The Conversion of Saint Paul (n.d.): Artwork and History

The Conversion of Saint Paul (n.d.) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Unknown Artist Italian, 15th century.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

The extraterrestrial quality of the apparition in the sky is this engraving’s most unusual aspect. This flying, saucerlike disk presumably bears the resurrected Christ’s appearance to Paul. Paul cowers with his hand up in the air to block out the blinding light, an expression of fright on his face. In this vision, Christ says to Paul, a notorious killer of Christians, “By persecuting my church you make it flourish, and only prick and hurt yourself.” Paul sees the light and may be depicted a second time at the back of the scene, preaching with his sword in hand.

Object facts

• Title: The Conversion of Saint Paul
• Date: n.d.
• Artist attribution: Unknown Artist Italian, 15th century
• Place of origin: Italy
• Medium: Engraving on paper
• Dimensions: Plate: 12.4 × 8.2 cm (4 15/16 × 3 1/4 in.); Sheet: 12.5 × 8.4 cm (4 15/16 × 3 5/16 in.)
• Type: Print
• Department: Prints and Drawings
• Reference number: 1956.990

Collection credit

Bequest of Mrs. Potter Palmer, Jr.

View the original

Explore the artwork in the Art Institute's collection, including its image and the museum's current catalogue details.

The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.