San Sebastiano's Temple

Here is one of the three slabs from the decorative elements of San Sebastiano which are now kept at the City Museum for conservation purposes and have been replaced by copies. The three exhibits are similar, but not identical. All are carved in tuffaceous limestone. This exhibit shows two winged putti holding up a wreath, at the centre of which is the Gonzaga device of the radiant sun. It should be recalled that in Ludovico Gonzaga's Charter of Heaven, the sun appeared in the Middle Heaven as an omen of certain glory.