St Paul before the Proconsul

A print reproducing, in reverse, a scene from the border below 'The Sacrifice at Lystra', one of the ten Sistine Chapel tapestries designed by Raphael under commission of Pope Leo X. Lettered with text in Latin describing the subject below image. With publisher's address and artists' names.

The subject matter has been variously interpreted. Ruland (1876) followed Passavant (1860) in describing the scene as representing St Paul teaching in the Synagogue. It has also been suggested that it may depict St Paul before the Proconsul (Raphael Invenit 1985) or the disputation at Jerusalem over the circumcision of the Gentiles (Raphael: Cartoons and Tapestries 2010).

Published in 'Picturae omniumque bonarium Artium Cultori eximio...', a series of 15 plates (including title-page with dedication to Nicolò Simonelli) reproducing monochromes supposedly designed by Raphael for the Vatican stanze and the Sistine Chapel tapestries. The plates were etched by Pietro Santi Bartoli and the series was published in Rome by Gian Giacomo de Rossi. For further discussion, see Bibliographic References.