SAINT SEBASTIAN Burgundy, late 15th century Tonnerre... Lot 14

SAINT SEBASTIAN Burgundy, late 15th century Tonnerre stone; polychrome H. 70 cm This Saint Sebastian, leaning against a tree, his hips modestly encased in a loincloth, is leaning on his right leg, his left leg slightly bent. This contrapposto sketch, combined with the indolence of his body and the fine representation of his anatomy, is characteristic of the Burgundian sculptors of the late 15th century who, like Antoine Le Moiturier (1425- 1495), drew their sources from the Italian Renaissance repertoire. Our saint, with his doll-like face, framed by half-length hair with soft locks and a short fringe on his forehead, was painted in the same spirit as the one in Mont-Saint-Jean (see Fig. 1). Their features appear surprisingly relaxed, the eyelids lowered, the jaw slackened and the body abandoned despite the (disappeared) arrows that pierce the neck, the fl anc and the thighs. They belong to the same group as the one from Semur-en-Auxois, whose attribution to Antoine le Moiturier has been discussed (fig. 2). The latter, leaning on his left leg, tilts his head to the right, while the one from Mont-Saint-Jean, like ours, tilts his head to the side of the leg he is leaning on - he to the left, ours to the right, in a serpentine movement that increases the impression of languor Sebastian was a Roman soldier, promoted to commander of the Praetorian Guard by Diocletian, who was unaware of his Christian confession. He used his position to support his fellow believers who were imprisoned and martyred during the persecutions in Rome at the end of the third century. Condemned to death for his proselytism, he was pierced with arrows and left for dead. It was then that Irene, the widow of a martyr, rescued him. Once he had recovered, he went back to proclaim his faith and died after being stoned and thrown into the sewers. A matron retrieved his remains and buried them in the catacombs of the Via Appia. Saint Sebastian became the third patron saint of Rome after Peter and Paul.