Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 12

17th Century Portrait of Saint Paul Painting Oil on Oval Canvas

About the Item

17th century Portrait of Saint Paul Measures: Oil on oval canvas, 67 x 50 cm - with frame 81 x 64 cm The portrait examined here depicts the Apostle Paul, or Paul of Tarsus, sent as a missionary of the Gospel between the Greeks and the pagan Romans, thanks to his Hellenic origin. According to the biblical narrative, Paul converted to Christianity while, going from Jerusalem to Damascus to organize the repression of the city's Christians, he was suddenly enveloped in a very strong light and heard the voice of God saying to him: "Saul, Saul, why prosecuted? ". Blinded by that divine light, he wandered for three days in Damascus, where he was then healed by the head of that city's small Christian community, Ananias. The episode, known as "Paul's conversion", started the saint's work of evangelization. He died a victim of Nero's persecution, probably beheaded between 64 and 67. St. Paul, as in this case, is often represented with a sword for two main reasons. The first is the fact that the saint is well known for his Letter to the Ephesians, in which he describes the "armor of God": a spiritual armor that prepares the Christian to "resist the snares of the devil. In fact, the battle of man is not against creatures made of blood and flesh, but against the Principalities and Powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against the evil spirits who live in the heavenly regions "(Ephesians 6, 11 -12). A few verses later he writes: "Take also ... the sword of the Spirit, that is, the word of God" (Ephesians 6:17). The second reason, also of a spiritual nature in the Letter to the Hebrews, uses a similar analogy and explains why the Word of God is connected to a sword: "The word of God is alive, effective and sharper than any double-edged sword; it penetrates to the dividing point of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow and scrutinizes the feelings and thoughts of the heart "(Hebrews 4, 12). The saint is traditionally represented with a more severe and frowning look than other saints with a more good-natured appearance by virtue of his qualities, his experience and his task.
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 31.89 in (81 cm)Width: 25.2 in (64 cm)Depth: 1.58 in (4 cm)
  • Materials and Techniques:
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    17th Century
  • Condition:
    Wear consistent with age and use.
  • Seller Location:
    Milan, IT
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU5918231442452
More From This SellerView All
  • 17th Century Saint Joseph Oil on Canvas Attributed to Antonio Cifrondi
    Located in Milan, IT
    Antonio Cifrondi (1665 - 1730), Attributed Man with stick - Saint Joseph Measures: Oil on canvas, Cm 115 x 79 - With frame, cm 139 x 103 This canvas is, for stylistic and c...
    Category

    Antique 17th Century Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas

  • 16th-17th Century Gentleman’s Portrait Oil on Canvas by Francesco Zucco
    Located in Milan, IT
    Francesco Zucco (circa 1575-1627) Gentleman’s portrait Measures: Oil on canvas, cm 120 x 140 The painting analyzed here belongs to the pictorial production of Francesco Zucc...
    Category

    Antique Early 17th Century Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas

  • 17th Century Live Nature Pair of Paintings Oil on Canvas Flemish School
    Located in Milan, IT
    Flemish School, 17th century Live nature couple with animals Measures: Oil on canvas, cm 25 x 35 - With frame cm 37 x 48 The pair of canvases in question depicts two excited...
    Category

    Antique 17th Century Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas

  • 17th Century Madonna with Child Painting Oil on Canvas Tuscan School
    Located in Milan, IT
    17th century, Tuscan school Madonna and Child Oil on canvas, 31 x 21 cm With frame, cm 37,5 x 27,5 The pearly incarnations and the thoughtful play of looks between the Virgin, turned to the Son, and Questi, warmly open to the viewer, pour out the present painting with compositional perfection. Virginal fabrics become mottled at the folds, wrapping the Madonna in a thin vitreous mantle. The pastel colors, shining on the pink robe just tightened at the waist by a gold cord, enliven the faces of the divine couple in correspondence of the cheeks, lit by an orange warmth. Even the left hand of the Virgin, composed in perfect classical pose (Botticelli, Madonna with Child, 1467, Musée du Petit Palais, Avignon), is sprinkled with warmth thanks to the immediate touch with Christ. From the nimbus of the Mother a delicate luminous disk is effused, which takes back, in the most distant rays, the colour of the hair of the Son, from the tones of the sun. The Child Jesus is represented intent in a tender gesture of invitation with the right hand, while with the other he offers a universal blessing: with his hand he retracts the index and annular palms, extending the remaining three fingers, symbol of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The painting welcomes and re-elaborates that typically Tuscan formalism that boasted in the rest of Italy the constant appreciation by the most up-to-date artists and collectors. Arrangement, composition and mixing of colors place the canvas in the middle between the changing mannerist and the sculptural figures of Michelangelo, essential yardstick of comparison in terms of anatomical and expressionistic rendering. In the present, silvery and pinkish powders act as three-dimensional inducers to the Child’s mentioned musculature and to the vivid folds of the clothes, expertly deposited on the lunar whiteness of the skins. While these colours recall the equally brilliantly transparent colours of Pier Francesco Foschi...
    Category

