Comparison between Caravaggio’s Conversion of Saint Paul and Ribera’s Martyrdom of Saint Philip.
For starters, the two pieces are centered on the Bible and, to be more precise, the New Testament section of the Bible. In the first section, the Conversion of Saint Paul revolves around the time when Saul, a prosecutor of Christians, met Christ. Through the sighting of Christ, Saul goes blind. After that, Saul is prayed for, and the scales in his eyes fall off. He later changes his name from Saul to Paul. In Caravaggio’s painting, we can see a man, which I assume to be Saint Paul. He is holding his face and, more precisely, the eyes. This is after the sighting of Christ. As we can see from the painting, there is the rear side of a horse and people stretching their arms to reach for Paul and help him.
In his painting, Caravaggio has stripped out what is not essential and created monumental figures that fill the frame of the canvas. He has also utilized a deep, dark background where elements that are illuminated stand out against the background and, in this case, Saint Paul. His face is also brilliantly illuminated. The real end of the horse and the dirt on the ground highlights naturalism.
In the Martyrdom of Saint Philip’s painting, we see a man whom we presume to be Saint Philip stripped naked and hoist on what looks like a wooden cross. Two men are behind him, pulling what I assume to be a pulley while another man helps with the legs. We can identify similarities between Martyrdom of Saint Philip and Conversion of Saint Paul that both men are stripped naked on the upper part of the body.
The two paintings also utilize light and dark colors to illuminate and highlight the areas they need illuminated. In Saint Philip’s case, we see his body is brighter than the other part of the painting. The same applies to Saint Paul’s face. In both paintings, we can see a sense of humility in Saint Paul and Saint Philip’s faces.
From the two images, we can see how the two men, Saint Paul and Saint Philip, lack control over their bodies. Saint Paul is on the ground thanks to the intervention of Christ, while in Saint Philips’s case, he is on the ground because he is being crucified for following the teachings of Jesus Christ.
From a Biblical point of view, we can see the impact of Jesus Christ once He enters a person’s life. He renders them helpless and humble at the same time. There is also a similarity in that in both images, and we can experience or identify an aspect of foreshortening. In both cases, we can see people in the background playing a significant role in the lives of Saint Paul and Saint Philip.