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The
Conversion of St.Paul by
Piera Peri - © Nerone The Insider's Guide to Rome
Rome is famous for the genius of Michelangelo into the Sistine Chapel, for the Raphael masterpieces all over the city, but also Rome is the city that let us know the work of
Caravaggio, the artist that more than every one modifies the history of art in Italy and Europe in the XVII
century.
Caravaggio (real name Michelangelo
Merisi) was born in 1571, and since the 1592 he worked in Rome; thanks to the friendship with some of the most well-known aristocratic families of the city, he got his first public
commission, the Contarelli Chapel in San Luigi dei Francesi in 1599; seeing this
chapel, Monsignor Cerasi called the artist to paint two canvas in the family chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo, the goal of our
visit.
The two canvas we can see in the Cerasi Chapel are "The conversion of S. Paul" and
"The crucifixion of S. Peter"; in front of them you could easily understand the loftiness of Caravaggio as well as the main features of his style.
In the right one, the artist shows us the perfect moment of the Saint Paul
conversion: according to the Apostles Acts in the New Testament, Saul was a roman
soldier, a cruel persecutor of the first christian communities; during a trip he saw a bush
burning: his horse, scared for the fire, let him fall down; there, laying on the street, Saul heard the voice of God talking to
him, so he was converted, becoming one of the first "Soldiers of the True
God", changing his name in Paul.
The subject, quite common in the history of art, was painted by Caravaggio in a completely different way, comparing it with the traditional
iconography.
In the foreground there is no more the saint but the horse, occuping the animal nearly half of the
canvas; and the unsaddled man is laying down the groung with closed eyes and wide open
armies. Everything is perfectly motionless; what is really incredible is the way Caravaggio used the light to
paint: a light both divine and symbolic, coming from the sky as the voice and the presence itself of
God, being for this the absolute leading character of his paintings.
But in this canvas the divine light is in opposition with a character absolutely
human, the soldier Saul, pianted upset and imprepared for such a revelation; but what is really uncommon is the new importance of the
animal, the real focal point of the subject, enlightened by the moon as even Saul, whose humility is underlined by his complete, human submission to the greatness of
God.
Caravaggio used to make use of common-people as models in his canvas, and for this reason he got lot of
problems, because of the too strong realism in his subjects; for instance, the painting we see nowadays in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo is a second
attempt, being the first "Conversion" refused by the priests because of its violent
realism.
The church worths a visit even for the other treasures conserved in it: of course the other painting by Caravaggio in the same
chapel, where is also the Assumption of the Virgin by Annibale Carracci, but also the Chigi
Chapel, projected by Raphael, with statues by Bernini, and the wonderful frescoes by Pinturicchio and his
school, in the first chapel on the right and in the choir back to the main altar.
How to get there
The church is in Piazza del Popolo, one of the most famous squares in Rome, where Via del Corso
begins; coming from via del Corso, the Church is on the other side, on the right, close to the Flaminia Gate, one of the real gates of the roman
walls, heavily modified by Bernini and then in the XIX century.
It is also really few steps ahead the Underground stop named "Flaminio", on the A line.
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