Saint Sebastian

Master of the Furies

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The protector of plague victims and soldiers, Saint Sebastian was shot with arrows for converting Romans to Christianity. He is pictured here miraculously surviving his ordeal as an angel descends to bestow his laurel crown and release his wrists—still wrapped with rope—from the tree. Heightened by the pale ivory, the tears trickling from Sebastian’s eyes express his vulnerability. His righteous plight would have provoked compassion, but his naked body also allowed artists to explore the sensuality of the male form.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art