Caravaggio and Michelangelo's paintings of Saul's conversion

Saul

Could you give us ONE way in which each painting reflects its time period?

Caravaggio's painting is reflective of the Baroque era of its creation because it is more intimate and psychologically complex than Michelangelo's treatment of the same subject. Caravaggio's painting reflects the era's increased focus upon the inner life of individual, rather than on spiritual life in a social context. There are only a few people in the frame of Caravaggio's work. The figures and the spotlighting of Saul's face and arms draw the viewer's attention upon Saul alone. The gazers do not seem to understand what has transpired, and what has taken place within Saul's character. Michelangelo's work shows God acting like a human being in a very physical manner. His work reflects the Renaissance's confidence in the ability of humankind to portray and understand the divine. Saul's conversion is rendered in an active, physical manner, in a way that is clearly seen by the collective sea of humanity in Michelangelo's picture. But Caravaggio's treatment shows how the Catholic faith affected by the Reformation's new focus on the soul's interior life.

Question: Why are we shown the rear of the horse so predominantly?

Life is ordinary -- even during seismic events there is always humor, ugliness, and the everyday -- and the rear ends of animals. A horse in the Bible had the same basic anatomy as a horse today! The perspective is slightly distorted, to reflect Saul's own confused view of the world, and also the two other protagonists' view of Saul. They do not see what has happened to Saul's soul, only that a man has fallen off of his horse.