Young Adult

The representation of St. Sebastian as a young adult, with the developed musculature commensurate with that age becomes common, particularly in the Baroque period. Ever the archtypical presenter of the martyr-saint, Guido Reni represents him, not as an adolescent, but a young adult (See: Figure 70). Peter Paul Rubens represents St. Sebastian (1618) as a man with heavily muscled legs and the hint of a mustache (See: Figure 200). Janarius Zick (c. 1730) portrays the martyr-saint with broad shoulders, muscular arms and a hint of a manly mustache (See: Figure 201). Giulio Cesare Procaccini, (1610-1620) (See: Figure 111), gives Sebastian a short beard as the injured, nude, but coyly covered saint is lowered from the place of his attempted martyrdom. And, the servant of St. Irene cradles the large, muscled body of the injured martyr-saint in the painting by Francesco Giovanni Barbieri ( called Guercino) (1619) (See: Figure 88).