Saint Sebastian Tended by an Angel

Anthony van Dyck

about 1630–1632

Oil on panel, Oil

J. Paul Getty Museum

A muscular male figure, bound and leaning against a rocky surface, is attended by an unseen angelic presence. The scene is rendered in a monochromatic palette with dramatic chiaroscuro. Near death after being tied to a tree and shot through with arrows, Saint Sebastian barely notices the angel helping to remove them. Anthony van Dyck painted the subject of Saint Sebastian many times, choosing various moments in the saint's story but never focusing on the one thing that most other artists emphasized: the saint's flesh punctured with arrows. Van Dyck's goal was to explore the subject's emotional possibilities, rather than the physical wounds. In this scene, the naked and defenseless Saint Sebastian is so consumed by suffering that he is practically unaware of the angel's assistance. Using a monochromatic grisaille te