The Conversion of St Paul (바울의 개종)

 

 

 

 

(행 9:4)

땅에 엎드러져 들으매 소리가 있어 이르시되 사울아 사울아 네가 어찌하여 나를 박해하느냐 하시거늘

4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Caravaggio 1573 – 1610

The Conversion of St Paul [1]

oil on panel (237 × 189 cm) — ca. 1601
private collection

Caravaggio biography

 

This work is linked to Acts 9:4

 

One of two known paintings by Caravaggio on the subject of the conversion of St Paul (or Saul). This panel is in the Odescalchi Balbi Collection in Rome. The other also dates from c. 1601.

Saul was on his way to Damascus, to destroy the Christian community in that city. He was struck by a flash of light, and heard the words "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Caravaggio 1573 – 1610

The Conversion of St Paul [2]

oil on canvas (230 × 175 cm) — c. 1601

  Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome

Caravaggio biography

 

This work is linked to Acts 9:4

 

A rather chaotic painting with all those legs diverting the attention from the figure lying on the ground, who in addition has to do without the usual illuminating beam from heaven by which we know that he is the main character of the scene.

The man is Saul, Roman citizen traveling to Damascus, who has just seen a vision of Jesus. For the rest of his life he will be known as Paul, founder of the Church of Rome.

Caravaggio made another painting on the same subject, in the same period.

 

 

 

Pieter Bruegel the Elder ca. 1520 – 1569

The Conversion of St Paul

oil on canvas (108 × 156 cm) — 1567

Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Pieter Bruegel the Elder biography

 

This work is linked to Acts 9:4

 

The small figure in blue, centre-right, is Saul. He has fallen from his horse, after being struck by a bolt of lightning from heaven. Saul, an ardent prosecutor of Christians, was on his way to Damascus.

This is one of the few scenes Bruegel did not situate in a Flemish landscape. He signed it on the rock in the lower right corner with BRVEGEL MDLXVII.

 

 

 

 

Michelangelo Buonarroti 1475 – 1564

The Conversion of Saul

fresco (625 × 661 cm) — 1542-45

  Cappella Paolina, Vatican City

Michelangelo Buonarroti biography

 

This work is linked to Acts 9:4

 

This is the first of two large frescoes Michelangelo made in Paul's Chapel (Cappella Paolina) in the Vatican. The other one shows The Crucifixion of Peter. The chapel was built as a private chapel for pope Paul III. The frescoes were painted opposite each other on the long walls of the chapel.

Michelangelo started working on this fresco in 1542. The depiction of the figures in the sky shows strong resemblance to his previous project: The Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel, which he finished in 1541.

The fresco shows the moment that Saul, a fanatical persecutor of christians, is hit by a divine beam of light, which leaves him lying on the ground, blinded. A voice tells him to continue his journey to Damascus. There a christian called Ananias makes him see again. Now named Paul, he joins the apostles.