The church has painted, carved and cast Paul for seventeen centuries, and the image it settled on is consistent from the catacombs to the Vatican. He is bald or balding, with a high forehead and a long, pointed dark beard; he holds a book and, from the high Middle Ages, a sword. The book stands for his letters, the sword for the instrument of the martyrdom the tradition assigns him.

The illustrations on this site take that image and turn it. The sword and the scroll in every portrait here are the church’s own attributes, given back to Paul with the halo cracked, the horns added and the cap lettered. This page shows the originals.

The earliest portrait #

The oldest images of Paul come from the catacombs of Rome, from the fourth century, when the church had already paired him with Peter as the founders of its Roman see. In this fresco he stands beside the enthroned Christ, the type already fixed.

Catacomb fresco of Christ enthroned between Peter and Paul, with four martyrs and the Lamb below — Christ enthroned between Peter and Paul, with four martyrs and the Lamb below. Fresco, Catacombs of Saints Marcellinus and Peter, Rome, fourth century. Image: Unknown painter, 4th century, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

The founders of Rome #

Within a generation of Constantine the pairing became a programme. In the apse of Santa Costanza, Christ stands between Peter and Paul in the scene called the Traditio Legis, the handing over of the law. The man who called the law a curse stands at the side of the one who hands it over.

Apse mosaic of Christ standing on a hill between two apostles, with sheep and palms below — The *Traditio Legis*, apse mosaic, Santa Costanza, Rome, fourth century, much restored. Image: José Luiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Byzantine saint #

The Greek church kept the same face and added the gold. This enamel medallion, made for the frame of an icon around 1100, names him in Greek as Ho Hagios Paulos, “Saint Paul,” and shows him with the book of his letters.

Gold cloisonné enamel medallion of Paul, bald and bearded, holding a book, named in Greek — Medallion with Saint Paul from an icon frame. Byzantine, about 1100; gold, silver and cloisonné enamel. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 17.190.673. Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Some five centuries earlier an ivory carver in the East cut him full length. Paul stands under a shell-headed arch with a book in his hand, and his name runs along the bar above his head.

Ivory plaque of Paul standing under a shell-headed arch, bearded and holding a book, with his name cut in the bar above — Saint Paul, ivory plaque, Byzantine East, sixth or early seventh century. Musée de Cluny, Paris, Cl. 13074. Image: Clio20, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The attributes fixed #

By the sixteenth century the two attributes were fixed. In this Netherlandish panel, attributed to Lucas van Leyden, Paul stands in a white mantle with a long sword in one hand and a closed book against his chest, and a banner above him gives his name in capitals.

Painting of Paul in a white mantle against a dark red ground, a long sword in one hand and a closed book against his chest, a banner above him lettered PAULUS — Saint Paul, oil on panel, attributed to Lucas van Leyden, about 1520. The banner is lettered PAULUS. Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, 1961.52. Image: Attributed to Lucas van Leyden, about 1520; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, 1961.52, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

The same pair of attributes survives in the parish statues made for churches today. This one holds a scroll and a sword. Its photographer notes that the sword is meant to stand for “the sword of the Spirit”, the phrase in Ephesians 6:17; the tradition above reads it as the sword of his execution.

Painted wooden statue of Paul with a gold halo and a red cloak, a scroll in one hand and a sword in the other, standing on an octagonal base — Statue of Saint Paul with a scroll and a sword, painted wood. Image: Jayzl Nebre-Villfania, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Carved for the altar #

The Spanish Baroque made him in painted and gilded wood. Gregorio Fernández carved this Paul in 1606 for the high altar of a church in Valladolid, a sword in one hand and a book under the other arm, in a niche between gilded columns.

