It was described by Seymour Slive as ter Brugghen's "masterpiece": "the large, full, forms of the group have been knit together into a magnificent design, and what could have been hard and sculptural is remarkably softened by the soft, silvery light which plays over Sebastian's half-dead, olive-grey body as well as the reds, creamy whites, and plum colours worn by the women who tend the saint