Skip to main content

Secondary sourcePainting1600-1699

Saint Paul

Peter Paul Rubens · 1600-1699

A 17th-century engraving by S.A. Bolswert after Peter Paul Rubens, portraying Saint Paul with a sword and halo.

A later artistic imagining of Paul as a sainted figure, showing how he was remembered and venerated centuries after his death.

Ask Saint Paul about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Engraving of a bearded, long-haired man with a halo, wrapped in a draped cloak, leaning on a sword with his left hand and standing on a pedestal inscribed 'S. PAVLVS'. Signed 'P.P. Rubbens pinxit, S.a. Bolswert sculp.' at lower left.
S.A. Bolswert after Peter Paul Rubens, Saint Paul, 17th century. Wellcome Collection, London.

About this source

What it is

This engraving, made sometime in the 1600s by S.A. Bolswert, is based on a painting by Peter Paul Rubens. It shows Saint Paul as a bearded, haloed figure leaning on a sword, standing on a pedestal labelled with his name in Latin. It is kept by the Wellcome Collection in London.

Why it matters

The sword is a traditional symbol linked to Paul's martyrdom, and the halo marks him as a saint. This image reflects how 17th-century European artists like Rubens imagined and honoured early Christian figures long after their lifetimes, shaping popular ideas of what Paul looked like even though no contemporary portrait of him exists.

Look closer

  • What symbols in the image tell you this is meant to be a saint rather than an ordinary man?
  • Since no one alive when Paul lived painted his portrait, where might Rubens have gotten his idea of Paul's appearance?
  • What does the pedestal inscription add to how we are meant to see this figure?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Saint Paul on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Saint Paul sources

Meet the AI Saint Paul →
Scan of a manuscript page with about twenty lines of handwritten Latin in a medieval-style hand, with a small decorative heading at the top. Some lines have large initial letters and flourishes.Letter

Primary source

Epistle to the Romans

Paul the Apostle · c. AD 57

Engraving of an elderly bearded man with a halo, wearing a draped robe and holding an open book, standing beside a wall with a sword at his feet. Dated 1514 with the AD monogram. Black and white.Painting

Secondary source

Saint Paul

Albrecht Dürer · 1514

Page 300 of the 1848 Prekmurian New Testament, headed 'Szvétoga Pavla Apostola I. K Korinthusánczom Piszani Liszt' with two columns of Prekmurian Slovene text, chapter 1 verses 1 to 13.Letter

Secondary source

First Epistle to the Corinthians

Paul the Apostle · c. 54 AD

Scan of a fragmentary papyrus leaf with faded brown Greek uncial-style text in columns, with torn and missing sections. It is a manuscript of 1 Corinthians 7:33-8:4, not chapter 13.Book

Primary source

1 Corinthians 13

Paul the Apostle · c. AD 53-57

Colored 1879 map titled 'Map Illustrating the Travels of St. Paul' by H.H. Hardesty, showing the Mediterranean, Asia Minor, Greece, Italy, Egypt and the Holy Land with routes marked in lines and numbered journeys.Document

Secondary source

Map Illustrating the Travels of St. Paul

H.H. Hardesty · 1879

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Saint Paul now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions