Conversion of St Paul

The panel depicts the Conversion of the Roman citizen Saul, later St Paul. He appears as if just thrown to the ground, lying under the rear legs of the white charger at the centre. No halo is visible, but the yellow glowing light at the top centre of the painting appears to represent the impact of the divine light which struck Saul blind and made him fall from his horse while on his way with his soldiers to Damascus to persecute Christians. On the ground, Saul’s helmet and a cuirass are scattered around him.

This work demonstrates the impact of Leonardo’s unfinished fresco for the Sala del Gran Consiglio on his contemporaries. In the group at the centre of the panel, Rustici has reinterpreted the main scene of Leonardo’s Battle of Anghiari as a Conversion, probably with reference to Leonardo’s preparatory drawings.

This panel has been identified with the work described by Giorgio Vasari as painted by Rustici as a gift for his friend and patron Piero Martelli.