(click image to zoom-in)
Regnier was born in France but left for Italy as a young man. In Rome he attached himself to the followers of Caravaggio, and it was during this early period that he produced the Hermitage Saint Sebastian, a subject to which Regnier turned repeatedly. A Roman warrior, Sebastian served in the private guard of the Emperor Diocletian, who sentenced him to be shot with arrows as punishment for his Christian faith . The slender figure of the young martyr is set against a dark, almost black, ground, and whilst being very striking also contains a hint of sentimentality.