How does this artwork elucidate its Comparisons?
Painted the same year, Ter Brugghen's Crucifixion with the Virgin and St. John is accepted to be very similar in stylistic features and perhaps intended for the same destination as Saint Sebastian Tended by Irene. The archaic style of the Christ on the crucifix recalls old Netherland styles but remains in contrast to the more contemporary Mary and John, creating a piece where "Ter Brugghen rejects the ahistorical for the meta-historical." A stronger connection is also made between the two paintings based on the similarities between the Crucifixion's Saint John and Sebastian in Saint Sebastian, believed to be the same model.Dirck van Baburen, another Utrecht Caravaggisti who once shared a studio with Ter Brugghen, painted his own rendition of Saint Irene tending to the shot Sebastian a decade earlier. The two paintings share a striking similarity of Sebastian slumping down to the right corner of the canvas, mouth agape as his face is downcast, held right above the breast. Most likely, this painting had the most influence on Ter Brugghen envisioning the biblical scene.
Dirck van Baburen Utrecht Caravaggisti Utrecht right Caravaggisti Crucifixion with the Virgin and St. John Ter Brugghen Crucifixion