St Paul Preaching at Athens

A photograph of a full-scale drawing, known as cartoon, executed by Raphael and his workshop in 1515-16 for the tapestry of 'St Paul Preaching at Athens' (Acts of Apostles, Chapter 17, 16-34), one from a set of ten tapestries illustrating episodes from the lives of St Peter and St Paul commissioned by Pope Leo X for the Sistine Chapel. Seven of the original cartoons survive (including that of 'St Paul Preaching at Athens'), now in the Victoria and Albert Museum on loan from the Royal Collection. The ten original tapestries were woven in the workshop of Pieter van Aelst and are currently housed in the Vatican Museums.