Traditionally, it was said that St. Sebastian was stripped bare, tied to a column or tree or stake and shot with arrows. The stripping of a prisoner was not uncommon and was considered as an additional debasement or punishment of the person. Nudity and/or public nudity did not have the negative moral caveat in Rome that it has in many societies and/or cultures today. Rather, it was generally considered to be a social issue, or indication of social rank. To see a member of the upper class nude in public, without their garments of rank would have been a huge embarrassment for them. To see a common laborer in the same condition would not have raised an eyebrow.

The method of execution employed for St. Sebastian would seem to allow for the depiction of a nude or nearly nude male figure. However, nudity in art was disallowed by the Church prior to the XV^th Century. There were certain exceptions, but these were strictly controlled and always within Biblical and moral contexts--e.g., Adam, but the genitalia were almost never shown. If the genitals were depicted, custom required that they be shown small in form, almost childlike, and the indication of pubic hair was unacceptable. These two caveats had been in practice since Greco-Roman times. The latter--i.e., the lack of pubic hair--is doubtlessly due to certain health/cleanliness practices particularly exercised by the upper classes. Infestation of pubic lice was common, even endemic from the earliest of human times. The customary practice amongst the upper classes in Greco-Roman times was to have their pubic areas shaved to combat this irritation. The unshaven pubes implied uncleanliness and was associated with the lower classes--i.e., peasants and common laborers.⁵ However, there are exceptions as always. One particular interesting representation of St. Sebastian with St. Anthony and St. Roch is in a graphic print by Jean Duvet (c. 1510) (See: Figure 119). Here the martyr-saint is standing in front of a tree with St. Roch to his left. The normal cloth is tied, in this case, in the front. But, as the wrapping sags towards the groin, one is given an undeniable glimpse of pubic hair. Sebastiano Luciani (called Piombo) produced a study (1507) (See: Figure 17) of a rather robust St. Sebastian in which the pubic hairs were clearly drawn.