Saint Sebastian

Anonymous

 France or Germany

Late 15th century – early 16th century

Polished wood, traces of polychromy

Deposit from Mr. Scart, 1990

Inv. D1990.3.2

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Saint Sebastian, wearing a loincloth, is standing in an arched posture, his legs crossed. The right arm is missing and the left arm is brought back behind his back where his wrist is attached to a tree trunk by a rope.

This beautiful statue is remarkable because of the impressive collar of the Order of Saint Michael. King Louis 11th founded this order in 1469 as an answer to the different orders established in Europe’s important courts starting in the 15th century (the Order of the Garter in England in 1348, the Golden Fleece in Burgundy in 1429…). During ceremonies, knights of the Order of Saint Michael wore a “golden collar made of seashells, intertwined by a double lace”, from which hung a medallion representing the Archangel defeating the dragon. Two types of collars are known. The first one, worn by Saint Sebastian here, is the one worn from the creation of the order until Francis 1st. The latter asked to change the shape of the ornament in 1515.

All the known examples of Saint Sebastian wearing the collar of the Order of Saint Michael belong to  the first typology, which allows to easily date the artworks between 1469 and 1515.

The association of the collar of the Order of Saint Michael with this iconography remains unclear. Nevertheless, these are the possible hypotheses: the collar of the Order of Saint Michael could indicate that the patron of the artwork was a member of that order or a member of the French royal family, since the order was directly linked to French royalty. It is also possible that these two iconographies were brought together in a desire to combine the protection of Saint Sebastian, the sovereign and Saint Michael.