Artwork Page for Study for "The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian" (for the Augustinian monastery at Diessen, Germany)

Details / Information for Study for "The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian" (for the Augustinian monastery at Diessen, Germany)

Study for "The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian" (for the Augustinian monastery at Diessen, Germany)

1739

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

(Italian, 1696–1770)
Culture
Italy, 18th century
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
Framed: 67.5 x 45.5 x 6 cm (26 9/16 x 17 15/16 x 2 3/8 in.); Unframed: 51.7 x 31.7 cm (20 3/8 x 12 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Delia E. Holden and L. E. Holden Funds 1946.277
Public Domain
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Location
214 Central and Northern European
Print

Description

In 1739 a pair of monumental altarpieces by two Venetian painters (Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and Giambattista Pittoni) were installed in a church in southern Germany, part of a carefully orchestrated decorative program that included architecture, painting, sculpture, and decorative stuccowork. This sketch is Tiepolo’s initial design for his altarpiece, submitted for approval before beginning the final work. With quick, assured brushstrokes, he represents the Christian martyr Sebastian bound to a tree and shot with arrows, flooded with radiant light to symbolize his devotion to his faith.
A vertically oriented oil painting is composed of thin, brushy layers of muted browns and blues. On the right, Saint Sebastian, a man with a light skin tone in a white loincloth, is tied to a tree looking upward. Top left, two nude, winged children rest on a cloud; one holds a palm branch. Below, a man in a blue tunic stands left among a crowd with light skin tones holding arrows before ruins.

Study for "The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian" (for the Augustinian monastery at Diessen, Germany)

1739

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

(Italian, 1696–1770)
Italy, 18th century

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