In this poignant work, Schnabel reflects on the death of his friend and assistant, Paolo Malfi. The inscription, and title of the painting, explore the process of canonisation, drawing upon religious themes to question how we remember and memorialise those important to us. Taking direct influence from the Biblical account of the conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle, Schnabel’s immediate, gestural brushwork conveys the fervent energy of the work’s creation, ignited by the tumult of grief. It is an image of contrasts, both in texture and in colour, as the earthy hues of the background merge with deep crimson, transected by an electric bolt of blue.

The wing -like skulls in the centre of the picture rise, as if ascending, above the landscape below. There is a transitory element to the image, as if it is an ephemeral moment in time, committed to memory and replete with emotional intensity. Freeze-frame like, it appears to extend upon Schnabel’s extensive cinematic experience.

This piece also captures the artist’s enduring interest in Italy and its culture, most notably notions of faith and its implications in facing mortality.