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The stunning altarpiece we are showing today was made in the mid-1470s by two brothers Antonio and Piero del Pollaiuolo for the Pucci family in Florence Church painted. This is Piero’s most ambitious painting, a milestone in Renaissance art, showing a muscular figure in action. Artists used this large format to showcase their talents in perspective and geometry. The immortal figures of Sebastian and his torturers form a huge triangle in the foreground, with the arms and legs of the archer pressing on either side of the picture. Behind them, the meandering river draws our gaze into the blue distance.
The altarpiece tells the story of Saint Sebastian being sentenced to death after being discovered to be a Christian, from the Golden Legend (a collection of biographies of saints by Jacobus de Voragine) , widespread in late medieval Europe). He was tied to a stake and shot with an arrow. Here, six archers have three basic poses, flipped in space and viewed from different angles. This helps create the three-dimensional feel of each character and together define the foreground space.
PS June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month. In DailyArt Magazine, we explain why San Sebastian is considered a gay icon !
PPS If you’re visiting the National Gallery, don’t forget to bring our handcrafted art notebooks . We took them to the Uffizi Gallery and they worked like magic!
291.5 cm × 202.6 cm
Renaissance
National Gallery
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