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Secondary sourcePaintingc. 1452-1460

Saint Paul on the Road to Damascus

Jean Fouquet · c. 1452-1460

A French illuminated manuscript miniature by Jean Fouquet showing Paul's dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus.

Depicts Paul's conversion experience on the road to Damascus, the turning point of his life described in Acts.

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Illuminated manuscript miniature: a knight in armor has fallen from a brown horse on a road, while other mounted armored riders on gray and black horses look on. A sun-like face shines from a blue sky above a walled town with towers. Gold-figured decorative panels and grotesque figures holding shields fill the bottom.
Jean Fouquet, Saint Paul on the Road to Damascus, c. 1452-1460. Hours of Étienne Chevalier.

About this source

What it is

This is an illuminated miniature painted by the French artist Jean Fouquet around 1452-1460, part of the Hours of Étienne Chevalier, a book of hours made for a wealthy patron.

Why it matters

The scene shows the moment described in the Acts of the Apostles when Paul, then a persecutor of Christians, was struck down on the road to Damascus and experienced a vision that changed his life. Artists like Fouquet used this story for centuries to teach about sudden conversion and divine intervention. The image reflects how medieval artists imagined biblical events using the dress and settings of their own time.

Look closer

  • What details in the image show this is set in a medieval European style rather than ancient Judea?
  • Why do you think the artist chose to show the moment of falling rather than before or after?
  • What might the decorative border figures around the main scene tell us about how books like this were made and used?

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.

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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

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