About the Artwork
This painting of the soldier-saints, George and Sebastian, was created by Andrea Solario for the French cardinal and general Georges d'Amboise (1460–1510). The patron's portrait likeness appears in the guise of his namesake, Saint George. George's armor perfectly recalls the quintessential style of defenses forged in Milan, where Solario grew up among a vibrant family of artists. The juxtaposition of the two saints' bodies—one clad in steel, the other wearing only a cloth to protect his modesty—acknowledges the vulnerability of the flesh the armor was designed to defend.
Saint George and Saint Sebastian
ca. 1507 - 1510
Andrea Solario
ca. 1465 - before 1524
Italian
Unknown
Oil on wood panel
Unframed: 14 1/2 × 10 1/4 inches (36.8 × 26 cm) Framed: 20 1/2 × 16 5/8 × 2 1/16 inches (52.1 × 42.2 × 5.2 cm)
Paintings
European Painting
City of Detroit Purchase
26.110
This work is in the public domain.
Markings
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Provenance
until 1882, William, 12th Duke of Hamilton (Hamilton Palace, England)
June 24, 1882, sold by (Christie's, London, England) auction 12th Duke of Hamilton, lot 377
1882-1912, purchased by John Edward Taylor [as by Andrea Mantegna
for £441]
July 5, 1912, sold by (Christie's, London, England) auction J.E. Taylor, no. 19 [as by Lorenzo Costa]
1912, purchased by (Jacques Seligman, London, England)
(Kleinberger Gallery, New York, New York, USA)
1926-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:
Provenance pageExhibition History
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
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Crowe, J. A. and G.B. Cavalcaselle. A History of Painting in North Italy. London, 1871, vol. 2, pp. 60-61, text and footnote 3.
Catalogue of the Collection of Pictures, Works of Art, and Decorative Objects, etc., the Duke of Hamilton. Sales cat., Christie's. London, June 24, 1882, lot 377, p. 56. [as by A. Mantegna]
London Times, February 6, 1882 and June 26, 1882.
Berenson, B. North Italian Painters of the Renaissance. New York, 1907, p. 281. [owned by Mrs. J.E. Taylor, London; as early work of Martino or Alberto Piazza.].
Crowe, J.A. and G.B. Cavalcaselle. A History of Painting in North Italy, 2nd ed. Borenius. London, 1912, vol. 2, p. 384 note 2 [in Hamilton Palace collection.]
Heil, W. Catalogue of Paintings in the Permanent Collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1930, cat. 76 (ill.). [as Francesco Francia.]
Berenson, B. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance; A List of the Principal Artists and their Works. Oxford, 1932, p. 315. [as Bernardino Luini.]
Berenson, B. Pitture italiane del rinascimento. Milan, 1936, p. 271. [as Bernardino Luini.]
Richardson, E.P., ed. Detroit Institute of Arts Catalogue of Paintings, 2nd ed. Detroit, 1944, p. 125, no. 76.
Suida, W.E. "Andrea Solario in the Light of Newly Discovered Documents and Unpublished Works." Art Quarterly 8, no. 1 (Winter 1945): pp. 16-22, pp. 17-18 (fig. 1).
Leonardo da Vinci loan exhibition. Exh. cat., Los Angeles County Museum. Los Angeles, 1949, p. 101, no. 62 (ill.).
Ottino della Chiesa, A. Bernardino Luini. Novara, 1956, p. 74, no. 45.
Ottino della Chiesa, A. Bernardino Luini, 2nd ed. Milan, 1960, n.p.
Paintings in the Detroit Institute of Arts: A Checklist of Paintings Before June 1965. Detroit, 1965, p. 102. [as A. Solario.]
Arano, L.C. Andrea Solario Milan, 1965, pp. 24 and note 23; 58, cat. 7 (fig. 20).
Berenson, B. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: A List of the Principal Artists and their Works with an Index of Places. Vol. 1, Central Italian and North Italian Schools. London, 1968, p. 228. [as by Bernardino Luini.]
Fredericksen, B. and F. Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, MA, 1972, p. 190.
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Credit Line for Reproduction
Andrea Solario, Saint George and Saint Sebastian, ca. 1507 - 1510, oil on wood panel. Detroit Institute of Arts, City of Detroit Purchase, 26.110.
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