Conversione di San Paolo (1601)
Conversion on the Way to Damascus

Cerasi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo

If you squint this looks like one of those works of Mexican modernism, like that lily painting by Rivera. Actually it is Saul on his way from Jerusalem, experiencing a moment of religious ecstasy as he hears the voice of Jesus. Caravaggio has Saul falling of a horse, but this is nowhere in the original text. The scene is lit by a strong light but the three figures are engulfed by an almost impenetrable darkness. A few faint rays on the right evoke Jesus’ epiphany but these are not the real source of the lighting, and the groom remains seemingly oblivious to the presence of the divine.