Saint Sebastian, anonymous, c. 1525
walnut with polychromy and gilding, h 124cm × w 30cm × d 20.5cm Catalogue entry
The tortured Sebastian – persecuted in 3rd-century Rome for his Christian faith – has an elegantly twisted pose, with an almost feminine face. There is no question of the kind of explicit realism that stresses pain and suffering. The Renaissance manifests itself clearly here. The statue originally hung in the hospital of Onze-Lieve- Vrouw in Mechelen, where it was venerated by plague sufferers hoping to be cured.
