Madonna Enthroned with St. John the Tufer and St. Sebastian (detail) 1493

This detail is from Pietro Perugino's painting *Madonna Enthroned with St. John the Baptist and St. Sebastian*. Perugino painted this during the Italian Renaissance, a time when artists were very interested in classical ideals of beauty and how they could be combined with Christian themes. Think about the figure of Saint Sebastian. He was often depicted in art as an idealized, almost eroticized, male figure. This portrayal blends Christian martyrdom with a celebration of the male form, reflecting the Renaissance fascination with both spiritual devotion and classical aesthetics. Consider what it meant to depict the male body in such a way at a time when ideas about gender and sexuality were very strict. Saint Sebastian embodies a certain tension—the pain of martyrdom combined with the beauty of the human form. What does it tell us about the relationship between suffering, beauty, and religious devotion?