Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian

The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian by Nicolò Semitecolo, painted in 1367 and now in the Diocesan Museum of Padua, is part of the same series of Sebastian panels commissioned for Padua Cathedral that established Semitecolo as the city's leading painter before Altichiero. The dramatic depiction of Sebastian's martyrdom — here shown being shot with arrows — reflects the intensity of hagiographic devotion in fourteenth-century Padua, a city whose artistic culture was shaped by the legacy of Giotto's Arena Chapel frescoes.

Tempera and gold on panel. Semitecolo's composition balances dramatic narrative tension with decorative surface richness, rendering the archers and the bound saint with expressive gestures and strong color contrasts that convey physical and spiritual suffering.