Skip to main content

Secondary sourcePainting1403

Saint Thomas Aquinas Submitting His Office of Corpus Domini to Pope Urban IV

Taddeo di Bartolo · 1403

A 1403 panel painting by Taddeo di Bartolo showing Aquinas presenting his Corpus Christi liturgy to the pope.

This painting commemorates Aquinas presenting his Corpus Christi liturgy to the pope, shaping his sainted image.

Ask Saint Thomas Aquinas about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Painted panel with gold background under gothic arches and a starry blue vault. On the left, a bearded pope in a white mitre and red robe stands. Kneeling in black before him is a haloed friar holding an open book with radiating gold rays. Behind them, cardinals in red hats and robes watch; a pillar divides the scene.
Taddeo di Bartolo, Saint Thomas Aquinas Submitting His Office of Corpus Domini to Pope Urban IV, 1403. Philadelphia Museum of Art.

About this source

What it is

This gold-ground panel painting, made by Taddeo di Bartolo in 1403, depicts the moment Thomas Aquinas presented his newly composed Office of Corpus Christi to Pope Urban IV. It is held today by the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Why it matters

Painted more than a century after Aquinas's death, the image shows how he was remembered: as a humble, haloed friar kneeling before the pope, his book radiating light, watched by cardinals. It reflects his later reputation as a saint and the Church's memory of his service composing the Corpus Christi liturgy discussed in other sources here.

Look closer

  • Why is Aquinas shown kneeling and small compared to the pope and cardinals?
  • What do the golden rays coming from his book suggest the artist wanted viewers to believe about his writing?
  • Painted in 1403, over a century after the event — what does that tell you about how later generations shaped the image of Aquinas?

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

More Saint Thomas Aquinas sources

Meet the AI Saint Thomas Aquinas →
Title page of a 1596 Venice edition printed by Iuntas, with Latin text announcing two indexes to the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas, and a central ornate oval emblem with a fleur-de-lis and the letters L and A.Book

Primary source

Summa Theologica

Thomas Aquinas · 1274

Oil painting of a bearded monk in a dark black habit, seated at a desk with an open book and a stack of books, gazing upward. A crucifix with a figure of Christ hangs at upper right against a dark background.Painting

Secondary source

St Thomas Aquinas, 17th-century Italian oil painting

17th century

Document

Primary source

Pange Lingua Gloriosi Corporis Mysterium

Thomas Aquinas · 1263

Engraving of a haloed saint kneeling at left, hand raised in refusal, facing a seated pope wearing a tiara and holding a crosier, with mitred bishops and a canopy behind. Latin caption text below.Painting

Secondary source

Thomas Aquinas Refuses the Archbishopric of Naples

1610

Painted altarpiece panel with a gold background. Christ is enthroned at the top within a pointed arch. Below, four evangelist-like figures hold open books. A central monk in black habit holds an open book inscribed with text, surrounded by a dark circle with golden rays. Figures in red and black robes flank him, and a crowd of people with halos and a kneeling figure appear at the bottom.Painting

Secondary source

Triumph of Saint Thomas Aquinas

Lippo Memmi · 1340

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Saint Thomas Aquinas now.

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

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions