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Secondary sourcePainting

Saint Thomas Aquinas Writing, oil painting

A painting shows Aquinas writing at his desk with his commentary on the Sentences among his books, representing his scholarly output.

A later painting depicting Aquinas at work, naming his real commentary on the Sentences among his books.

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Oil painting of a tonsured friar in a dark habit seated at a desk, looking upward toward a crucifix on the right. Stacked books and an open book sit on the desk, a quill rests in his hand, and a Latin inscription runs across the dark background.
Saint Thomas Aquinas Writing. Oil painting. Wellcome Collection, London.

About this source

What it is

This oil painting, held by the Wellcome Collection, shows Thomas Aquinas seated at a desk writing, looking toward a crucifix. Among the books on the desk is one inscribed "Super IV. Sententiarum," referring to his commentary on Peter Lombard's Sentences, a major early work written around the mid-13th century.

Why it matters

Painted well after Aquinas's lifetime, this image presents him as a dedicated scholar whose religious devotion and intellectual labor were intertwined. By naming his actual commentary on the Sentences, the painting connects a devotional image to a real, specific work Aquinas produced.

Look closer

  • Why does the painter include the title of a real book by Aquinas rather than an imaginary one?
  • What does placing the crucifix beside his books suggest about how the artist understood his scholarship?
  • What can and can't a painting like this tell us about how Aquinas actually worked?

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.

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Thomas Aquinas Refuses the Archbishopric of Naples

1610

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Triumph of Saint Thomas Aquinas

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