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# Saint Sebastian of 1490 by the painter of the early Italian Renaissance Andrea Mantegna, and a barely noticeable detail: an inscription on the ribbon wound around the candle, "nil nisi divinum stabile est caetera fumus", which means "only the divine…
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/sviatoi-sebastian-1490-goda-raboty-zhivopistsa-rannego-italianskogo-vozrozhdeniia-andrea-manteni-i-edva-zametnaia-detal-nadpis-na-lente-obernutoi-vokrug-svechi-nil-nisi-divinum-stabile/
- Published: 2022-12-21T20:20:22.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T05:37:21.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Faith, Art, Museums

The dying flame symbolises the life of the saint himself, departing towards the heavens, to which his last gaze is turned. But the arrows of martyrdom promise eternal life.

Mantegna has other Sebastians too, in the Dresden and Louvre collections. This one is from the Franchetti collection in Venice.

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_8096@21-12-2022_23-20-22.jpg)

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_8097@21-12-2022_23-20-22.jpg)

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_8098@21-12-2022_23-20-22.jpg)

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_8099@21-12-2022_23-20-22.jpg)