Saint Sebastian was a Roman commander who, according to legend, was executed under Emperor Diocletian (284-305) for being a Christian. First, soldiers attempted to kill him by shooting him with arrows, but he miraculously survived. He was then beaten to death.
<p>In Rimpatta's image, the soldiers depart in the background, thinking they have killed the saint. He is depicted in a beautiful landscape, perhaps to show us that, through his faith and sufferings, he has entered Paradise.
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Sebastian was among the saints who were believed to protect people from the plague. The painting is probably an "ex-voto," an image commissioned in gratitude for protection against the disease and dedicated to the saint by the wealthy kneeling woman in the foreground, who has placed herself and her children under his protection.
<bdi><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18507799" class="extiw" title="d:Q18507799"><span title="Italian painter">Antonio Rimpacta</span></a>
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circa 1505 <div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1505-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902</div> (<a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1472236" class="extiw" title="d:Q1472236"><span title="art movement">Early Renaissance</span></a><div style="display: none;">era QS:P2348,Q1472236</div>)
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