Saint Sebastian in a Rocky Landscape with Saints Jerome, Anthony Abbot and Christopher

Saint Sebastian is venerated as an early Christian persecuted for his religious beliefs. Tied to a tree, he was pierced by the arrows of Roman soldiers but survived. Here, his pronounced muscles and exaggerated pose owe much to the study of antique sculpture. Like many artists, Marco Zoppo was influenced by the renewed interest in ancient Greek and Roman culture that swept across Renaissance Italy. Princes Gate bequest, 1978 Courtauld Insight ‘Depictions of Saint Sebastian in Renaissance art are, for many viewers, charged with eroticism. His muscular, exposed body and elaborate pose have inspired queer artists— from Derek Jarman to Yukio Mishima — to draw out such sensual undertones in their own work. No wonder then that the art critic Robert Melville once christened Sebastian “the patron saint of homosexuals”.’