According to tradition, St. Sebastian was a Roman commander who was martyred under Emperor Diocletian (284-305) for his faith in Christ. Soldiers tied him up, show him with arrows, and left him for dead. Two days later, however, he returned to the emperor's palace, only to be beaten to death.
The artist has set the scene in an engaging and idealized landscape. The city in the background is probably meant to represent ancient Rome, where the story took place. Sebastian was venerated, as he was believed to offer protection from plague.
<bdi><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2857400" class="extiw" title="d:Q2857400"><span title="Italian painter">Antonio di Manfredo da Bologna Pirri</span></a>
</bdi>
between 1510 and 1525 <div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1550-00-00T00:00:00Z/7,P1319,+1510-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1326,+1525-00-00T00:00:00Z/9</div> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Renaissance" class="extiw" title="w:en:Renaissance"><span title="cultural movement that spanned the period roughly from the 14th to the 17th century">Renaissance</span></a><div style="display: none;">era QS:P2348,Q4692</div>)
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Walters_Art_Museum" class="extiw" title="w:en:Walters Art Museum"><span title="art museum in Baltimore, Maryland, United States">Walters Art Museum</span></a>: <a href="https://thewalters.org/" rel="nofollow"><img alt="Nuvola filesystems folder home.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Nuvola_filesystems_folder_home.svg/20px-Nuvola_filesystems_folder_home.svg.png" decoding="async" width="20" height="20" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Nuvola_filesystems_folder_home.svg/30px-Nuvola_filesystems_folder_home.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Nuvola_filesystems_folder_home.svg/40px-Nuvola_filesystems_folder_home.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128"></a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://thewalters.org/">Home page</a> <a href="https://art.thewalters.org/detail/11977" rel="nofollow"><img alt="Information icon.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Information_icon.svg/20px-Information_icon.svg.png" decoding="async" width="20" height="20" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Information_icon.svg/30px-Information_icon.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Information_icon.svg/40px-Information_icon.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="620" data-file-height="620"></a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://art.thewalters.org/detail/11977">Info about artwork</a>