St. Sebastian

St. Sebastian was an early Christian martyr who was commonly depicted tied to a post or tree and shot with arrows. He is said to have been killed during the Roman emperor Diocletian's persecution of Christians. St. Sebastian was considered to be a protector of potential plague victims and soldiers, which is why he was among the most frequently depicted of all saints by Late Gothic and Renaissance artists in the period after the Black Death. The opportunity to show a semi-nude male, often in a contorted pose, also made Sebastian a favourite subject.