Just in case you are seeking some spiritual protection from the current pandemic, you might do worse than consult St. Sebastian, the patron saint for protection from the plague. “He was regarded as a saint with a special ability to intercede to protect from plague, and devotion to him greatly increased when plague was active.”

We often think of him in Renaissance terms, looking quite unperturbed as arrows are fired into him (e.g. Andrea Mantegna, 1480, Louvre Paris). “And the archers shot at him till he was as full of arrows, as an urchin (hedgehog) is full of pricks”. Here is Sebastian in a niche above and between Duke Borso of Ferrara and his favourite Teofilo Calcagnini, giving his protection.

The palio at Ferrara is the oldest in the world. In 1471 Borso was with Teofilo in Rome, receiving his dukedom from the Pope. Thus they weren’t in Ferrara on St. George’s Day (April 24^th!), so the palio was postponed until the last Sunday in May. It is run on this date to this day.

Interesting idea that Waldemar Januszczak had in his recent Art Mystery programme on Seurat and his painting in the Barnes Collection ‘Les Poseuses’ (The Models).
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000gp0h/the-art-mysteries-with-waldemar-januszczak-series-1-2-seurats-les-poseuses
I like Waldemar’s idea that the models are those who also posed for ‘Sunday on La Grand Jatte’ (1884; Art Institute of Chicago). However, no mention from him of likely sources for ‘Les Poseuses’ – The Three Graces from antiquity, Puvis de Chavannes’ ‘Young Girls by the Seaside’ (1879; Musée d’Orsay), or particularly Alexander Harrison’s ‘In Acardia’ (1886; Musée d’Orsay) which received “enormous critical praise” at the Salon of 1886, the same year that Seurat began ‘Les Poseuses’. Januszczak was wrong to emphasise connections with Greek/Roman friezes; Seurat himself said that Egyptian friezes were his inspiration.

“Three high-value paintings have been stolen in a burglary at Christ Church Picture Gallery in Oxford, police said. Thames Valley police said burglars had broken into the gallery on St Aldates, which is part of Oxford University’s Christ Church college, at around 11pm on Saturday. Nobody was injured during the heist, police confirmed. They took Salvator Rosa’s A Rocky Coast, With Soldiers Studying a Plan, from the late 1640s, Anthony Van Dyck’s A Soldier on Horseback, circa 1616, and Annibale Carracci’s A Boy Drinking, circa 1580.” (The Guardian)

Police have made one suggestion that the thieves used a boat to escape. It seems very strange to me that no press reports mention an alarm system. How did they get away undetected with works from a collection worth tens of millions?

At least they didn’t take Carracci’s ‘The Butcher’s Shop’ (c.1583), which is a wonderful example of an Italian genre picture. The picture was recorded in the Gonzaga collection in Mantua in 1627, then King Charles I bought it for £30. Sold after the death of the King in 1651, Sir John Guise bequested it to Christ Church in 1765. In the 1950s it could be found hanging in the kitchens at Christ Church! Now it dominates a wall in the Picture Gallery.