The Conversion of Saul

A photograph of the tapestry of 'The Conversion of Saul' (Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 9, 1-7) now in the Vatican Museums (inv. no.43872). With annotations on the back. Not in Ruland (1876). Beneath the central scene is a border depicting events following St Stephen's martyrdom. Presumably part of a set of photographs of the Sistine Chapel tapestries by Alinari (see RCINs 853013, 853039, 853097, 853116).

The photographed tapestry is one from a set of ten illustrating stories from the lives of St Peter and St Paul, commissioned by Pope Leo X in 1514-15. The tapestry designs were executed by Raphael and his studio and transported to Flanders, where the tapestries were woven in the workshop of Pieter van Aelst. Three of the original cartoons are lost, including 'The Conversion of Saul'. The remaining seven are now in the Victoria and Albert Museum on loan from the Royal Collection. The ten original tapestries, intended to be hung in the Sistine Chapel, are housed in the Vatican Museums.