Blinding as a Punishment: A Story about Saul in the Old Testament and the Image of Paul in the Fine Arts

Abstract

<p class="tekstasanotacijos"><em>On the ground of theoretical research methods, the article estimates the image of Paul in the Old Testament and the fine arts. Examples of the fine arts are analysed in the paper as social phenomena. Interrelations between art and public events are revealed. Leaving issues of art criticism aside, pieces of art are analysed in the area of art sociology, aiming to notice reflections of historical reality and their impact on man beholding this. On the ground of analysis of replicas of 239 art works depicting a character of the Old Testament, Saul, it is attempted to answer the questions what episodes of this character’s life were most commonly depicted in the fine arts, in which periods of historical development of art (Saul later was Christened as Paul, and afterwards proclaimed saint) the topic of Paul was the most popular, painters of which countries favoured this topic the most, what episodes of this character’s life imposed painters, engravers and sculptors the most, why did this Biblical character receive more attention in the development of art history in comparison to other characters of the Old Testament. </em></p>