    Antique 17th Century Italian Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas

  • 17th Century Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine Oli on Canvas Roman School
    Located in Milan, IT
    17th century, Roman School Mystical marriage of Saint Catherine of Alexandria Oil on canvas, 32 x 23 cm Frame cm 45 x 36 The saint is depicted in front of the Virgin holding th...
    Category

    Antique 17th Century Italian Decorative Art

    Materials

    Canvas

  • 17th Century Angelica and Medoro Painted Oil on Canvas Roman School
    Located in Milan, IT
    Roman School, 17th century Angelica and Medoro engrave their names on the bark of a tree Oil on canvas, 65 x 48.5 cm The canvas depicts one of the most famous episodes of O...
    Category

    Antique 17th Century Italian Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas

You May Also Like
  • Italian Old Master Painting, 17th Century, Oil on Canvas
    Located in Aalsgaarde, DK
    Italian old master painting, 17th century, oil on canvas. Good condition Measures: H. 54 W. 43 cm H. 21.2 W. 16.9 in.
    Category

    Antique 17th Century Italian Paintings

    Materials

    Paint

  • Late 17th Century Oil Portrait of a Lady
    Located in Lymington, GB
    An oil on canvas portrait of a young French courtier, circa 1690. This evocative antique French school picture has been attributed to the portrait painter Jean-François de Troy (1679-1752). De Troy was famous as a portrait painter of fashionable society women. This is a very attractive late 17th century painting surviving in its original frame and stretcher. The canvas appears to be untouched. References: 'Jean François de Troy, The Alarm, or the Gouvernante Fidèle', at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. 'Jean François de Troy, Paris 1679 - Rome 1752', at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. Laurie G. Winters, Troy, de, Grove Art Online, Oxford Art Online, Oxford University Press, 6 May 2016. Everett Fahy & Jayne Wrightsman...
    Category

    Antique 17th Century French Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas

  • Oil on Canvas Paint Flemish School, 17th Century Belgium
    Located in Beuzevillette, FR
    Oil on canvas depicting a country scene: a man watering his horse near a river where two cows and a sheep wade accompanied by a farmer. Work of northern France or Belgium of the 17t...
    Category

    Antique 17th Century Belgian Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas

  • Naive School Oil Painting of a Monk, 17th Century
    Located in St Annes, Lancashire
    Wonderful naive oil painting of a monk Great muted colors in unrestored condition Oil on canvas. No stretcher. There is another religious painting on the verso Unsigned. Art...
    Category

    Antique Late 17th Century Dutch Renaissance Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas

  • 17th Century Flemish School, Saint Francis In Extasy, Oil on Oak Panel
    Located in Leuven , BE
    This 17th century panel painting is a depiction of a praying Franciscan monk, or of Saint Francis. The grey-brown habit, the skull and the book are ...
    Category

    Antique 17th Century Belgian Decorative Art

    Materials

    Oak, Paint

  • 17th Century Oil on Canvas Framed Italian Religious Painting Saint Paul, 1650
    Located in Vicoforte, Piedmont
    Antique Italian painting from the 17th century. Framework oil on canvas depicting a religious subject Saint Paul of good pictorial quality. Oval painting with antique wooden frame wi...
    Category

    Antique 1650s Italian Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas

Recently Viewed

View All