(click on image to enlarge)

Saint Sebastian, ca. 1623
Anthony Van Dyck (Flemish, 1599-1641)
Oil on canvas; 76 1/2 x 57 1/2 in.
Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

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WHAT DO YOU SEE?

Below is a list of questions the Museum posed to our visitors, both in the Gallery and on-line. Highlights from the collected responses are posted here. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas with us.

• What do you enjoy most about the work?
• Expression on Sebastian. Good composition.
• The calm air Sebastian puts on.
• How real it seems to be.
• The color.
• The struggling gaze of the white horse.
• The intense expressions.
• The way Saint Sebastian is very light and all the other figures are dark.
• How detailed it is, and how much space he used with items.
• That they are old and colorful.
• The pretty color of the horse makes it look real.
• I enjoy seeing what the artist saw in his mind, defining the differences in those who choose to do right.
• What it represents, struggle, and not giving up. The way the artist has the individual standing out for how they are.
  
• What do you dislike about this work?
• It's disturbing.
• The cruelty of ignorant Pagans.
• The bland quality of the paint which forms the dark and light.
• It looks depressing
• Nothing
• Horse seems out of place.
• The horse looks scared. I think it should look more noble and brave like Sebastian.
• A bit crowded.
• He did not show the actual murder take place.
• I don't like the guy that's holding the other guy's head or the dark colors.
• I dislike the way the artist portrays people as being all one way or the other as he shows with the lighting.
  
• Is there a story in this work for you? If so, what is the story you see in the work?
• A battle between two different sides, one who will lose everything by fighting but gain everything by not giving up.
• Not too much of a story. It's self-explanatory.
• Yes, many different stories can be made from one picture, like this one.
• There is, but St. Sebastian is not clearly portrayed as an angelic martyr, he seems a bit seductive and artfully coy.
• Yes. A war happening and people dying.
• Yes. They are going to kill Sebastian.
• The preparation of the murder.
• I see that life is lived to the fullest extent of what you can make it - As he is prepared for the execution he is ready for judgment though you may die a horrible death you are judged in your faith to Christ.
  
• What do you think this work means or says?
• Just a reflection of the past.
• It means many people live there lives in chaos.
• To stand up for what you believe in.
• The dark evils of the pagan empire murdering the innocence of Christianity. Propoganda?
• Die for your beliefs.
• That Jesus is loved by many people.
• Murder, killing.
  
• What aspects of the work are you most curious about, and what answers would you like to have about those aspects of the work?
• I much prefer the painting of Saint Sebastian in the previous room. There is a great deal more feeling within his facial expressions.
• The colors in the artwork and what they symbolize. Like the black on one guy and the red on another.
• Whats the guy on the horse's back doing or the people on the ground doing?
• Colors he used.
• I would ask the artist, "Why the horse?"

• Further Comments
• This painting and the "what do you see" were wonderfully chosen - It leads people to look into themselves from an artistic view that deepens their thoughts of artwork and the piece's artist. Thank you.