St. Sebastian (Raphael)

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St. Sebastian

Raphael, 1501-1502

Oil on wood

43 × 34 cm

Accademia Carrara, Bergamo

St. Sebastian is a painting by the Italian High Renaissance artist Raphael, circa 1501-1502. It is housed in the Accademia Carrara of Bergamo, Italy.

The picture represents slight variations of Perugino's motives. In this painting graceful Peruginesque poses and the hazy transparency of colour characteristic of Francesco Francia, are fused together in a way that clearly indicates Raphael's presence. His ability to compose clear and balanced forms becomes typical from this work on, as does the discreet and harmonious distillation of the formal elements of other painters in the clear, serene vision which seems characteristic of his artistic temperament.

Sebastian is holding an arrow, the symbol of his martyrdom, his little finger held up elegantly. Wearing a gorgeous red cloak and a gold embroidered shirt, with his hair elegantly arranged, there is nothing about this figure that recalls the torments St Sebastian suffered for his faith. This is a typical early work unanonimously attributed to Raphael and, in its ornamental beauty and elegiac mood, it is very reminiscent of the works of Perugino.