So many... arrows - Saint Sebastian, part I

Paul Delaroche, 1822.

Salvator Rosa, 1650.

When you go onto the internet looking for images of Saint Sebastian, expect to be sitting there a while. A long while. Other than Christ, himself, in the history of art I can think of no male religious figure who has been portrayed more frequently. (Maybe David or John the Baptist turn up more often?) Sometimes the compositions he inhabits are elaborate, with soldiers and landscapes, fluttering drapery, even a cherub or two. Sometimes Saint Irene and a maid are shown busy at work, tending to the devout pincushion. But most often just an underdressed young fellow, a few arrows, and bit of rope will suffice. And perhaps a tree.

Vicente López y Portaña, circa 1795-1800.

Nicolas Régnier, 1625.(Régnier and his studio made rather a career of painting St. Sebastians.)

But why is he everywhere? He's not a particularly useful saint; he doesn't actually serve much biblical purpose. The only things he really has to recommend him are high drama and pulchritude. A whole lot of male pulchritude. I expect those qualities - particularly the latter - are what has kept him in such frequent rotation. At any rate, here is a selection of "saintly" torsos. I haven't included all that many that are very well known, or ones that I've already included elsewhere on this blog. This is just a tiny sampling of the apparently infinite moods of Sebastians: calm and writhing, pretty and ugly, silly and tragic, gross and lyrical.

San Sebastiano nel bosco di Calvenzano, d'après Guido Reni, by Luigi Ontani, 1970.

Augustin Van den Berghe, 1777.

Bernardo Strozzi, circa 1631-36.

F. Holland Day, 1907.

Master of the Virgo inter Virgines, 1480.

Circle of Nicolas Régnier, first half of the seventeenth century.

Pietro Perugino, circa 1493-4.

Hendrick ter Brugghen, 1625.

Giovanni Colacicchi, 1930s. (Study for the following painting.)

Giovanni Colacicchi, 1930s.

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, 1851-73.

François-Guillaume Ménageot, 1803.

François-Xavier Fabre, 1789.

The Master MZ, circa 1500-10.

Greg Semu, 2014.

Marco Antonio Bassetti, circa 1620.

Gustave Moreau, circa 1870.

Master of the Holy Kinship, circa 1493-94.

Cornelis van Haarlem, circa 1591.

Anthony Gayton, 2004.

 Honoré Daumier, circa 1849-50.

José de Ribera, 1636.

Frans Badens, between 1600-18,

Alexandra Hiller, 2000. (?)

 Dosso Dossi, 1526.

Antonello da Messina, 1477.

Ed Fury, Athletic Model Guild, circa 1950s.

Mattia Preti, circa 1660.

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, 1850.

Simon Vouet, 1621-2.

Kieran Keat, circa 2010.

Nicolas Régnier, circa 1620.