Saint Sebastian Tended by Saint Irene Lieferinxe in about 1497, part of a cycle from an altarpiece in Marseilles (now Philadelphia Museum of Art), but the subject was rare until the 17th century. It was painted by Georges de La Tour at least twice, Trophime Bigot (four times), Jusepe de Ribera twice, Hendrick ter Brugghen (in perhaps his masterpiece) and many others. The subject appears to have been a deliberate attempt by the Church to get away from the traditional depiction of the standing almost-nude Sebastian being shot with arrows. This is already recorded in Vasari (in relation to a painting by Fra Bartolommeo) as sometimes
Jacopo Pesaro being presented by Pope Alexander VI to Saint Peter off his helmet, which sits beside the dais. Alexander had contributed 13 galleys to the mainly Venetian war effort, the Venetian fleet being commanded by Benedetto Pesaro, Jacopo's cousin. Between Pesaro's head and Peter war-galleys can be seen in action, and to the right of Alexander more sea, ending at the town of Lefkada, or perhaps one on Paphos. Apart from these specifics, the composition adapts the usual Venetian formula for an ex-voto of the donor being presented to the Virgin Mary by their patron saint, especially as developed by Giovanni Bellini, in whose studio Titian spent some time. The