Collection Online
Saint Sebastian being cured by Irene

Saint Sebastian being cured by Irene
(c. 1653)

Medium
oil on canvas
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1934
Gallery location
17th to 18th Century European Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
 

About this work

Sebastian was a member of the Roman imperial guard in the second century CE who used his position to encourage imprisoned Christians to persevere in their faith. Arrested and accused before the pagan emperors Maximian and Diocletian, Sebastian was tied to a stake, shot at with arrows and left for dead. Miraculously surviving this torture, he was nursed back to health by Irene, the widow of another martyr, only to be arrested again and bludgeoned to death in the Hippodrome. The dramatic lighting and taut compression of space employed here by Luca Giordano are typical of work he made during his early years in Naples.

Artwork Details

Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
142.0 × 195.7 cm
Place/s of Execution
Naples, Campania, Italy
Accession Number
214-4
Department
International Painting
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1934
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