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Secondary sourcePaintingcirca 1487-1492

St Paul Preaching before King Matthias Corvinus

Attavante degli Attavanti · circa 1487-1492

An illuminated miniature by Attavante degli Attavanti, made about 1487-1492, showing Paul preaching before King Matthias Corvinus. It was painted long after Paul's lifetime.

Shows Paul as a later artist imagined him, preaching before a king, so it reveals how his story was painted centuries afterward.

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Painted miniature of a bearded man in blue and red robes with a golden halo, holding a sword and raising one hand, standing on a stone pedestal. Before him sits a group of richly dressed people in red and blue. A crowd of onlookers fills the background, with a walled city of towers under a blue sky.
Attavante degli Attavanti, St Paul Preaching before King Matthias Corvinus, circa 1487-1492.

About this source

What it is

This is a painted miniature, a small illuminated picture, by Attavante degli Attavanti. It is dated circa 1487-1492. It shows Paul preaching before King Matthias Corvinus. Paul's preaching is shown as a scene from a much later time, so it reflects how the artist imagined the event rather than an eyewitness view.

Why it matters

The miniature shows how a later artist pictured Paul: a bearded man with a golden halo, holding a sword, standing above a seated group of richly dressed people. The sword and halo are common signs in religious painting. The walled city and crowd in the background show the setting the painter chose. It tells us about the art and ideas of the period when it was made, not only about Paul.

Look closer

  • What objects and clothing tell you that this scene was painted in a later period than Paul's?
  • Why might the artist have placed Paul before a king and a crowd?
  • What might the picture leave out about what Paul actually taught?

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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