Saint Sebastian at the Column

Hispano-Flemish style is a term coined by the Spanish art historian Elías Tormo y Monzó (1869–1957) to designate works of art produced in Spain in a hybrid style that shows elements of Northern Renaissance artistic innovations together with elements of medieval Iberian artistic traditions, predominantly Mudéjar. Such works could be produced both by Flemish artists employed on projects in the Iberian peninsula and by Iberian artists whose training or inspiration shows Northern influence. Works in this style were created in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, especially during the reign of Isabel I of Castile.

The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian was a popular them in Renaissance art. Sebastian (ca. 256 – 288) was an early Christian martyr who, according to traditional belief, was killed during the Great- or Diocletianic Persecution of Christians. In 283 Sebastian entered the army in Rome and prudently concealed his forbidden faith. Once detected, emperor Diocletian ordered his execution. He was tied to a post or tree and shot with arrows, but the saint miraculously survived the ordeal. The saint's pose as depicted here – tied to a column and defenceless – purposefully echoes traditional images of Christ's Flagellation, when Christ was tied to a column and beaten. The helmet at the young saint’s feet refers to his military background. Renaissance sculpture like the present example, endeavour to represent both an idealised vision of 15th-century beauty and to pay homage to classical sculpture. By the 16th century, artists were using Christian motives as an excuse to portray the humanistic nude body. The arrows piercing Sebastian's body represent a symbolic wounding of a flawless body.