Francis Berger
  • Home
  • Blog
  • My Work
  • Contact

It Wasn't Arrows

1/30/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Saint Sebastian - Andrea Mantegna - c. 1470
Most paintings of Saint Sebastian (256 - 288) depict him tied to a tree, post, or pillar, his body punctured by arrows. This of course leads to the logical assumption that Sebastian's martyrdom involved being shot to death by archers at the order of the Roman emperor Diocletian (244 - 311).

Sebastian did indeed suffer through the imperial Roman equivalent of a firing squad, but according to traditional belief he survived the ordeal. His actual martyrdom occurred at a later date when he reportedly accosted Diocletian in Rome. Though taken aback by Sebastian's unexpected appearance, the Roman emperor quickly ordered his men to cudgel Sebastian to death. 

So cudgels, not arrows, led to St. Sebastian's martyrdom; but I can understand why artists generally found the shot full of arrows image of St. Sebastian far more powerful than the actual clubbed to death image of his martyrdom. 
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Blog and Comments

    Blog posts tend to be spontaneous, unpolished, first draft entries ranging from the insightful and periodically profound to the poorly-argued and occasionally disparaging.
     

    Comments are moderated. Anonymous comments are never published (please use your name or a pseudonym). 

    Emails welcome:

    f er en c ber g er (at) h otm   ail (dot) co m
    Picture
    Blogs/Sites I Read
    Bruce Charlton's Notions
    Meeting the Masters
    From The Narrow Desert
    Brief Outlines

    No Longer Reading

    ​Steeple Tea
    Berdyaev.com
    Junior Ganymede
    ​
    Deep Britain and Europe
    ​
    The Orthosphere
    ​
    Fourth Gospel Blog

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    June 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    April 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012

Proudly powered by Weebly