MS M.50, Fol. 16

St. Sebastian Shot with Arrows (fol. 16, right)

Traditional iconography depicts Sebastian tied to a tree, shot with arrows, and left for dead by the archers. Sebastian was popular in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance because he protected people from bubonic plague, a disease without cure that was widespread in Europe from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century.

Sebastian did not actually die from these arrows; St. Irene removed the weapons and nursed him back to health. Sebastian returned to work for Emperor Diocletian, who promptly had him clubbed to death and thrown into the sewers of Rome.