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Saint Sebastian

Maker

(artist)
1591-1666

Title

Saint Sebastian

Date of Production

(circa) 1642

Medium

pen and ink (brown), wash (brown) on laid paper

Dimensions

Height: 19.4 cm
Width: 22.9 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.1377

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

Sentenced to death for his conversion to Christianity, Saint Sebastian was bound to a tree, shot at with arrows and left for dead. To depict speed most effectively, Guercino frequently shows a sequence of movements: here two arrows have already pierced the saint’s flesh, while a third flies through the air towards his chest. Short trails of blood and his drooping, heavily shaded head, communicate his agony.

Provenance

by descent to the artist's nephews, Benedetto Gennari (1633-1715) and Cesare Gennari (1637-1688), 1666; by descent to Cesare’s sons, Gianfrancesco Gennari (1671-1727) and Filippo Antonio Gennari (1677-1751), 1719; by descent to Gianfrancesco's son, Carlo Gennari (1716-1790); presumably Francesco Forni, Bologna (18th century) or Abbé Bonducci, Florence (18th century); presumably acquired from either of those by John Bouverie, England (ca. 1722/1723-1750), 1741 or 1745; by descent to his sister, Anne Hervey (d. 1757); by descent to her son, Christopher Hervey (d. 1786); by descent to his aunt, Elizabeth Bouverie (d. 1798); by descent to Sir Charles Middleton, later 1st Baron Barham (1726-1813); by descent to his son-in-law, Sir Gerard Noel, 2nd Baron Barham (1759-1838); by descent to his son, Charles Noel, later 1st Earl of Gainsborough (1781-1866); by descent to Charles Noel, 3rd Earl of Gainsborough (1850-1926); his sale, Christie's (London), 27 July 1922, part of lot 81 (a box containing 68 drawings by Guercino and others); purchased there by F.R. Meatyard (London) on behalf of Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b (£90 for the lot); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Guercino - Mind to Paper, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 22/02/2007-13/05/2007

Guercino - Mind to Paper, J Paul Getty Museum & Los Angeles & California & USA, 24/10/2006-21/01/2007

Drawings by Guercino and other Baroque Masters, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 01/02/1977-01/03/1977 ...More

Drawings from the Witt Collection at the Courtauld Institute of Art, St James's Square, London; York City Art Gallery; Peterborough Art Gallery, 1953

Italian Art of the Seventeenth Century, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1925 ...Less

Literature

Guercino: Mind to paper, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Courtauld Gallery, London, 2006-2007 Los Angeles, 2006
no. 30
Illus. on p. 86

Drawings by Guercino and other Baroque masters, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 1977, 1977
p. 18

Marangoni, Matteo, Guercino: i grandi maestri del disegno, Milan, 1959
p. 12-13
pl. 15 ...More

Drawings from the Witt Collection at the Courtauld Institute of Art, St James's Square, London, York City Art Gallery and Peterborough Art Gallery, 1953
cat. no. 52

Italian Art of the Seventeenth Century, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1925
not reproduced ...Less

Inscriptions

Inscription: cas.H.3.

Collector's mark: collector's mark of Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b)

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