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THE CONVERSION OF ST PAUL
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c. 1545, 152*236cm
A very early work, painted when he was in his twenties, The
conversion of St Paul, shows this extravagance of imaginative
power. Most painters show the conversion of St Paul as dramatic, since the not-yet saint was thrown bodily from his horse
and received the divine message lying terrified on his back. But none of the other works has the wild turbulence of Tintoretto's scene. The whole visible world breaks into chaotic disfunction, as the divine erupts into our normality. On the right,
a horse stamp-
edes away with rider and streaming banners, on
the left another horse screams and rears, while its stricken rider is dazzled by the heavenly brightness above. Mountains
surge, trees toss, men stagger and fall, the skies darken with
ominous clouds. Paul lies in the centre, overshadow-
ed by his
fallen horse. But he does not panic; he stretches
out his desperate hands, passionate for salvation.
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