St. Sebastian
St. Sebastian by Flemish Engraver Paulus Pontius (1603 – 1658) after a painting by Flemish Painter Gerard Seghers (1591 – 1651); as well as a famous cartographer.
This scene shows the martyr St. Sebastian; who was a Roman Prætorian Guard that was discovered to be a Christian who was also converting other Roman soldiers to Christianity, after his execution was carried out and he was left for dead.
He is shown with his hands tied behind his back and a rope tied around his upper arms and to a tree limb above his head.
He has arrows protruding from his lower chest, his right upper thigh, his left shin (this arrow is partly broken off and part of hit is on the ground in front of him), and his right upper forearm; when a child angel appears before him and begins pulling out the arrow that is lodge in his lower chest.
On the ground is a fancy quiver with a cloth draped across it, as well as a bow with an arrow on leaning on the bottom portion of the quiver that is filled with arrows.
Behind him are some additional bushes and plants and a vast terrain makes up the background with large clouds above the land.
There is also Latin writing on the bottom of the engraving that is about the scene we are viewing.
This is a remastered digital art old masters reproduction of a public domain image that is available as a rolled canvas print online.
About The Artist
Paulus Pontius was a Flemish cartographer and engraver during the late 16th and early 17th centuries, who became well known for his detailed maps and prints of the Low Countries, which were the coastal regions of Northwestern Europe, that consisted of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg; particularly of the city Anterwp, that is the capital of the eponymous province in the region of Flanders in Belgium; as well as for his collaboration with the Dutch Brabantian cartographer Abraham Ortelius (1527 – 1598), who was also a geographer and cosmographer.
He was a significant figure in the development of Dutch cartography and played a prominent role in spreading geographical knowledge throughout Europe during the Age of Exploration, that began in the 1400s and continued through the 1600s, during the time when European nations began exploring the world.
Besides being a prominent cartographer, Paulus was also an accomplished engraver that created many religious and allegorical engravings in various style, including Mannerist, Baroque and Renaissance; producing works for illustrated books such as Bibles, prayer books, print scenes of religious and allegorical themes.
His work was well known for his skill in creating complex compositions filled with intricate details and vivid expressions; and he engraved many works after the works of the renowned painters of his time; such as: Flemish Painter Peter Paul Rubens (1577 – 1640), Belgian Painter Frans Floris (1517 – 1570), Belgian Painter Antoon van Dyck (1599 – 1641), Flemish Painter Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568 – 1625), and German Painter Hendrick Goltzius (1558 – 1617), to name a few.