Saint Paul Restoring Eutychus to Life
Taddeo Zuccaro Italian
Not on view
A rarely remembered biblical story from Acts (20:7–12) is that of Eutychus, who fell from a third-story window while listening raptly to the preaching of Paul. Miraculously, the apostle restored the young man to life. This exuberant, friezelike composition with three standing men at left and three men bent over at right, defined Taddeo's early plans for the decoration of the vault chapel of Mario Frangipani (1506-1569) in the church of San Marcello al Corso, Rome. Around 1558, Taddeo Zuccaro received the commission to decorate the chapel with scenes from the life of Saint Paul, but the decorations of the lower walls were still unfinished at his death in September 1566. The artist produced a great amount of drawings for this crucial Roman commission, including other studies in the Metropolitan Museum of Art like the ‘Martyrdom of Saint Paul’ (Robert Lehman Collection inv. 1975.1.553), frescoed in the center of the vault of the Chapel, and a monumental study for a ‘Standing Prophet in a Niche’ (inv. 57.32.2). (F.R.)
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