Depictions of St Paul’s Shipwreck and the viper’s bite
Because of its geographical position in the middle of the Mediterranean, Malta has always enjoyed recognition from the people living around us. And it was because of this strategic location that it was conquered by the powers who dominated the Mediterranean, from the times of the Phoenicians.
But then, because it was mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles (28 acts: 1), in the Christian world, wherever the Bible began to be read, the name of Malta – although her position was not always known – became more renowned. And the narrative of the shipwreck of St Paul on the shores of the Maltese Islands in Acts 27: 14-44, together with the viper’s bite of St Paul, and Paul’s miraculous healing of the island’s governor’s father from dysentery during his three months stay on the island, were also an artistic inspiration for paintings we find in local churches and elsewhere abroad.
The latter are rare – but there are – paintings and engravings which show St Paul, some soldiers, and people who saved from drowning, near a stormy sea and the ship they had been on before, wrecked on the rocks nearby. They are always rare, but we find paintings in which we see Paul shaking off the viper that attacked his hand while he was throwing some branches into the fire which the inhabitants put on for him and the people who saved from drowning, to dry up and warm themselves.
Saint Paul cures Publius’ father
One of the rarest fresco paintings I ever encountered is found on the ceiling of the Hall of Maps at the Vatican Museum in Rome. Incidentally, I took a photo of the ceiling and in it, at home, I discovered the depiction of Paul curing Publius’ father who was suffering from dysentery; in it we see also Publius – the governor of the island – on one knee, looking up at Paul performing the healing. I did a lot of research on this fresco and eventually wrote and published some articles about it.
Saint Paul and the viper
In my research I did meet with more than one painting inspired by the shipwreck of St Paul and the bonfire the natives lit for the saint and the other 275 ‘souls’ (‘two hundred and seventy-six souls’ Acts 27:37) who saved with him.
In a Museum in Utrecht, in the Netherlands, I had seen a large engraving portraying St Paul and the shipwrecked around a bonfire, in an fictitious impressive great cave, by the sea, executed by Johannes Luyken, and published in Afbeeldingen der merkwaardigsten geschiedenissen van het Oude en Nieuwe Testament, in het koper geëtst door [...] Jan Luiken en met nieuwe en leerzame beschryvingen opgeheldert, Amsterdam, (J. Covens & C. Mortier), 1729. St Paul is in the middle of the small crowd, shaking off the viper from his hand.
In a souvenir guide book about the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, I learnt of a large beautiful painting of St Paul and the viper, executed by American artist Benjamin West, and placed on the main altar in the chapel of this college, today even a university. The painting is full of people most of whom are gathered around a fire, looking in awe at the saint shaking of the viper which sprung from sticks, and stuck to his hand (Acts 28: 5). A sketch which was prepared for this masterpiece is in possession of the Tate, in London.
I also encountered an extraordinary engraving etched by Italian
artist Francesco Bartolozzi, faithfully reproducing in detail the painting by West, at Greenwich.
And, several years ago, the German scholar who published various studies on Malta and the Pauline cult on the island, Dr Thomas Freller had given me a scan of a painting representing the episode of the viper, too. About this painting I had no information whatsoever until very recently; it is a painting in a church in Germany.
The Hospitaller Church at Hof, in Germany
In Hof – a city on the banks of the river Saale, in the northeast of Bavaria, in Germany – a small church, the second oldest after that of St Lawrence (1214) was built long ago, in 1260, together with a hospital for the elderly and poor people, and as such is called ‘ hospitalkirche’.
In 1529 it became a Protestant church and today belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Deaconry in Hof; it still helps the elderly of the city, as well.
The main attraction in this church is the coffered roof, divided in 90 panels, designed by the painter Heinrich Andreas Lohe. Between 24 July 1688 and 20 August 1689 Andreas Heinrich, his son Matthäus, the traveler Johann Zimmermann, and Martin Jacobi painted 90 Biblical scenes – 45 inspired by the Old Testament and 45 by the New Testament.
The painting associated with the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 28, is entitled: Der Sc Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment hiffbruch des Paulus und der der Schlange – ‘The Shipwreck of St Paul and the snake bite’. The painting (numbered 38) was inspired by verses: 2-6.
‘ 1Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. 2 The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. 3 Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. 4 When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. 6 The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.’
The painting
Paul – who seems to be quite old in age in this colourful painting – is seen sitting down on a large rock, in the forefront of a few people gathered around a fire. He is shaking off the viper which ‘bit’ his hand. Standing with spears in their hands there are at least five soldiers; one of them must be the Centurion Julius (who belonged to the Imperial Regiment) who was responsible for Paul and the other prisoners travelling with him (Acts 27:1). There is also a woman among the small gathering.
We may also see some people who are still swimming ashore. In the bay with a stormy sea, there is the ship which supposedly ran aground on the rocks, and on its left appear two other similar vessels.
This painting is not populated with many shipwrecked like other similar paintings inspired by the first verses of Chapter 28, of the Acts of the Apostles.