ABSTRACT
Two firmly naturalistic women, straight out of a Northern genre painting, assist a Sebastian whose marble pallor is reminiscent of earlier representations that show the saint as some kind of statue. Sebastian’s paleness is contrasted with the rosy nose of one woman, who seems more market wife than saint. Draped behind the martyr is a richly colored cloth of scarlet and gold, which stands out against the muted, earthy tones of the women’s clothes. The scene presents the awkward conjunction of two worlds, the homely and the monumental, and the strange glow of dawn or perhaps twilight which glimmers behind further emphasizes the peculiarity of the scene, which takes place at a moment of indeterminacy between life and death. (For Sebastian did not die after the attack by arrows. He lived on, only to die, finally, when he was thrown into the sewers, a less spectacular but, from the point of view of his persecutors, a more successful death. 1) Most striking, though, is the pose of the saint, who is no longer displayed for delectation but rather folded over onto himself as his body is untied. He is seated, and positioned so that he leans down towards us, the viewers; once his arm is untied he will slump forward, falling towards the bottom half of the canvas.
