Teach with Collections: Master of the Greenville Tondo

Saint Sebastian of Milan, a Christian soldier in the imperial army, was marked for execution during the rule of the emperor Diocletian for converting new believers and fortifying martyrs in their faith. Although the emperor ordered Sebastian to be tied to a post and shot with arrows, the saint miraculously survived. Images of this episode, rather than Sebastian's martyrdom by beating, were used to protect against the plague. Saint Sebastian provided Renaissance artists an opportunity to depict youthful male anatomy. This unidentified Umbrian artist derived the martyr's pose and anatomical characteristics from Pietro Perugino's Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian altarpiece in San Sebastiano at Panicale, eliminating extraneous narrative detail. He rendered as a single piercing the bombardment of arrows said to have struck the saint, focusing on one spot that evokes the saint's efficacy against the plague‚—the groin, where the black death's pustules manifest themselves.

Conversation prompts

Describe the saint's pose and gaze, as well as the background of the composition. What did the artist emphasize through his stylistic choices?

This representation of Saint Sebastian has been described as feminine‚—which details of his pose, face, and body might be described as traditionally male or female?