Saint Sebastian (c. 1500): Art, History and Details

Saint Sebastian (c. 1500) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Moderno (Italian, 1467–1528).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The Corinthian capital on the central column, the broken pier with reliefs of Mars and an eagle, and the pier at left with equestrian groups around an image of Venus are all ancient motifs Moderno encountered in Rome. Originally from Verona, Moderno combined this monumental classicism of Rome with his Northern Italian roots, particularly the interest in humanism he absorbed at the court of Renaissance Ferrara. Despite the torture of arrows piercing Saint Sebastian's body, the strong musculature and graceful twist of his seminude body reflect the Renaissance ideals of beauty befitting a holy martyr.

Object facts

• Title: Saint Sebastian
• Date: c. 1500
• Creator attribution: Moderno (Italian, 1467–1528)
• Culture: Italy
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: bronze
• Dimensions: Overall: 7.5 x 5.8 cm (2 15/16 x 2 5/16 in.)
• Collection: Sculpture
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1992.130

Collection credit

Seventy-fifth anniversary gift of Dr. and Mrs. Sherman E. Lee

Further reading listed by the museum

• Turner, Evan H. “The Year in Review for 1992.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 80, no. 2 (February 1993): 38–79.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.