Saint Sebastian

Saint Sébastien was bought by the State at the 1888 Salon, to be exhibited at the Musée du Luxembourg, then devoted to living artists. The subject is not very original, but Henner's treatment of it shows a certain singularity. For example, the painting highlights above all the body of the saint martyred in the III^rd century for adopting the Christian faith, expressing his suffering but without really showing the arrows, dimly visible in one corner of the painting, or the blood of his martyrdom.

The treatment of light and shadow, where we recognize Prud'hon's influence, is also unusual in the way the painter makes an arm disappear in the half-light. The lunar light and the contrast between the saint's livid body and the women's black veils are characteristic of the artist's style.

A caricature published in the Journal amusant on September 12, 1888 depicts him as "Saint Sebastian eaten by bats".