page_title: Averoldi Polyptych
section_title: Saint Sebastian
hierarchical_section_title: Averoldi Polyptych / Description / Saint Sebastian
context_page_description: The Averoldi Polyptych, also known as the Averoldi Altarpiece, is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Titian, dating to 1520–1522, in the basilica church of Santi Nazaro e Celso in Brescia, northern Italy.
  It is signed "Ticianus Faciebat / MDXXII" on the column of the panel showing St. Sebastian.
context_section_description: The right-hand panel shows a traditional Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, although in this case the saint is depicted in a rather contorted position. This may be derived from Michelangelo's Punishment of Aman on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, or from Raphael's Fire in the Borgo also in the Vatican. The saint's arms are tied to a tree trunk at different heights; the legs are also differently articulated because Sebastian's right foot rests on a section of a fallen stone column. 
  It has been suggested that the saint's face resembles that of the risen Christ in the central panel. Some resemblance has also been claimed to Titian himself; he was 30-years-old at the time.
  In the background of this panel is an announcing angel. His gaze is directed towards Sebastian and to Saint Roch whom she is attending: prayers to both saints were invoked as a protection against the plague, and Roch's uncovered legs show the characteristic lesions.
  Two preparatory drawings of the panel exist: one (16.2 x 13.6 cm) is at the Kupferstichkabinett in Berlin, and another (18.3 x 11.5 cm) is in the Städel in Frankfurt.
caption: Angel of the Annunciation
exif: {}