Saint Sebastian

The eyes have it in these two paintings of Saint Sebastian (see 71.464), an early Christian martyr. Sebastian served as a captain in the Imperial Roman army, but when he refused to give up his faith, his soldiers shot him with arrows. Nicolas Régnier portrayed the story’s grisly climax (at left), showing the bound Sebastian pierced by arrows, while Anthony van Dyck (71.464) chose an earlier moment when Sebastian’s men prepared him for execution. In one, Sebastian’s eyes look heavenward for deliverance; in the other, the saint looks directly at us while confronting his fate. Both artists dramatized the scene by emphasizing the saint’s eyes, but which gaze speaks more powerfully to you?

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