Retable: Saints Sebastian and Julian,

late 15th–early 16th century

This altarpiece from the parish church of Perarua, Huesca, celebrates the two saints depicted in the central panel. Saint Sebastian, on the left, holds arrows and a bow, and Saint Julian, known as “the Hospitaller” or “the Poor,” on the right, has a falcon on his left hand.
Saint Sebastian was a third-century Roman soldier, reputed to have served in Milan before being martyred in Rome. According to legend, he encouraged other Christians in their faith, as at the upper left, where he is present at the martyrdom of Saints Marcus and Marcellianus, overseen by the Emperor Diocletian (reigned 284–305). Sebastian was then shot with arrows, shown in the lower scene, where he is flanked by archers with a long bow and a cross bow. Revived by the pious Saint Irene, he was later clubbed to death.
Saint Julian is now believed to be legendary. His story was included by the Dominican archbishop of Genoa Giacomo da Varazze in his thirteenth-century compilation of oral traditions, The Golden Legend. In the episode at the lower right, Julian returns home to find his bed occupied by a couple, and, thinking his wife has betrayed him with a lover, Julian commits double murder. Julian’s wife is seen explaining that the man and woman were his long-lost parents, whom she had allowed to sleep in the conjugal bed. In the scene above, Julian is at the hospital he founded to do penance for killing his parents by caring for the sick and ferrying travelers across the nearby river. Consequently, Saint Julian became a patron saint of travelers.
On the predella, or lower section of the altarpiece, the central image is Christ as Man of Sorrows, with the Instruments of the Passion, flanked by the Virgin Mary and Saint John. The other figures are, from left to right: Saint John the Baptist, Saint Engracia, Saint Quiteria, Saint Barbara, Saint Catherine, Saint Lucy, Saint Apollonia, and a guardian angel.