01 Works, RELIGIOUS ART - Interpretation of the Bible!, With Footnotes - 96

Paul La Tarte, DIED 1636 PONT-À-MOUSSON

SAINT IRENE CRADLING THE HEAD OF SAINT SEBASTIAN

oil on canvas

24 3/4  by 22 in.; 63 by 55.8 cm.

Private collection

The subject of the present painting is taken from the legend of the saint and martyr Sebastian, who, after being discovered as a Christian by the Emperor Diocletian, was ordered to be shot by arrows and left for dead.  The widow Irene nursed him back to health and with renewed faith in Christ he again confronted the Emperor.  Though more common depictions of Sebastian show him having been shot with arrows, tied to a tree or column, La Tarte chose to paint a more tender part of the story, when Irene was nursing him back to health.  Interestingly, one of the most famous depictions of Irene tending to Saint Sebastian is by La Tarte's fellow Lorrainian Georges de la Tour. More on this painting

Irene of Rome was the widow of the martyr St. Castulus. After the death of her husband, she continued to be active in the Christian community in Rome. According to legend, when Saint Sebastian was discovered to be a Christian, in 286, he was handed over to the Mauretanian archers, who tied him to a tree and pierced him with arrows.

However, Irene came to bury the body and found that he was not quite dead. Irene took him to her lodgings and nursed him back to health. Irene is venerated by Christians for her virtuous care in attending the injured. More on Irene of Rome

Saint Sebastian (died c. 288 AD) was an early Christian saint and martyr. Sebastian had prudently concealed his faith, but in 286 was detected. Diocletian reproached him for his betrayal, and he commanded him to be led to a field and there to be bound to a stake so that archers from Mauritania would shoot arrows at him. "And the archers shot at him till he was as full of arrows as an urchin is full of pricks, and thus left him there for dead." Miraculously, the arrows did not kill him.

Sebastian later stood by a staircase where the emperor was to pass and harangued Diocletian for his cruelties against Christians. This freedom of speech, and from a person whom he supposed to have been dead, greatly astonished the emperor; but, recovering from his surprise, he gave orders for his being seized and beat to death with cudgels, and his body thrown into the common sewer. A pious lady, called Lucina, admonished by the martyr in a vision, got it privately removed, and buried it in the catacombs at the entrance of the cemetery of Calixtus, where now stands the Basilica of St. Sebastian. More St. Sebastian

Paul La Tarte. Very little is known about La Tarte's life.  He died in 1636 in Pont-à-Mousson in Lorraine and his name appears in a number of old collection inventories from the area. Lorraine produced a number of important artists in the early 17th century, including Jacques Callot (1592-1635), Claude Lorrain (1600-1682), and Georges de la Tour (1593-1652).  While most of these artists spent time in Rome, it is unclear whether La Tarte ever traveled to Italy.  He certainly, however, was aware of the Caravaggist style that spread beyond Rome after the painter's death in 1610. More on Paul La Tarte

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