Saint Sebastian Released by Irene and her Servant
The original, as its museum records it
Every line above is reproduced from the holding institution’s own catalogue entry, which is linked. Where their title, date or attribution differs from ours, theirs is the one printed here.
The file this print is made from
| Artist | Melchior de la Mars (Flemish, c. 1585–after 1627) |
|---|---|
| Date | c. 1620–1625 |
| Museum | Museum voor Schone Kunsten (MSK), Ghent |
| Accession | Inv. 2022-H |
| Medium | oil paint, canvas |
| Dimensions | 130 x 100 cm |
| Sheet sizes | 8×10 in, 11×14 in, 16×20 in, 18×24 in, 24×36 in, 32×48 in, 40×60 in |
Sizes
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View in the galleryAbout this painting
Saint Sebastian lifts his eyes, and the arrows are still in him. Hands work at the ropes, at his wrist and high on the post. Melchior de la Mars gave his limbs a sickly, greenish cast; the MSK Ghent reads the discoloured skin and the hint of a convulsion as symptoms of plague, painted in the 1620s, when outbreaks struck Europe and Ghent more than once, the saint invoked against it. Lowie Vercruysse and colleagues found green earth mixed into the flesh paint. Irene, a Roman widow, came with her servant to release him, and the museum reads it as Christian charity. The same green earth went into Irene's sleeve.
Sources: MSK Gent, 'Saint Sebastian Released by the Roman Widow Irene and her Servant', inv. 2022-H, read 2026-09-24 · Lowie Vercruysse et al., 'New insights into the use of Naples yellow and green earth by Melchior de la Mars', npj Heritage Science 13 (2025), read 2026-09-24
Printed on demand. Public-domain masterwork, reproduced from a 13,454 px master of the original. The whole image is printed — never cropped to fit the sheet — so every sheet carries an archival margin, and the dimensions and resolution listed above are the ones you receive.