Artwork Page for Saint Sebastian

Details / Information for Saint Sebastian

Saint Sebastian

c. 1493

Perugino

(Italian, c. 1450/55–1523)
Culture
Italy, 15th century
Medium
metalpoint
Support
Laid paper prepared with gray ground, lined with beige(1) laid paper (with additional residual layers partially removed)
Measurements
Sheet: 25.6 x 14.6 cm (10 1/16 x 5 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Dudley P. Allen Fund 1958.411
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

The elegant pose of Saint Sebastian here was used by the artist in at least two finished paintings of the saint.

Description

The Florentine painter Perugino made drawings to record figural types and poses that could be repeated throughout his finished paintings. He used the elegant, graceful figure seen here, with its soft athletic body and upwardly turned gaze, in at least two paintings of the 3rd-century martyr Saint Sebastian (the related paintings are now in the collection of the Galleria degli Uffizi, and the Louvre). Sebastian was shot with arrows after being exposed as a Christian convert; he was particularly revered during the Renaissance as a protector against illness such as the plague. Portrayal of the saint required Perugino to express his knowledge of human anatomy, while evoking the gentle s-curve associated with classical sculpture. Drawn with metalpoint, a typical drawing medium in the 1400s, the reinforced lines along the contour of the figure indicate that it was probably used by the artist or by one of his many studio assistants to transfer the design to another sheet.
A vertically oriented drawing on gray paper depicts a nude male with a light skin tone, standing up. He is looking up, his neck craned and his head slightly cocked to the side. His hands are behind his back, his genitalia is shown, and his right knee is slightly bent.

Saint Sebastian

c. 1493

Perugino

(Italian, c. 1450/55–1523)
Italy, 15th century

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