Saint Sebastian
1615
Guido Reni’s 1615 masterpiece captures the moment of martyrdom with a strange, almost ecstatic beauty that made it incredibly popular in the 17th century. Saint Sebastian is shown bound to a tree, an arrow piercing his side, yet his face is turned upward in a look of spiritual surrender rather than agony. This Baroque gem played heavily on the tension between physical suffering and divine devotion. In fact, the painting was so admired for its idealized male form that it became a standard reference for beauty in art academies for centuries.
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