Saint Sébastien (1888) (dépôt du musée d'Orsay)

Saint Sebastian was purchased by the French State at the 1888 Salon to be displayed in the Luxembourg Museum. The subject is not very original but the way Henner treated it reveals a certain singularity. Sebastian was martyred in the 3rd century for having adopted the Christian faith. To express the suffering of the saint without really showing the arrows barely visible in a corner of the picture, or the blood of the martyr, the painter has placed emphasis on the body. The treatment of light and shade, clearly the influence of Prud’hon, is also unusual in the way the painter makes one arm disappear into the shadow. The moonlight and the contrast between the saint’s livid body and the black veils of the women are typical of his style. A caricature in the Journal amusant of 12 September 1888 was published as: "Saint Sebastian eaten by bats".