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Saint Paul (Spanish: San Pablo) is a Renaissance masterpiece that currently hangs in the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain. The piece was created by Diego Velázquez around 1619 and depicts the early stage of his artistic career before he moved to Madrid. In the image, Saint Paul is seated holding a book, commonly referenced as a large Gospel book. It is said, that while traveling to Damascus, Paul saw a beam of light and was visited by Jesus, who struck him blind. Three days later, Paul regained his sight and began to preach Christianity to the people.

Image Description
Painting with oil became popular in the fifteenth century in Spain. The painting itself was created using oil on canvas and reveals the image of Saint Paul, who is a central figure of the Apostolic Age. Saint Paul's head is "sharply drawn" and the image itself is "somewhat rubbed and darkened," a style Velázquez often executed during his early works. However, his smudging techniques were not obvious.

Saint Paul is commonly depicted wearing a large brown robe to symbolize his pilgrimage from the Holy Land to Damascus. The loose and thick cloak contains numerous creases, which reveals the heaviness of the fabric draping over a reddish/brown tunic. Saint Paul is commonly drawn with a tapering beard, brown hair, and a balding forehead to signify great wisdom and learning. However, Velázquez's image depicts Saint Paul with black hair that has a hint of grey in it, a very uncommon attribute for this figure. Velázquez's image of Saint Paul holds a blank stare, perhaps referencing his loss of eyesight from the legend.

Velázquez also deviated from the traditional representation of Saint Paul by drawing him with a book. The Gospel book that Saint Paul is holding symbolizes that this figure is an apostle and had a great influence on the spreading of the Christian religion. The book can also represent the figure's intellectual and philosophical nature, much like Francisco Ribalta's artwork, but it is clear by the text in the upper-left hand corner that the individual is an apostle. The text in the upper-left hand corner reads, S. PAVLVS, which means "Saint Paul" in Latin. If not holding a book, Saint Paul is more grimly represented with a severed head and the sword that killed him, which depicts his martyrdom.

The lighting on Velázquez's painting illuminates the figure and illustrates earth-tone colors, which are styles both inherited from Tenebrism. They present to the viewer a natural and authentic representation of the figure and are common colors used by Velázquez. A glowing aura, or halo, around the head of the figure symbolizes that he has a sense of holiness and was canonized as a saint.

History of the Image
The painting was drawn around 1619, while Velázquez was still living in Seville. Velázquez is known to have painted a series of his saint's portraits while still residing in the city. Velázquez left Seville in 1623 and moved to Madrid to become the court painter to the Spanish King, Philip IV. In Velázquez's early years as a painter, he was greatly influenced by Caravaggio, whose artistic style was spreading all over Spain The painting of Saint Paul is "considered a key work for understanding the influence of Caravaggio's pictorial realism in Spain."

In 1921, August Mayer stated that this piece was an original Velázquez and that it was a part of his saint's portrait series that he painted while living in Seville. The painting of Saint Thomas (Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Orléans) also belongs to this series and contains a similar inscription as Saint Paul. The text is in the upper-left hand corner reads, TOMAS. This image and the painting of Saint Paul are believed to have originally been housed at the Carthusian monastery of Las Cuevas in Seville.

Artist's Style
Velázquez wanted to capture "truth and beauty" in his art. The young artist initially used influences from the classical literature of his day, like El Lazarillo de Tormes, as well as the beauty of his native country. As his young career grew, Velázquez continued to use colors and objects he found in nature. These colors and objects, as well as the "effects of light and shadow" and human expression, influenced his style. Velázquez wanted to capture the realism of every day life to make sure viewers noticed the beauty of the natural world. He wanted to make people see his chosen subjects as they appeared to him, so he presented his figures realistically and with a "quality of immortal freshness."

Velázquez had always been a realist and was influenced by Caravaggio and other Italian Renaissance painters in his youth. However, unlike Caravaggio, Velázquez wanted to create more texture to his paintings. He did this by using both rough and smooth brushstrokes, "more akin to Titian's than to Caravaggio." Velázquez was also unlike other painters of his day in that he "gave little thought to composition." He did not plan his drawings or create sketches beforehand. Velázquez also did not study anatomy like his masters. Instead, he analyzed his models and drew completely by eye. By the time Velázquez was thirty years of age, he was already well-versed in realism and did not alter the style of his artwork. Some art historians even view Velázquez as being the "greatest master of realism."

During his early career, Velázquez drew two different types of paintings, which can be categorized as bodegones and figure paintings. Bodegones is a term that relates to "food, drink, or tableware." The second style is the figure paintings he did between the years 1618 and 1622, which accentuate human expression. Saint Paul is a great example of this style, which is a clear depiction of a somber human emotion. Only twenty of Velázquez's works have been uncovered from these early years, but it is evident that he "enjoyed painting portraits." Most of his paintings during his early years are made up of bodegones and numerous religious figures. This "unifying religious undertone" can be viewed in the majority of Velázquez's early paintings and depict his devotion to the Catholic faith. Most do not find this surprising, since Velázquez was raised religious and remained true to his faith throughout his life.

Relation to Other Artworks
In 1618, Velázquez had rented a place in Seville, where watersellers roamed the streets. Between 1618 and 1620, Velázquez painted The Waterseller of Seville. The art historian, Peter Cherry, believes that Velázquez used a model for this image, since Velázquez was drawn to "humble subject matter." Cherry also believes that the same model, that Velázquez used for The Waterseller of Seville, was used in the 1619 painting of Saint Paul. He said that the figure "bears a resemblance to Velázquez's early Saint Paul."