Study for "The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian" (for the Augustinian monastery at Diessen, Germany) (1739): Art, History and Details

Study for "The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian" (for the Augustinian monastery at Diessen, Germany) (1739) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (Italian, 1696–1770).

The work and its context

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

In 1739 a pair of monumental altarpieces by two Venetian painters (Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and Giambattista Pittoni) were installed in a church in southern Germany, part of a carefully orchestrated decorative program that included architecture, painting, sculpture, and decorative stuccowork. This sketch is Tiepolo’s initial design for his altarpiece, submitted for approval before beginning the final work. With quick, assured brushstrokes, he represents the Christian martyr Sebastian bound to a tree and shot with arrows, flooded with radiant light to symbolize his devotion to his faith.

Object facts

• Title: Study for "The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian" (for the Augustinian monastery at Diessen, Germany)
• Date: 1739
• Creator attribution: Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (Italian, 1696–1770)
• Culture: Italy
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: Framed: 67.5 x 45.5 x 6 cm (26 9/16 x 17 15/16 x 2 3/8 in.); Unframed: 51.7 x 31.7 cm (20 3/8 x 12 1/2 in.)
• Collection: P - Italian 18th Century
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1946.277

Collection credit

Delia E. Holden and L. E. Holden Funds

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art. European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982.
• Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista, The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, 1928-1946, 1910. Series 2.2: Museum Files, 1904-1977, undated. Jacques Seligmann & Co. records, 1904-1978, bulk 1913-1974. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. [Box 218, folder 5 – digitzed: http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/container/viewer/Tiepolo-Giovanni-Battista-emph-render-italic-The-Martyrdom-of-Saint-Sebastian-emph--292202\].
• Stock Catalogs, New York Office: Stock Catalog, 1937-1938, Jacques Seligmann & Co. records, 1904-1978, bulk 1913-1974, Series 6.1: Stock Catalogs, New York Office, 1923-1971, undated. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. [Box 218, folder 5 – digitzed: http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/container/viewer/Tiepolo-Giovanni-Battista-emph-render-italic-The-Martyrdom-of-Saint-Sebastian-emph--292202\].

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.