L'enlèvement de Saint Théodore

L'enlèvement de Saint Théodore (The Abduction of Saint Theodore), painted in 1627 and held at the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, depicts an early Christian martyr whose veneration was widespread in the Eastern and Western churches. Theodore of Amasea was a Roman soldier martyred for refusing to renounce Christianity and for burning a pagan temple; his legend also involved his miraculous assistance to pilgrims and the dead. The 'abduction' in the title may refer either to the posthumous theft of his relics — a common trope in hagiography — or to a miraculous transportation of the saint. Dresden's Staatliche Kunstsammlungen hold one of Europe's greatest old master collections, assembled by the Saxon electors, and this Vouet from 1627 belongs to the period of his late Rome/early Paris career. The subject's relative obscurity in Western Baroque painting suggests a commission from someone with particular devotion to Theodore — possibly a religious institution dedicated to his memory — rather than a work intended for the general market.

The subject's dramatic potential — a body or figure in supernatural motion, whether ascending to heaven, being seized, or transported — allowed Vouet to work with the diagonal compositional dynamism he favoured in scenes of physical action. The saint's figure would be shown in flight or elevation, with angels or supernatural forces as the agents of abduction. Strong lighting differentiates the miraculous zone from the earthly setting.