Master of the Sacred Kindred of Jesus Biberach

Master of the Holy Parentage of Jesus Biberach; Swabia, Germany, first third of the 16th century.
"Saint Sebastian".
Carved and polychrome wood.
Measurements: 85 x 38 x 28 cm.
In this work the saint is represented tied to the tree, although the arrows stuck in his body cannot be seen. Young and athletic in appearance, as is normal in the representation of Saint Sebastian, his face denotes a certain seriousness and indifference, far from pain and accepting his martyrdom with serenity and faith. As is common in imagery, the scene is depicted with great drama, seeking to convey the saint's suffering and physical pain to the faithful through the carving of his body posture and the wound in the centre of his chest. The polychromy seeks naturalism in the flesh tones. The piece is attributed to the Master of the Sacred Parentage of Jesus Biberach, of whom little biographical information and few works are known, although one of them belonging to the collection of the Bode Museum in Germany is very similar to the present piece due to its aesthetics and subject matter. Stylistically the work is reminiscent of various schools such as the German one, although without losing a certain Italian taste, as can be seen in the way the sitter's pose is conceived, with a marked praxitelic curve. These features denote the artist's knowledge of the aesthetic currents of the time, making the work a symbiosis that combines stylistic characteristics of both schools, making it an exceptional and unique work.
Born in Gaul and raised in Milan, Sebastian was a centurion of the first cohort in the time of the emperor Diocletian (late 3rd - early 4th century). Denounced because he exhorted his friends Mark and Marcellinus to remain steadfast in their faith, by order of the emperor he was tied to a post in the centre of the Field of Mars, and served as a live target for the archers who shot him. But he did not die for it. The widow Irene, who wanted to raise his body for burial, noticed that he was still breathing, bandaged his wounds and saved his life. After he was cured, he reappeared before Diocletian to reproach him for his cruelty towards the Christians. He was then scourged, beaten to death in the circus and his corpse was thrown into the Maximian sewer. Shortly afterwards, Saint Sebastian appeared to Saint Lucila in her sleep to reveal to her the location of his remains, and asked her to bury him in the catacombs.