The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian

The archers bend, twist and pull as Saint Sebastian stands bound above them. Their repeated poses invite comparison. One body turns towards us, another away, as if the painters were testing how the same action looks from different sides. The Florentine brothers Antonio and Piero del Pollaiuolo completed this altarpiece in 1475 for the Pucci family chapel in Florence. The large chapel required a painting that could be read from a distance. Sebastian and his tormentors form an immense triangle, giving the crowded action a clear structure. Sebastian was a Roman soldier who became a Christian. According to his legend, he survived being shot with arrows and was later beaten to death. Christians also appealed to him for protection against plague, whose swellings were compared with arrow wounds. Look past the archers to the winding river. It takes the eye far beyond the closely arranged bodies. The painting brings the saint’s suffering into a single, expansive space, allowing the artists to show both muscular effort and an ordered landscape.