Renaissance and Baroque masters routinely depicted martyrdom with a striking focus on the beauty, vulnerability, and sensuality of the suffering body. The standard iconographic depictions of Saint Sebastian, pierced by arrows while bound to a tree, have long been recognized for their homoerotic and sadomasochistic undertones.
Iconography related to physical endurance and restraint has appeared across various mediums in alternative and mainstream culture: crucifixion in bdsm art
The critical distinction between the non-consensual suffering of the historical Christ and the consensual, staged suffering in BDSM art. Endurance and Catharsis: crucifixion in bdsm art