By Alte Pinakothek, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen
Alte Pinakothek, Bavarian State Painting Collections
St Sebastian Altarpiece: The Martyrdom of St Sebastian (1516) by Hans Holbein the ElderOriginal Source: Object in the Online-Collection of the Pinakotheken
Sebastian, the leader of a cohort under Emperor Diocletian, was condemned to death as a Christian, tied to a post and pierced with arrows.
He survived and continued to denounce the persecution of Christians.
Ultimately he was beaten to death and his body thrown into the sewers in Rome - shown in the background on the central panel, the landscape continuing onto the side panels.
St Sebastian Altarpiece (1516/1516) by Hans Holbein the ElderAlte Pinakothek, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen
St Sebastian Altarpiece: Left wing: St Barbara (1516) by Hans Holbein the ElderOriginal Source: Object in the Online-Collection of the Pinakotheken
Here the saints Barbara and Elizabeth are shown in niches from classical antiquity.
All three saints were called on as intercessors for illnesses or for a “good death”.
St Sebastian Altarpiece: The Martyrdom of St Sebastian (1516) by Hans Holbein the ElderOriginal Source: Object in the Online-Collection of the Pinakotheken
Especially Sebastian was venerated as the patron saint of plague victims.
Holbein’s adoption of the stylistic means and motifs of the Renaissance is masterful.
St Sebastian Altarpiece: Left wing: St Barbara (1516) by Hans Holbein the ElderOriginal Source: Object in the Online-Collection of the Pinakotheken
Large figures close up,…
and ancient ornamentation.
St Sebastian Altarpiece (1516/1516) by Hans Holbein the ElderAlte Pinakothek, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen
The original location of the winged altarpiece is still unknown today.
© Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen
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