Saint Sebastian (1500/10): Artwork and History

Saint Sebastian (1500/10) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Nicoletto da Modena Italian, active c. 1500–c. 1520.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

Nicoletto da Modena is best known for his idiosyncratic prints and engravings. His works are rendered in a style characterized by delicate cross-hatching and purity of line, with some similarity to the Ferrarese Tarocchi cards. Here the martyr Saint Sebastian is lashed rather serenely to a decorative column in a landscape setting with ancient ruins. Nicoletto often used a burr to produce the decorated surface effects, best seen in the darker areas of the ceiling architecture.

Object facts

• Title: Saint Sebastian
• Date: 1500/10
• Artist attribution: Nicoletto da Modena Italian, active c. 1500–c. 1520
• Place of origin: Italy
• Medium: Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
• Dimensions: 14.9 × 10.3 cm (5 7/8 × 4 1/16 in.)
• Type: Print
• Department: Prints and Drawings
• Reference number: 1956.1046

Collection credit

Bequest of Mrs. Potter Palmer, Jr.

View the original

Explore the artwork in the Art Institute's collection, including its image and the museum's current catalogue details.

The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.