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Secondary sourcePainting1610

Thomas Aquinas Refuses the Archbishopric of Naples

1610

A 1610 engraving from a 30-print series on Aquinas's life shows him kneeling before Pope Clement IV, refusing the offer to become Archbishop of Naples.

A later devotional print depicting a legendary episode in Aquinas's life, part of a series shaping his posthumous image.

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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.
Thomas Aquinas Refuses the Archbishopric of Naples, print, 1610. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

About this source

What it is

This 1610 engraving is one print from a series of thirty depicting the life story of Thomas Aquinas, held by the Rijksmuseum. It shows Pope Clement IV, seated under a canopy and surrounded by bishops, offering a bishop's mitre to Aquinas, who kneels and refuses it.

Why it matters

Made centuries after Aquinas lived, this print reflects how his life was turned into a moral and devotional story for later Catholic audiences. The scene of refusing high office was used to present Aquinas as humble and devoted to scholarship rather than worldly power.

Look closer

  • Why might the print series choose to highlight this moment of refusal rather than Aquinas's writings?
  • What does the pope's elaborate setting, compared to Aquinas's kneeling pose, suggest about the message of the image?
  • What parts of Aquinas's life might this series leave out or simplify?

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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