Dutch or Spanish school; first of the XVII century.

Dutch or Spanish school; first half of the 17th century.
"St. Sebastian attended by St. Irene".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It presents faults and restorations on the pictorial surface.
It has a XIX century frame.
Measurements: 113 x 168 cm; 121 x 177 cm (frame).
The presence of Saint Irene in this work and the way in which she appears dressed invite the viewer to resort to the work of the same title and theme that belongs to the collection of the School of Fine Arts of San Fernando (Inventory No. 0188), attributed to Cornelis de Beer (Utrecht, 1586-Madrid, 1651). In both works we see Saint Sebastian at the moment when he has already received the arrows and Saint Irene in the background. Although the palette and the workmanship of both paintings is very similar, the composition differs slightly, showing in this case the saint to a lesser extent so that the body of St. Sebastian acquires a greater prominence. According to the cataloguing of the School of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid "The Dutchman of Beer is documented in Madrid in 1618, and according to Espín Rael and Barrio Moya between 1645 and 1650 he painted altar paintings for the disappeared church of the Capuchins in Murcia and for the church of San Patricio in Lorca, some of which are still preserved. Before his arrival in Spain he probably traveled to Italy, where he appreciated the style of Francesco del Cairo. His daughter and disciple Maria Eugenia was a notable engraver".
Saint Sebastian was born in Gaul, in Narbonne (256). He was Tribune of the First Cohort of the Praetorian Guard, in which he was respected by all and appreciated by the Emperor Diocletian, who was unaware of his Christian condition. Denounced because he exhorted his friends Mark and Marcellinus to remain firm in their faith, Diocletian condemned him to death. The emperor's soldiers took him to the stadium, stripped him naked, tied him to a post and showered him with arrows, leaving him for dead. But after the torture he was not dead; the widow Irene, who came to bury him, noticed that he was still breathing, bandaged his wounds and saved his life. After his cure he went before Diocletian to reproach him for his cruelty to the Christians. He was then scourged and beaten to death in the Circus, his corpse was thrown into the Maximian sewer. Shortly afterwards, the saint appeared to St. Lucila while she was sleeping: he revealed to her the place where he would find his remains and asked her to bury him in the catacombs.