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About This Work
Saint Paul stands on a stone platform with both arms raised, addressing a crowd of Greek men and women. The listeners are gathered in various states of contemplation and debate, set against a backdrop of classical architecture that includes a circular temple and a statue of a warrior. In the foreground, a man and woman kneel in a gesture of conversion, representing the start of a new spiritual tradition within the ancient city.
This scene depicts the conversion of Dionysius the Areopagite, the figure to whom the 'Corpus Areopagiticum' was later attributed. These texts were central to the development of Christian Neoplatonism and were heavily studied and translated by Renaissance humanists like Marsilio Ficino to bridge the gap between Greek philosophy and mystical theology.