Landscape with the Conversion of Saul on the Road to Damascus

Little is known of Met de Bles. Herri "with the forelock," so named for his white patch of hair, may have been related to-and was certainly a student of-Joachim de Patinir, the foremost landscape artist active in Antwerp in the early sixteenth century. Patinir's influence on Met de Bles is evident in his panoramic views, and especially in the distant, fanciful craggy mountains that often appear in his works.

This is the only known depiction of the conversion of Saul in the artist's work, and one of the very earliest representations of the theme in Netherlandish painting. As recounted in the books of Acts and Galatians, Saul of Tarsus carried letters that would enable him to persecute and imprison Christians he met on the road to Damascus. On the way, he was blinded by a heavenly light and tumbled from his horse while a voice asked, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" When he regained his sight, he converted to Christianity and took the name Paul, becoming the most important early Christian missionary and writer. Here, Christ himself is depicted in the blaze of celestial light, while Saul is shown in the very act of falling from his horse, the box of letters scattered on the ground and tumbling into a small stream. His attendants attempt to shield themselves from the brightness, as the procession wends its way forward in a serpentine curve. Such an integration of figures and landscape was a specialty of Met de Bles.