Saint Sebastian

Delaroche's Saint Sebastian from around 1827 depicts the early Christian martyr who survived his first execution by arrows—the wounds treated by Saint Irene—in a composition that combined the devotional tradition of the suffering saint with the academic figure painting tradition that used the martyrdom as a pretext for the male nude. Sebastian's martyrdom, rendered as a figure bound to a tree or post with arrows piercing his body, was one of the most frequently represented subjects in European art because it combined Christian hagiographic content with the opportunity for the observation of the male body in vulnerable, expressive poses. Delaroche's treatment brought his characteristic psychological sensitivity to a subject that academic tradition had often reduced to mere figure display.

The martyred saint is rendered with Delaroche's precise anatomical technique, the arrows and wounds depicted with characteristic attention to physical detail.