Saint Sebastian Tended by Saint Irene Saint Sebastian Tended by Saint Irene Saint Sebastian Tended by Saint Irene is an incident in the lives of Saint Sebastian and Saint Irene of Rome. It was not prominent in the hagiographical literature until the late Renaissance, and is hardly seen in art before then. As an artistic subject, normally in painting, it suddenly became popular from the 1610s, though found in predella scenes as early as the 15th century, and was most popular until about the 1670s. Though Sebastian is famously tied to a tree or post and shot with many arrows, in his story he had he
European dragon Italian legends. The legend of Saint George and the wyvern is well known in Italy, but other saints are also depicted fighting wyverns. For instance, the first bishop of Forlì, Saint Mercurialis, was said to have killed a wyvern to save the city, so he is often depicted in the act of slaying a wyvern. Likewise, the first patron saint of Venice, Saint Theodore of Tyro, was a wyvern-slayer, and a statue representing his slaying of the wyvern still tops one of the two columns in St. Mark's square. St. Michael, the patron saint of paratroopers, is also frequently depicted