It appears obvious that the inclusion of St. Sebastian in the compositions of Antonio Rimpatta, Girolamo di Romano, Rosso Fiorentino, Giovanni Antonio Licinio and Bonifacio di Pitati was to display the semi-nude male form, an example of Apollonian beauty. The ecclesiastical implications appear in each case to take a back row. The obvious sensual, even erotic concern has been loosely veiled by the religious subject.

Groin Centered

It is not unusual for one to be titillated at the sight of a semi-nude figure. One's interest as to what lies beneath is piqued. The coverings that have been employed to mask the pubic region of St. Sebastian run the gamut. Yet, a number of these coverings appear to bring undue attention to his groin area. The viewer's interest or curiosity is inextricably drawn to the groin area--a holy strip tease.

In the earlier depictions of the semi-nude St. Sebastian, he is generally shown with his pubic area covered or obscured as stated above. In some cases the drape has been allowed to slip dangerously low, exposing the lower belly--e.g., the Anonymous Hungarian Master (1600) (See: Figure 22), Joachim Wtewael (1600) (See: Figure 69), Giuseppe Cesari aka il Cavalier d'Arpino (a. 1600) (See: Figure 127), Giulio Cesare Procaccini (1615) (See: Figure 128), Francesco Furini (1630) (See: Figure 129), Andrea Vaccaro (1635) (See: Figure 130), and Antonio Bellucci (1692) (See: Figure 131) to cite but a few. However, in these instances and nearly all others there is no indication of pubic hair.