"[Fra Bartolommeo] painted a picture of S. Sebastian, naked, very lifelike in the colouring of the flesh, sweet in countenance, and likewise executed with corresponding beauty of person, whereby he won infinite praise from the craftsmen. It is said that, while this figure was exposed to view in the church, the friars found, through the confessional, women who had sinned at the sight of it, on account of the charm and melting beauty of the lifelike reality imparted to it by the genius of Fra Bartolommeo; for which reason they removed it from the church."
Lives of the most eminent painters, sculptors & architects by Vasari, Giorgio, 1511-1574
Hedquist, Valerie, "Ter Brugghen's Saint Sebastian Tended by Irene," Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art §8–9, 9:2 (Summer 2017) DOI: 10.5092/jhna.2017.9.2.3, fully online; The Vatican: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide, eds. Philippe De Montebello, Kathleen Howard, p. 347, 1983, Metropolitan Museum of Art, ISBN0870993488, 9780870993480, google books
Kaye, Richard A. (1996). "Losing His Religion: Saint Sebastian as Contemporary Gay Martyr". In Horne, Peter; Lewis, Reina (eds.). Outlooks: Lesbian and Gay Sexualities and Visual Cultures. New York: Routledge. p. 105. doi:10.4324/9780203432433. ISBN9781134803088. S2CID241421117.
Hedquist, Valerie, "Ter Brugghen's Saint Sebastian Tended by Irene," Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art §8–9, 9:2 (Summer 2017) DOI: 10.5092/jhna.2017.9.2.3, fully online; The Vatican: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide, eds. Philippe De Montebello, Kathleen Howard, p. 347, 1983, Metropolitan Museum of Art, ISBN0870993488, 9780870993480, google books
Kaye, Richard A. (1996). "Losing His Religion: Saint Sebastian as Contemporary Gay Martyr". In Horne, Peter; Lewis, Reina (eds.). Outlooks: Lesbian and Gay Sexualities and Visual Cultures. New York: Routledge. p. 105. doi:10.4324/9780203432433. ISBN9781134803088. S2CID241421117.
