Saint Sebastian altar by Albrecht Altdorfer

The Saint Sebastian Altar at St. Florian Monastery represents Albrecht Altdorfer at the intersection of religious commission and landscape ambition. St. Sebastian — martyred by arrows while tied to a post — was a major plague saint, and altarpieces devoted to him proliferated after epidemic outbreaks. St. Florian, the Augustinian monastery near Linz where Altdorfer's work remains, held a significant collection of his work, suggesting a sustained relationship between the artist and the institution. The altarpiece format involved multiple panels that could be opened or closed according to the liturgical calendar, presenting different images to the faithful at different times. Altdorfer's treatment situates the martyr within the rocky, tree-lined landscape typical of the Danube School, making the natural world a participant in the drama of sanctity and suffering.

Panel construction with tempera or early oil, consistent with altarpiece production conventions of the early sixteenth century. Gold grounds may appear in subsidiary panels while the main scenes show landscape integration. The figure of Sebastian is rendered with the elegance of northern humanist figure drawing, combining Gothic linearity with Renaissance bodily understanding.