Saint Sebastian being Tended by Saintly Women 1869

Gustave Moreau painted 'Saint Sebastian being Tended by Saintly Women' in France sometime in the mid-to-late nineteenth century. Moreau invokes the well-worn trope of Saint Sebastian as a figure of homoerotic male beauty martyred for his faith. The story of Sebastian held particular appeal in a rapidly secularizing France, where the Catholic Church was losing ground in the face of new scientific and political movements. Sebastian's passive suffering becomes a symbol of religious virtue. Moreau presents Sebastian's body for our contemplation as the painting itself becomes an object of devotional contemplation. To understand Moreau's painting more fully, we might look into the historical context of nineteenth-century French art institutions. The state-sponsored academies and Salons shaped artistic taste, while artists like Moreau negotiated their own positions within or against those established norms. Only through understanding the complex social and institutional histories can the meaning of this work for its contemporary audience be truly understood.