The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian

Jan Muller was one of the most sought-after Mannerist printmakers at the end of the sixteenth century. The son of an Amsterdam printer, printmaker, and publisher, he developed a style modeled on that of Hendrick Goltzius, the premier draftsman and printmaker in the northern Netherlands.

The subject of this engraving, the Martyrdom of St. Sebastian, is a complicated one. Originally born in the mid-third century in what is now southern France, Sebastian became a member of the Prætorian Guard, the personal security detail for the Roman emperors. It was a period during which Christians were being vigorously persecuted by Rome, and when his superiors learned that he was not only a Christian but actively converting other soldiers, Sebastian was condemned to death. Here he is shown surrounded by the very soldiers he had served with, stripped and tied to a tree, with a single arrow through his chest. Above him flies an angel, carrying a palm branch and a wreath, and a beam of heavenly light shines onto his head – all signs of God’s protection, because although he was eventually gravely wounded and left for dead, Sebastian did not die. His abandoned body was found by Irene of Rome, who was married to a devout Christian and nursed him back to health.


The engraving is based on a painting by Hans van Aachen, now in the St. Michaels Hofkirche, Munich. Van Aachen was a painter in the court of Emperor Rudolf II in Prague and traveled throughout Europe securing works for Rudolf’s collection. He and Muller could have met on one of his trips or been put in touch with each other through mutual connections.