Capriccio of Arches

Painted in 1730 by Giovanni Paolo Pannini, renowned for his views of Rome, this architectural capriccio depicts an episode from the preaching of Saint Paul in Campania.

According to tradition, Paul of Tarsus, the Apostle to the Gentiles, landed in Pozzuoli in 61 AD before heading to Rome. The event is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles 28:13-14:

"The next day the south wind came up, and on the following day we reached Puteoli. There we found some brothers and sisters who invited us to spend a week with them. And so we came to Rome."

In Pannini's painting, the background shows a glimpse of the ancient harbor of Pozzuoli, where the city walls and a landing spot marked by a small boat with passengers can be seen. In the foreground is the arrival of the Apostle, welcomed among the ruins of a majestic Roman portico. Paul blesses the group of faithful who have come to greet him, two of whom kneel before him.

The medallion set among the arches of the portico also echoes the theme of welcome and harmony: the central figures are depicted shaking hands. This particular iconographic motif in Christian art is known as the "concordia apostolorum" and is common in depictions of the meeting between Saints Peter and Paul, inseparable brothers in faith. Inspired by older models - such as representations of solidarity between the Dioscuri or the Tetrarchs - the "concordia apostolorum" sealed the indissoluble unity of the two realities of the Church: that "ex gentibus" of Paul, coming from the pagan world, and that of Peter "ex circumcisione" of Jewish descent.

The work is now housed in the Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava