Saint Paul

Saint Paul at the Louvre (c.1600) is the companion to the Louvre's Saint Peter, together completing the most theologically freighted pairing in Christian apostolic iconography. Paul held unique significance for the Lutheran Reformation: his letter to the Romans, with its articulation of justification by faith alone, was the scriptural foundation of Luther's entire theological system. Luther's transformative reading of Paul's 'the just shall live by faith' during his tower experience at Wittenberg was, in his own account, the inception of the Reformation. A Cranach workshop Paul therefore carried a specifically Lutheran theological charge beyond its traditional iconographic role. The sword and book that identify Paul — martyrdom and scriptural authority — were entirely appropriate symbols for the movement that claimed Paul's theology as its origin. The Louvre's paired Peter and Paul holding likely entered the French national collections through the post-Revolutionary appropriation of religious art.

Paul is shown with sword and book, his traditional attributes, in the same format as the companion Peter. The sword references his martyrdom and his role as spiritual warrior; the book references his epistles and his importance as a theological author. The handling is consistent with Cranach's workshop production.