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
The Saint (Simon Templar) wrote an adventure novel featuring a South American hero not far removed from The Saint himself. Templar also on occasion would break the fourth wall in an almost metafictional sense, making references to being part of a story and mentioning in one early story how he cannot be killed so early on; the 1960s television series would also have Templar address viewers. Charteris in his narrative also frequently breaks the fourth wall by making references to the "chronicler" of The Saint's adventures and directly addressing the reader. In the story "The Sizzling Saboteur" in "The Saint on Guard" Charteris inserts