Saint Sebastian, Large Oil On Canvas After Guido Reni, 19th Century

Saint Sebastian, large oil on canvas after Guido Reni, 19th century. This large painting from a castle in the Soisson region was painted in the 19th century. It is a very good quality reproduction of Saint Sebastian painted by Guido Reni (1575-1642) known as Le Guide, produced nearby from 1615 and kept at the Palazzo Rosso, in Genoa, Italy, our work, larger than the original which measures 127 x 92 cm, perfectly takes up the subject of the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian in the guise of a beardless ephebe, the expression of this young naked soldier hanging from a tree, his gaze turned towards the sky, who according to Oscar Wilde contemplates “the eternal Beauty of Paradise”. Still in its original walnut and golden baguette frame, this oil on canvas faithful to the work of Guido Reni offers the body of Saint Sebastian a very beautiful color, the complexion is subtle with a pretty bluish color and a very beautiful luminosity like if the light came from the body of the martyr. This work, considered a “homosexual icon” from the 19th century, inspired many artists, in 1877 Oscar Wilde was ecstatic about Saint Sebastian, considering it his “ideal of beauty” and wrote: “The vision of Saint Sebastian of Guido, as I had seen him in Genoa came back to me, a magnificent boy with thick brown curls, red lips, tied to a tree by his sinister enemies, although pierced with arrows, he raises his eyes full of passion divine in the direction of the eternal Beauty of Paradise which opens to him. Guido Reni's Saint Sebastian left the Palazzo Rosso in 2016 for an exhibition at the Petit Palais in Paris, dedicated to the writer, Oscar Wilde, the absolute impertinent, the work then inaugurates the exhibition route . This painting was restored according to the rules of the art during the last quarter of 2023 by Sophie de Joussineau, original unlined frame and canvas, description of the restorations carried out on request. Dimensions: Frame: 174 x 127 cm View: 146 x 98.5 cm