France / 1726
The Miracles of Saint James the Greater
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs The Miracles of Saint James the Greater as painting (France · 1726).
Noël Nicolas Coypel combined two stories associated with Saint James the Greater, one of the twelve apostles of Christ. In the foreground is the magician Hermogenes, begging forgiveness.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this painting as oil on canvas and credits Noël Nicolas Coypel (French, 1690–1734).
The museum's collection notes: Noël Nicolas Coypel combined two stories associated with Saint James the Greater, one of the twelve apostles of Christ. In the foreground is the magician Hermogenes, begging forgiveness. Hermogenes had cast a spell on James, but the saint turned the curse back on him. When James offered to protect Hermogenes against the demons assaulting him, the magician cast aside his pagan texts in favor of Christianity. According to the second legend, James miraculously cured a paralytic man (in the middle ground at right), thereby averting his own execution and causing the prosecutor to convert. Although this painting is relatively small, the clear compo
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The Cleveland Museum of ArtThe Miracles of Saint James the GreaterOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.