Abstract

The image of St. Sebastian, as well as St. Edmund whom died in a similar vain, being shot with arrows though unharmed is well known. It raises a sense of unfeeling being a resultant of deliberate faith, though not in the hands of man but God. Nonetheless, in both saint’s cases it forms a clear act of resistance and defiance. In more recent interpretations by historians, the arrows shot into St. Sebastian have been interpreted as foreign pathogens attacking the body, medicalising the image, and reminding us of the harm experienced during the Covid pandemic, all caused by a non-anthropomorphic unconscious agent. Here, the arrows are bent and twisted, taking unfeeling as a deliberate response into humanity’s own hands. Drawing in pen.

Keywords: St Sebastian, faith, defiance, COVID pandemic, saint, pathogens

How to Cite:

Nockels, J., (2022) “St Sebastian”, Moveable Type 14(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.14324/111.444.1755-4527.1524