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Secondary sourcePainting1489

Triumph of St Thomas Aquinas over the Heretics

Filippino Lippi · 1489

A 1489 fresco by Filippino Lippi in Rome showing Thomas Aquinas as the Church's champion of orthodoxy over heretics.

This fresco depicts Aquinas as the Church's champion of orthodoxy, shaping his later religious image.

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Fresco in a painted architectural setting: a seated robed figure with a book at the center, surrounded by people in colorful robes. Books lie scattered on the floor in front. Ornate pilasters frame the scene, and Latin inscriptions appear on banners above.
Filippino Lippi, Triumph of St Thomas Aquinas over the Heretics, 1489. Carafa Chapel, Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome.

About this source

What it is

This fresco was painted by Filippino Lippi in 1489 in the Carafa Chapel of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome, where it still remains. It shows a seated robed figure holding a book, surrounded by richly dressed people, with books scattered on the floor and Latin inscriptions on banners above.

Why it matters

The fresco presents Aquinas as the defender of correct Christian teaching against heresy, a role the Renaissance Church used him to symbolize. It reveals how, centuries after his death, Aquinas's reputation as a thinker was used by the Church to assert its authority over rival beliefs, and how artists like Lippi were commissioned to spread that message visually.

Look closer

  • Who do you think commissioned this fresco, and why might they want Aquinas shown this way?
  • What might the scattered books on the floor represent?
  • What does this image tell us about Aquinas the real philosopher versus Aquinas the symbol used by the Church?

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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