Carved and originally polychromed. Dispersed across Sebastian’s body are several holes in which arrows were originally inserted. The polygonal base has been worked with Tremolierung. A hole (diam. 1.5 cm) for securing purposes has been drilled in the base between Sebastian’s two feet. The reverse has been hollowed out.

After the removal of the polychromy with a caustic, the sculpture was possibly reworked in areas, including the face. The back of the tree has a crack. The arrows that once pierced Sebastian’s body are missing, as are the fingers of his right hand, a section of his hair and segments of the tree branches to which he is tied. Several of the arrow holes have been filled. The imprint of a square nail that has been removed can be seen on the right foot. Traces of red paint can be observed in and under the arrow holes.

…; from the dealer M. de Maan, The Hague, fl. 50, to the museum, 1897; on loan to the Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht, 1977-95

Object number: BK-NM-11076

St Sebastian is tied to a tree. His body was originally pierced by numerous arrows, as evident from the blunted stubs still emerging from holes in several places. The entire carving was originally polychromed, but this layer was later removed. Traces of red paint are still discernible both in and directly under his wounds. The figure likely originates from the eastern Netherlands. Regional parallels include details such as Sebastian’s curly head of hair, which fans out around the lower face and neck, his sinewy body and the unnatural manner in which the end of his loincloth hangs to one side. Additionally, sculpture produced in this part of the Low Countries, especially Guelders and the Lower Rhine region, often have comparable polygonal bases accentuated with Tremolierung (wiggle-work).¹¹Cf. for example the Liverpool Knight of c. 1515-20 attributed to the Master(s) of Elsloo, Upper Guelders, in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, inv. no. 6215, see F. Peters (ed.), A Masterly Hand: Interdisciplinary Research on the Late-Medieval Sculptor(s) Master of Elsloo in an International Perspective: Proceedings of the Conference Held at the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage in Brussels, 20-21 October 2011, Brussels 2013, fig. 7.1. Leeuwenberg, who situated this work in the Northern Netherlands without further elucidation,²²J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, p. 99. cited a similarity to a Sebastian from the former Hijner Collection.³³Sale, Amsterdam (Schulman), 2-4 October 1907, no. 760, pl. VIII, as ‘Flemish, 15th century’. An agreement between the two can indeed be observed in Sebastian’s fairly stiff pose and his slender body type. Regarding the physiognomic type, the example in the former Hijner Collection strongly recalls works from Upper Guelders in the Meuse-Rhine area associated with the Master(s) of Elsloo.⁴⁴For the Master(s) of Elsloo, see F. Peters (ed.), A Masterly Hand: Interdisciplinary Research on the Late-Medieval Sculptor(s) Master of Elsloo in an International Perspective: Proceedings of the Conference Held at the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage in Brussels, 20-21 October 2011, Brussels 2013; L. Hendrikman et al., De Meester van Elsloo: Van eenling tot verzameling, exh. cat. Maastricht (Bonnefantenmuseum) 2019. By contrast, the sharply carved face and strands of hair of the Amsterdam Sebastian, are more reminiscent of the Lower Rhenish sculptor Arnt van Tricht (active c. 1530-d. 1570, cf. BK-NM-11155).

Bieke van der Mark, 2024

J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 81, with earlier literature

B. van der Mark, 2024, 'anonymous, St Sebastian, Eastern Netherlands, c. 1500 - c. 1525', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20035572