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Source Description
This subtly drawn study in red chalk with ink accents depicts the moment just before the Roman soldier Sebastian was shot through with arrows for refusing to renounce his Christian faith. The young martyr turns hopefully toward heaven as if comforted by divine light. Ribera favored the subject because it allowed him to study the expressive possibilities of the bound human figure. A number of related drawings by the artist from the same period treat similar themes of saints bound in punishment. Although Spanish by birth, Jusepe de Ribera spent most of his life in Naples, where he became the dominant artistic figure until his death in 1652.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
160084
label
St. Sebastian
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
160084
contentType
drawing
title
St. Sebastian
description
This subtly drawn study in red chalk with ink accents depicts the moment just before the Roman soldier Sebastian was shot through with arrows for refusing to renounce his Christian faith. The young martyr turns hopefully toward heaven as if comforted by divine light. Ribera favored the subject because it allowed him to study the expressive possibilities of the bound human figure. A number of related drawings by the artist from the same period treat similar themes of saints bound in punishment. Although Spanish by birth, Jusepe de Ribera spent most of his life in Naples, where he became the dominant artistic figure until his death in 1652.
date
1626–30
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60759989
creators
2403
genreSpecific
Drawing
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Sheet: 17.3 x 12.4 cm (6 13/16 x 4 7/8 in.)
cul
Spain, active in Naples, 17th century
accession
1997.53
Source extras
tec
red chalk with pen and brown ink
tombstone
St. Sebastian, 1626–30. Jusepe de Ribera (Spanish, 1591–1652). Red chalk with pen and brown ink; sheet: 17.3 x 12.4 cm (6 13/16 x 4 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Delia E. Holden Fund, 1997.53
supportMaterials
description
cream(3) laid paper
collection
DR - Spanish
inscriptions
inscription
lower right, in brown ink: spanolette.F; lower right, in black ink: [20?]
didYouKnow
This is one of a group of drawings by Jusepe de Ribera that represent male saints in scenes of torture and deprived of physical liberty.
citations
citation
Musée du Louvre, Catherine Monbeig-Goguel, and Walter Vitzthum. Le Dessin à Naples du XVIe siècle au XVIIIe siècle. XXXIXe exposition du Cabinet des dessins, Paris, 1967. [Catalogue. Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux, 1967.
page_number
pp. 12-13, under cat. 20
citation
Vitzthum, Walter, and Annamaria Petrioli Tofani. Cento disegni napoletani, sec. xvi-xviii. Catalogo critico a cura di Walter Vitzthum. Firenze: L.S. Olschki, 1967.
page_number
pp. 26-27, under cat. 32
citation
Vitzthum, Walter. Il barocco a Napoli e nell'Italia meridionale. Milano: Fratelli Fabbri, 1971.
page_number
p. 81; pl. III
citation
Brown, Jonathan, "Notes on Princeton Drawings 6: Jusepe de Ribera," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 31:2 (1972): pp. 2-7.
page_number
p. 6
citation
Edinburgh Festival Society. Italian 17th Century Drawings from British Private Collections: Edinburgh Festival 1972. Edinburgh. Scottish Arts Council. Catalogues. 1972-1974. Edinburgh: Edinburgh Festival Ltd, 1972.
page_number
cat. 94, pp. 37, 118
citation
Brown, Jonathan. Jusepe De Ribera: Prints and Drawings; [Catalogue of an Exhibition] The Art Museum, Princeton University, October-November 1973. [Princeton, N.J.]: [Princeton University], 1973.
page_number
p. 124, cat. 17, pp. 165, 195
citation
Koneçný, L., “A New Drawing by Jusepe de Ribera,” The Burlington Magazine 127: 985 (1985): p. 226-227.
page_number
p. 227
citation
Ribera, Jusepe de, Silvia Cassani, and Tatiana Travaglini. Jusepe de Ribera, 1591-1652. [Napoli]: Electa Napoli, 1992.
page_number
pp. 339-40.
citation
Pérez Sánchez, Alfonso E., Nicola Spinosa, eds. Ribera, 1591-1652. 1992.
page_number
no. D22 (entry by M. Mena)
citation
Pérez Sánchez, Alfonso E., Nicola Spinosa, and Andrea Bayer. Jusepe De Ribera, 1591-1652. 1992.
page_number
cat. 96, pp. 208-209
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art, “Museum Acquires Major Chuck Close Painting, 19th-century Fire Screen, Rare Prints & Drawings,” June 9, 1997, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art, Diane DeGrazia, and Carter E. Foster. <em>Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with Rizzoli International Publications, New York, 2000.
page_number
Mentioned: cat. no. 29, p.11, pp. 80-81, p. 287; Reproduced: p. 81
citation
Veliz, Zahira. Spanish Drawings in the Courtauld Gallery: Complete Catalogue. London: The Courtauld Gallery, 2011.
page_number
p. 226-228, under cat. 79
citation
Banner, Lisa A., Jonathan Brown, Robert S. Lubar, and Pierre Rosenberg. Spanish Drawings in the Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Art Museum, 2012.
page_number
p. 14
citation
Bailey, Colin B., Stephanie Buck, and Denise Allen. Master Drawings from the Courtauld Gallery. London: Courtauld Gallery in association with Paul Holberton Pub, 2012.
page_number
p. 120
citation
Finaldi, Gabriele. <em>Jusepe De Ribera: The Drawings: Catalogue Raison</em>né. Madrid: Museo Nacional del Prado; Seville: Fundación Focus; Dallas: Meadows Museum, SMU, 2016. p. 196-197
page_number
Reproduced: P. 197, no. 71
citation
Ribera, Jusepe de, Edward Payne, and Xavier Bray. Ribera: Art of Violence. 2018.
page_number
cat. 34, pp. 125, 128
creditline
Delia E. Holden Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:18:31.739000
sourceId
160084
dept
Drawings
coll
DR - Spanish
med
red chalk with pen and brown ink
creatorTags
Latine and Hispanic Artists
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
ebb8d4abf4726277