St Sebastian and two angels

Saint Sebastian and Two Angels in the Gemaldegalerie Berlin, painted around 1650, shows the arrow-pierced martyr attended by heavenly beings. Guercino's late treatment adds a celestial consolation element to the traditional martyrdom scene. Guercino's vivid early style, with its bold chiaroscuro and emotional immediacy, gave way after 1621 to a more classical manner influenced by the taste of Rome, creating two distinct bodies of work that represent the Baroque's competing impulses toward drama and order.

The angels' tender ministrations contrast with Sebastian's wounded body. Guercino's mature style renders the scene with smoother modeling and more harmonious composition than his earlier dramatic works.