The Conversion of Saul with Christ and the Cross (c. 1645–47): Art, History and Details

The Conversion of Saul with Christ and the Cross (c. 1645–47) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Jacob Jordaens (Flemish, 1593–1678).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Jacob Jordaens was a prominent artist working in Antwerp in the 17th century. Though influenced in his use of powerful forms and vibrant color by his contemporary, Peter Paul Rubens, Jordaens was notably more realist in his tendencies. This drawing and its companion drawing in the Cleveland Museum of Art's collection (1954.366) are very likely studies for a painting depicting the Conversion of Saint Paul that Jordaens made for the the abbey church at Tongerlo, near Antwerp, in around 1647 (now lost). According to the Bible, in the year following the death of Jesus Christ, Saul of Tarsus (who became Saint Paul) was on the road to Damascus. He was suddenly surrounded by a brilliant light from above, heard the voice of Christ, and became a believer. In this work, Saul appears to have been blinded by the force of Christ's voice and heavenly light. Jordaens used a combination of chalks and wet media such as ink and watercolor to create a swirling mass of bodies bathed in light.

Object facts

• Title: The Conversion of Saul with Christ and the Cross
• Date: c. 1645–47
• Creator attribution: Jacob Jordaens (Flemish, 1593–1678)
• Culture: Flanders
• Type: Drawing
• Technique: brush and brown wash, gouache and watercolor over black and red chalk, heightened with traces of white; framing lines in graphite
• Dimensions: Sheet: 33 x 19.9 cm (13 x 7 13/16 in.)
• Collection: DR - Flemish
• Department: Drawings
• Accession number: 1954.367

A detail from the museum

In order to create the arch at the top of this sheet, which is almost a foot high, the artist added an additional sheet of paper.

Collection credit

Delia E. Holden and L. E. Holden Funds

Further reading listed by the museum

• Hulst, Roger Adolf d'. De tekeningen van Jakob Jordaens: bijdrage tot de geschiedenis van de XVIIe-eeuwse kunst in de zuidelijke Nederlanden. Brussel: AWlsk, Paleis der academiën, 1956.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.