Painted and gilded wooden statue of Paul, bearded and looking down, a sword in one hand and a book under the other arm, in a niche between gilded columns — Saint Paul, by Gregorio Fernández, 1606. High altar, Iglesia de San Miguel y San Julián, Valladolid. Image: 3Félix, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The grotto at Rabat #

Acts tells of a shipwreck on Malta and three months spent on the island (Acts 27–28). It names no cave. Maltese tradition shows one at Rabat, beneath the church of Saint Paul, where Paul is said to have sheltered. A marble statue of him stands inside, with lamps before it.

White marble statue of Paul standing in a limestone cave, an open book in one hand and the other hand outstretched, with four lamps before it and a ship-shaped lamp hanging beside it — The Grotto of Saint Paul at Rabat, Malta, with the marble statue of Paul. The identification of the cave rests on tradition, not on Acts. Image: Augustyński, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The light on the road #

The Renaissance and the Baroque painted the conversion more than any other scene of his life. Caravaggio’s version, painted for a chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo, is the most famous; its treatment of the three accounts in Acts is discussed under The Damascus road: one vision, three stories.

Caravaggio painting of Saul fallen on his back beneath a horse, arms raised, in a pool of light — Caravaggio, *Conversion of Saint Paul*, 1600–1601. Cerasi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome. Image: Caravaggio, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

The sword and the book #

Tradition had fixed the attributes long before. In Florence in 1333, Bernardo Daddi painted Paul at full length on a tall panel of gold, the sword in his right hand and the book held against his chest, with twelve small worshippers kneeling at his feet. The panel names him in gold on red, “PAU LUS”, a syllable on either side of his head, and its frame records the year the work was finished.

Gold-ground panel of Paul standing full length, a sword in his right hand and a black book against his chest, with twelve small worshippers kneeling at his feet — Bernardo Daddi, *Saint Paul and a Group of Worshippers*, 1333, tempera on panel. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Image: Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.3. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, Public domain (CC0), via the National Gallery of Art’s collection.

A century later a Burgundian sculptor could carve Paul by formula, bald and long-bearded, with a book for his letters and a sword for the manner of his death. The statue stood in a private chapel at Poligny, where the de Plaine family kept him as their advocate in heaven.

Burgundian limestone statue of Paul, bald and long-bearded, wrapped in heavy drapery, a book under his arm and a sword at his side — Circle of Claus de Werve, *Saint Paul*, about 1420–30, limestone with traces of paint. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Image: Circle of Claus de Werve, Saint Paul, ca. 1420–30; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 22.31.1, Public domain (CC0), via the Met’s collection.

In the nineteenth century the papacy set a colossal Paul before Saint Peter’s, facing a Peter with his keys. Adamo Tadolini’s statue gives him both attributes at full size: the sword held downward in one hand, the book in the other.

Marble statue of Paul holding a sword and a book, before the facade of Saint Peter's — Adamo Tadolini, statue of Paul before the Basilica of Saint Peter, Vatican City. Image: AngMoKio, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.

The cult of relics #

Rome shows three sites of Paul’s death and burial, none of them recorded in scripture. The church at Tre Fontane marks the place of the beheading; the basilica on the Ostian Way keeps the sarcophagus; the Lateran keeps the head. Their evidence is examined under The failed prophet.

Marble high relief of Paul kneeling before an executioner with a raised sword — The beheading of Paul, marble high relief, San Paolo alle Tre Fontane, Rome. Image: Yong Woo Park, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Marble sarcophagus beneath an altar, seen through a bronze grille — The sarcophagus beneath the high altar, Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, Rome. Image: StPaul.jpg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Gothic canopy over the high altar of the Lateran basilica, with a grilled upper chamber — The ciborium of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, Rome (Giovanni di Stefano, 1367), whose upper chamber holds the reliquaries said to contain the heads of Peter and Paul. Image: Jastrow, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.

What the images show #

The iconography is a record of the church’s judgment on Paul. The church gave the man who never met ʿĪsā ibn Maryam ʿalayhi al-salām, peace be upon him a place beside Peter, at the gate of its chief basilica, over its high altars and in its reliquaries. The case this site sets out is that the place was usurped; the images show how completely the usurpation succeeded.