St. Sebastian

St. Sebastian (c.1615) by Guido Reni

On January 20th, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast day of St. Sebastian. The Baroque Art Accessibility Consortium also celebrates the birth of our first son, Noah.

If you have spent any time looking at Baroque art, you will have noticed that St. Sebastian with arrows in his body is a very popular subject. Did you know that St. Sebastian didn't actually die from the arrows? St. Irene nursed him back to health after he was shot with many arrows and left for dead. Sebastian then went back Rome to harass the emperor Diocletian for his persecution of Christians and was sentenced to death by beating, unfortunately this time his executors were successful.

Many Baroque artists painted St. Sebastian with arrows during the first half of the 17th century. The focus then turned to St. Sebastian being nursed to health as well as his run-in with the Emperor. It is thought that the Church wanted to remove focus from the nearly-naked, muscular youth tied to a tree and focus more on his miraculous recovery.

The picture included is St. Sebastian (c.1615) by Guido Reni which is housed at the Capitoline Museum in Rome, and is one of at least 7 paintings that Reni created of the Saint.