| The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Antonio andPiero del Pollaiuolo |
| Year | After 1475 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 291.5 cm × 202.6 cm (114.8 in × 79.8 in) |
| Location | National Gallery, London |
TheMartyrdom of Saint Sebastian is a largealtarpiece by the brothersAntonio andPiero del Pollaiuolo, commissioned by the FlorentinePucci family and now in theNational Gallery, London.[1]
The Pucci family commissioned the work as the altarpiece for the family chapel, the oratory dedicated toSaint Sebastian in the church ofSantissima Annunziata, Florence.Giorgio Vasari dates it to 1475, attributing it solely to Antonio del Pollaiuolo, but it is today usually seen as a joint work, no doubt also involving assistants from their workshops.[2]
Roberto Pucci withdrew the work from the oratory on the pretext of restoration but then in 1857 sold it to the National Gallery.
The painting is considered Antonio's masterpiece, with a more rigid geometric control on the composition than in his previous works, without giving up his usual naturalness of poses and movement – the four archers in the foreground form two symmetrical poses, with the two central ones reloading and the two on the edges firing, in perfect equilibrium either side of the central post to which Sebastian is tied.
It can be contrasted with its near-contemporary, theSaint Sebastian byBotticelli, which instead puts the figure of the saint in isolation in a Flemish-inspired landscape.Francesco Botticini'sSaint Sebastian, formerly attributed toAndrea del Castagno and dated to the years immediately after 1474, borrows from the Botticelli.
Media related toMartyrdom of Saint Sebastian by Antonio and Piero del Pollaiolo at Wikimedia Commons