The World's Largest Public Domain Media Search Engine
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot - St Sebastian Succoured by Holy Women - Walters 37192

Similar

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot - St Sebastian Succoured by Holy Women - Walters 37192

description

Summary

Two Christian women, Irene and a companion, extract arrows from Sebastian, who has been left for dead by the Roman emperor Diocletian's archers. Sebastian miraculously recovered, only to be clubbed to death later. In Corot's painting, Sebastian's approaching sainthood and martyrdom is symbolized by putti, or cherubs, who carry a laurel wreath and a palm frond. As one critic wrote in 1871, "At the moment when St. Sebastian suffers and seems to die, the forest shares in his agony and mourns his death, while at the same time lifting him up to the heavenly spaces of a melancholic sky."
Evidence of Corot's reworking of this ambitious canvas over the course of more than 20 years is visible to the naked eye. According to the artist's biographer and close friend, Alfred Robaut, Corot reworked the painting after it was exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1853 and then once again in preparation for the Exposition Universelle (World's Fair) of 1867. In 1871, he donated the painting to a lottery to raise funds for the orphans of the Franco-Prussian War. The artist finally filled in the upper corners of the composition in 1873.

Born in Paris, Corot trained as a draper before deciding to pursue art. He studied under several prominent artists, including Jean-Victor Bertin and Achille Etna Michallon. Corot is best known for his landscape paintings, which often feature soft, hazy atmospheres and delicate, muted colours. He was particularly interested in capturing the effects of light and atmosphere in his work. Corot's style was influenced by both the classical landscape tradition and the Romantic movement. In addition to his landscapes, Corot also painted portraits and figure studies. He was a prolific artist, producing over 3,000 paintings during his lifetime. Corot's work was not always well received by critics during his lifetime, but he gained recognition and popularity in the later years of his career. He is now regarded as one of the most important French landscape painters of the 19th century.

date_range

Date

1851 - 1873
create

Source

Walters Art Museum
copyright

Copyright info

public domain

Explore more

artwork
artwork