Saint Sebastian

Saint Sebastian — the young Roman soldier martyred by arrows who became one of the most popular subjects in Renaissance religious art — appears in one of Schiavone's National Gallery panels from around 1458. Sebastian's simultaneous physical suffering and spiritual transcendence made him a touchstone for exploring the classical nude body in a religious context. Schiavone's treatment draws on the Paduan workshop interest in Roman sculptural models, and the saint's athletic body provides an opportunity to display the anatomical knowledge acquired through Squarcione's rigorous training.

Sebastian allowed Schiavone to demonstrate anatomical knowledge acquired through the Squarcione workshop's study of antique sculpture. The body is rendered with careful attention to musculature and proportion, the arrows providing both narrative markers and compositional diagonals.