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Conversion of St. Paul
Caravaggio, c. 1601
oil on canvas
7' 6" x 5' 9"
Cerasi Chapel, Santa Marie del Popolo, Rome, Italy.
 
 
 
 

(click on the image to enlarge.)

Carvaggio shows St. Paul thrown onto his back in the middle of a stable while being moved by a voice and light from heaven.  He puts this spiritual moment in a stable, not to insult the importance of the occasion (which many critcs believed) but rather to place it in a real-to-life setting.  Paul saw marriage as the ultimate example of love, an extraordinary event, like his own conversion, taking place in the very mundanity of everyday life.
 
 

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