Saint Sebastian (c. 1776): Art, History and Details

Saint Sebastian (c. 1776) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is James Barry (Irish, 1741–1806).

The work and its context

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

Irish artist James Barry made drawings from the works of Michelangelo and other masters while in Rome between 1765 and 1771, at a time when studying from Renaissance masters in Italy was central to artistic training. The muscular body and twisting position of Saint Sebastian—who was martyred for his faith by being shot with arrows—recall Michelangelo’s dynamic male nudes. This is the only known impression of this print. Printed by Barry himself, it demonstrates his experimentation with soft-ground etching to imitate the effect of chalk drawing.

Object facts

• Title: Saint Sebastian
• Date: c. 1776
• Creator attribution: James Barry (Irish, 1741–1806)
• Culture: Ireland
• Type: Print
• Technique: Soft-ground etching
• Dimensions: Platemark: 27.7 x 18.5 cm (10 7/8 x 7 5/16 in.); Sheet: 28.4 x 19.3 cm (11 3/16 x 7 5/8 in.)
• Collection: PR - Etching
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 2016.297

Collection credit

Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Wehn, James. “Acquisition Highlights 2016: Prints.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 57, no. 2 (March/April 2017): 22-23.

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.