St. Sebastian and a Prophet

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This is an image of a marble sculpture featuring Saint Sebastian, an early Christian martyr who lived around AD 288. According to traditional accounts, Sebastian died during the Roman Emperor Diocletian's crackdown on Christians. He's often depicted in art as being tied to a post or tree and shot with arrows, but legend has it that he was rescued by Irene of Rome and later went to warn Diocletian about his sinful behavior, only to be beaten to death. Both the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Church venerate Sebastian as a saint. The story of Saint Sebastian's martyrdom first came up in 4th-century bishop Ambrose of Milan's sermon on Psalm 118, number 22. Ambrose mentioned that Sebastian was from Milan and had already gained popularity there at that time. As a result, Saint Sebastian is a well-known male saint, especially among athletes.