Spanish school; 18th century.
"Saint Paul".
Oil on canvas.
It presents perforations and faults on the pictorial surface.
Measurements: 63 x 50,5 cm.
Saint Paul was a Hellenized Jew of the Diaspora, born in Tarsus. He was therefore Jewish by his ethnic origin, Greek by his culture and Roman by his nationality. He received the name Saul, which he changed to Paul after his conversion. Born at the beginning of the first century, he studied in Jerusalem under the rabbi Gamaliel, who would have been noted for his hatred of Christians. One day, when he was on his way from Jerusalem to Damascus around the year 35, he was dazzled by lightning and fell from his horse. Then he heard the voice of Jesus saying to him: "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? As a result of this experience, the saint went abruptly from persecutor to zealot of Christianity. After curing the blindness of a Christian from Damascus, he began his life as a missionary until he reached Jerusalem, where he came into contact with Peter and the other apostles. In the Middle Ages numerous corporations were placed under his patronage, due to various aspects of his iconography, life and miracles. However, St Paul was never a popular saint, which is proof of the relative poverty of his iconography. In fact, his role in art is not commensurate with his importance in the spread of Christianity. In early Christian art, his only attributes are a book or a scroll, and in the 13th century his emblem appears, the sword which was the instrument of his martyrdom.