One of the three San Sebastian paintings by Mantegna, made towards the end of the painter’s life. Sebastian was considered protector against the plague as having been shot through by arrows, and it was thought that plague spread abroad through the air. « The artist’s intentions for the work are explained by a banderol spiralling around an extinguished candle, in the lower right corner. Here, in Latin, it is written: Nihil nisi divinum stabile est. Caetera fumus (« Nothing is stable if not divine. The rest is smoke »). »
Contributo di
Elka Krajewska + Gregor Neuerer