Saint Sebastian with Madonna and child

Filippino Lippi painted this Saint Sebastian with Madonna and Child around 1502 in Genoa, where it is now at the Palazzo Bianco, during the late phase of his career when his style had developed the nervous complexity and decorative richness that distinguish his final works. The pairing of the plague-protecting Sebastian with the Madonna and Child creates a composite devotional image that responds to the perennial fear of epidemic. Filippino's late style — increasingly restless, fantastically detailed, sometimes unsettling in its emotional intensity — was formed partly by his years in Rome working on the Carafa Chapel, where he encountered ancient Roman decorative vocabulary. This work reflects both the devotional function of saint-images and the decorative ambition of Florentine painting as it moved toward Mannerism.

Oil on panel with Filippino's characteristic restless energy and decorative elaboration. The work demonstrates the artistic qualities characteristic of Filippino Lippi's mature period.