Lyricism of Brutality

July 7, 2009 in Japan, Yukio Mishima
Tags: Ambrose of Milan, Jan von Adlmann, Kishin Shinoyama, Meiji Kotenkai, Saint Sebastian, Yukio Mishima

Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian by Kishin Shinoyama

Mishima Letters

The 1967 and 1970 letters, addressed to his American friend Jan von Adlmann, an art museum director, hint at a possibly intimate relationship between them, while a series of pictures foreshadow Mishima’s suicide.

Mishima in both letters spoke of Saint Sebastian, a third-century Roman martyr and an oft cited symbolic figure of homosexuality.

In one letter, he thanked Adlmann for a gift, presumably an art book on Saint Sebastian, praising its “lyricism of brutality.“

Letters, photos of author Mishima to be auctioned, AFP, 06 July, 2009

Saint Sebastian

Saint Sebastian (died c. 288) was a Christian saint and martyr, who is said to have been killed during the Roman emperor Diocletian’s persecution of Christians. He is commonly depicted in art and literature tied to a post and shot with arrows. Because of the strange nature of his martyrdom, he is often considered to have been martyred twice.

St Sebastian by Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506)

via The Iconography of Saint Sebastian