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Your galleryStudy for "The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian" (for the Augustinian monastery at Diessen, Germany)
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Follow the archers’ bows from the left to Sebastian’s pale, lit body, then look up at the two small angels flying in with a palm.
In 1739 two large altarpieces, one by Tiepolo and one by his fellow Venetian Giambattista Pittoni, were installed in the church of the Augustinian monastery at Diessen, in southern Germany. This small oil sketch is Tiepolo’s first design for his, painted with quick, sure strokes and submitted for approval before he began the altarpiece itself. Sebastian, roped to a tree and pierced by arrows, is flooded with light as a sign of his faith.
oil on canvas · Framed: 67.5 x 45.5 x 6 cm · Cleveland Museum of Art · Rococo
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Details and source
- Museum title
- Study for "The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian" (for the Augustinian monastery at Diessen, Germany)
- Artist
- Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (Italian, 1696–1770)
- Date
- 1739
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 67.5 x 45.5 x 6 cm (26 9/16 x 17 15/16 x 2 3/8 in.); Unframed: 51.7 x 31.7 cm (20 3/8 x 12 1/2 in.)
- Credit line
- Delia E. Holden and L. E. Holden Funds
- Image license
- CC0 1.0 · Public domain
- Museum record
- Cleveland Museum of Art
Galler’s rooms and hanging scale are imagined. The image is the museum’s original digital reproduction.