of ancient ruins, as well as the detail in realistic particulars such as the

fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of tree or shrub in the flowering plant family Moraceae, native to the Mediterranean region, together with western and southern Asia. It has been cultivated since ancient times and i ...

tree next to the column and the description of Sebastian's body.

The ''Saint Sebastian'' of Venice

The third ''Saint Sebastian'' by Mantegna was painted some years later (c. 1490 or even 1506), although some art historians date it to around the same time as the ''

Triumphs of Caesar The ''Triumphs of Caesar'' are a series of nine large paintings created by the Italian Renaissance artist Andrea Mantegna between 1484 and 1492 for the Gonzaga Ducal Palace, Mantua. They depict a triumphal military parade celebrating the victor ...

'' or even earlier due to the fictive marble cornice, reminiscent of the painter's time in Padua. It is now in the Galleria Franchetti in Venice. It is quite different from the previous compositions, shows a marked pessimism. The grandiose, tortured figure of the saint is depicted before a neutral, shallow background in brown colour. The artist's intentions for the work are explained by a banderole spiralling around an extinguished candle, in the lower right corner. Here, in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, is written: ''Nihil nisi divinum stabile est. Caetera fumus'' ("Nothing is stable except the divine. The rest is smoke"). The inscription may have been necessary because the theme of life's fleetingness was not usually associated with pictures of Sebastian. The "M" letter formed by the crossing arrows over the saint's legs could stand for ''Morte'' ("Death") or ''Mantegna''. It can be identified as one of the works remaining in the artist's studio after his death in 1506. In the first half of the 16th century the work was in

Pietro Bembo Pietro Bembo, (; 20 May 1470 – 18 January 1547) was a Venetian scholar, poet, and literary theory, literary theorist who also was a member of the Knights Hospitaller and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. As an intellectual of the Italian Re ...

's house in

, where it was seen by

Marcantonio Michiel Marcantonio Michiel (1484–1552) was a Venetian noble from a family prominent in the service of the Republic of Venice, state who was interested in matters of art. His notes on the contemporary art collections of Venice, Padua, Milan and other n ...

.''Notizia'', cit. p. 19 Via cardinal Bembo's heirs, in 1810, it was acquired by the anatomist and surgeon

Antonio Scarpa Antonio Scarpa (9 May 1752 – 31 October 1832) was an Italian anatomist and professor. Biography Scarpa was born to an impoverished family in the frazione of Lorenzaga, Motta di Livenza, Veneto. An uncle, who was a member of the priesthood, g ...

for his collection in Pavia. On his death in 1832, the painting was inherited by his brother and then his nephew in

Motta di Livenza Motta di Livenza ( or simply ) is a (municipality) in the province of Treviso, in the Italian region of Veneto. Motta di Livenza borders the following municipalities: Annone Veneto, Cessalto, Chiarano, Gorgo al Monticano, Meduna di Livenza, S ...

(Treviso), where it remained until 1893, when it was acquired by Baron Giorgio Franchetti for the Ca' d'Oro, which he left to the city of Venice with its contents in 1916.Momesso, op. cit., pp. 174–179.

References

Bibliography (in Italian)

*Anonimo (Marcantonio Michiel), ''Notizia d'opere di disegno'', a cura di Jacopo Morelli, Bassano, 1800. *Alberta De Nicolò Salmazo, ''Mantegna'', Electa, Milano 1997. *Tatjana Pauli, ''Mantegna'', serie ''Art Book'', Leonardo Arte, Milano 2001. *Ettore Camesasca, ''Mantegna'', in Various authors, ''Pittori del Rinascimento'', Scala, Firenze 2007. *Sergio Momesso, ''La collezione di Antonio Scarpa, 1752–1832'', Bertoncello, Cittadella (Padova), 2007. *

External links

Louvre's ''St. Sebastian''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Sebastian (Mantegna) 1450s paintings 1490 paintings Paintings by Andrea Mantegna Mantegna Epidemics in art Torture in art