# The Conversion of St. Paul [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [CARAVAGGIO]() - Date: 1551-1600 - Technique: Oil on cypress wood, 237 x 189 cm ## Commentary The Conversion of St. Paul c. 1600 Oil on cypress wood, 237 x 189 cm Odescalchi Balbi Collection, Rome In 1600 Caravaggio received the commission for two paintings on cypress panel, one \(Conversion of St Paul\) for the new chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo. The extant painting with the subject is on canvas. The version in the Odeschalci Balbi Collection is on cypress wood as stipulated in the contract of 1600. It is probably a copy therefore it can be assumed that there was one time an original by Caravaggio. In the position of the St Paul and of the Christ, and in the movement of the horse into the depth of the picture, this work is still related to the tradition of Michelangelo's fresco in the Paolina Chapel. There are decidedly Caravaggesque elements in the work, such as the face of the angel supporting Christ, which greatly resembles that of the Amor Victorious \(Berlin\), or of the Isaac in the Sacrifice of Isaac \(Uffizi\). ## Related artworks - [Adoration of the Shepherds]() - [Amor Victorious \(detail\)]() - [Amor Victorious]() - [Bacchus \(detail\)]() - [Bacchus \(detail\)]() - [Bacchus]() - [Basket of Fruit]() - [Beheading of Saint John the Baptist \(detail\)]() - [Beheading of Saint John the Baptist \(detail\)]() - [Beheading of Saint John the Baptist \(detail\)]() - [Beheading of Saint John the Baptist]() - [Boy Bitten by a Lizard \(detail\)]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()