The Conversion of St. Paul on the Road to Damascus, Antonio Tempesta (Florence 1555 – Rome 1630) Circle

Antonio Tempesta (Florence 1555 – Rome 1630) Circle

The Conversion of St. Paul on the Road to Damascus

Oil on canvas (112 x 102 cm. – Framed 125 x 114 cm.)

Full details (LINK)

The scene depicts the episode, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, in which the young Roman tax collector Saul, while on his way to Damascus leading soldiers to persecute the Christians, was blinded by a supernatural light coming from a tear in the sky that threw him to the ground.

From the clouds, the majestic figure of Jesus appeared, and he turned to the now unhorsed soldier, while his companions around him, dazzled by what was happening, fled on their terrified horses. "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" are the words Christ addressed to Paul, who, covering his eyes, blinded by that glare, bowed his head.

The episode stages the amazement and fear of the Conversion of the soldier Saul, the future apostle of the Gentiles Paul, who opens his arms and stretches them towards the light, open to welcoming divine grace and enlightenment.

Although it is a religious subject, it cannot be ruled out that it was intended for private devotion, rather than for a place of worship: the painting in fact has a purely "profane" rather than devotional character.

This is a work – of which the pendant is available (link) – to be traced to the workshop or circle of Antonio Tempesta (Florence 1555 – Rome 1630), a leading artist of fundamental importance for the seventeenth-century development of the 'battle' pictorial genre.

His style, which can be placed in the late Renaissance or early Baroque period, is characterized by elements such as the dynamism of the composition, the dramatic use of light and shadow (chiaroscuro), and the expressiveness of the figures.

He shaped his art in the culture of late Mannerism of the late sixteenth century, acquired from his early training in Florence in the workshop of the Flemish Giovanni Stradano, with whom he collaborated in the decorative project of Palazzo Vecchio.

Active mainly in Rome from 1572, he worked for Pope Gregory XIII on the decorations in the Vatican Loggias, and for many of the most noble and influential families, such as the Farnese, Borghese, Giustiniani and Rospigliosi-Pallavicini, and was especially in demand as the author of historical and biblical battle scenes.

Starting in 1613, he created a series of engravings of “biblical battles” for Grand Duke Cosimo II, inspired by Tasso’s “Jerusalem Delivered”. These subjects brought him great success in the Medici household and at the Florentine court, and served as a source of inspiration for his subsequent pictorial production.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The work is completed by a pleasant gilded wooden frame and is sold accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and descriptive iconographic card.

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