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| attributed to Nicola Vaccaro St Sebastian ca. 1680-90 oil on canvas Palazzo Lanfranchi, Matera |
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| Eliseu Visconti Reward of St Sebastian 1898 oil on canvas Museu Nacional de Belas Artes, Rio de Janeiro |
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| attributed to Salvator Rosa St Sebastian before 1673 oil on canvas Palazzo Rosso, Genoa |
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| Marco Basaiti Adam 1504 oil on panel private collection |
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| Gianlorenzo Bernini St Sebastian ca. 1635-45 oil on canvas private collection |
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| Gianfrancesco Caroto St Sebastian before 1555 oil on panel Chiesa di Santo Stefano, Venice |
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| Matteo Loves Dead Christ in the Tomb 1640 oil on canvas Pinacoteca Civica, Cento |
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| workshop of il Garofalo (Benvenuto Tisi) St Sebastian ca. 1525-50 oil on panel Pinacoteca Capitolina, Rome |
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| Anonymous Bolognese Artist St John the Baptist in the Wilderness 17th century oil on canvas Musée Fesch, Ajaccio, Corsica |
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| Antonio Molinari Adam and Eve ca. 1701-1704 oil on canvas David Owsley Museum of Art, Muncie, Indiana |
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| Nicolò Rondinelli St Sebastian before 1510 oil on panel (wing of triptych) Pinacoteca Comunale di Ravenna |
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| Girolamo Siciolante St Sebastian ca. 1565 fresco Chiesa di Santa Maria della Pace, Rome |
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| Filippino Lippi Pala Lomellini (St Sebastian with St John the Baptist and St Francis) 1502 tempera on panel Palazzo Bianco, Genoa |
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| Filippino Lippi Pala Lomellini (detail) 1502 tempera on panel Palazzo Bianco, Genoa |
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| Filippino Lippi Pala Lomellini (detail) 1502 tempera on panel Palazzo Bianco, Genoa |
from Written in a Copy of the Geste of Beowulf
I ask myself from time to time what reasons
Move me to study, as my night comes on
And with no hope of mastery or precision,
The language of the harsh Angles and Saxons.
Wasted by the years, my memory
Keeps letting fall the word repeated in vain,
And in much the same way my life goes on
Weaving and unweaving its weary history.
– Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986), translated by R.G. Barnes (1993)