Conversion of St. Paul
1538 (?)
Medium
Pen and brown ink, light brown wash, heightened with white on brown paper
Dimensions
sheet: 4 13/16 x 15 13/16 in. (12.2 x 40.2 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1963
Accession Number
63.76.7
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the heart of the Flemish Renaissance, Pieter Coecke Aelst crafted this dynamic drawing, *Conversion of St.*, around 1538. The scene captures the biblical moment when Saul, en route to Damascus, is blind by a divine light, tumbling from his horse amid a crowd of startled onlookers. Coecke, a versatile Antwerp artist renowned for tapestry designs and courtly commissions, infuses the composition with dramatic tension—horses rearing, figures in period attire crowding the panoramic vista—evoking the era's fascination with religious narratives and Italianate perspective. Executed in pen and brow...
About the Artist
Pieter Coecke van Aelst
Pieter Coecke van Aelst (1502–1550) was a leading Flemish artist of the Renaissance, renowned for his multifaceted talents as a painter, sculptor, architect, and designer of tapestries, stained glass, woodcuts, and metalwork. Born in Aalst, in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium), he likely studied under Bernaert van Orley, a prominent Antwerp painter, before becoming a master in the city...