The Martyrdom of Saint Stephen
Peter Paul Rubens, 1615
For now, just to look at
The photograph we have of this work is not sharp enough to print at the quality we want, so we are not selling it for now. We are looking for a better one.
About the work
- Artist
- Peter Paul Rubens
- Date
- 1615
- Reference
- XDV-3501
What the museum label doesn't tell you
Look at the bottom left corner: a black suit of armor, empty, propped against the tree like a shell no longer needed. Sebastian was a Roman soldier before he became a martyr, and here he is stripped twice over: the iron breastplate comes off, and his flesh is opened by the arrow a cherub pulls out with tweezers, almost clinical in his focus. Above, an angel weeps without looking at the wound. Below, someone is already untying his feet. The body suffers and is freed at once, and we cannot tell which comes first. Is this pain or rescue we are watching?
