St Thomas Aquinas Confounding Averroës

What it is

This is a painting by Giovanni di Paolo, dated to about 1450 and placed between 1445 and 1450 in catalogue records. It shows a seated monk in a black cloak and white habit with a halo, on a raised golden pulpit, gesturing with an open book. Robed figures sit on benches around him. A bearded man in green lies on the floor holding a book, while others in red and black listen or gesture. The background is gold.

Why it matters

The title names the scene as Aquinas confounding Averroes, the Muslim philosopher whose commentaries on Aristotle were widely read in medieval universities. The painting was made centuries after the debate it shows, so it reflects how the fifteenth century pictured Aquinas as a champion of Christian reason. It reveals the artist's and patrons' values more than the exact events of the debate.

Look closer

• How does the painter show who is winning the argument, and what clues come from gesture, posture and the open book?
• Why might a painter place a debate in a golden, unreal space rather than a real room?
• The painting was made long after Aquinas died. What might it leave out about the real debate?