The figure of Sebastian

In the Legenda Aurea, the compiled tales of the saints popular in the Middle Ages, Sebastian’s martyrdom takes place on an open field. Mantegna invents the ancient column to which he is bound, and places him in front of these splendid, imagined ruins. With his athletic body resting on one leg in statue pose, Sebastian is presented by the artist as an idealised, sculptural figure.

Although the event takes place in the time of Diocletian, Mantegna places Sebastian in his present of the 15th century. The Ancient World, mourned by humanists and probably Mantegna as well, lies metaphorically in ruins, with soldiers in contemporary dress leaving the execution site with their crossbows.

By a miracle Sebastian survives. And Mantegna draws our attention to this; though shot through with arrows, Sebastian is not writhing in agony. His focus is on the arrow piercing his forehead, his mouth open slightly. His pallor is hardly different to the stone column behind him.