3-098-016 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Saint Thomas Aquinas, late 17th-early 18th century. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) is represented full-length in the habit of the Dominican friars, wearing a white tunic with a scapular and a black cloak with a hood pulled back. In his right hand he holds a quill pen from which a beam of light emanates, and in his left he carries a book, objects that allude to his doctrine. A sun, an attribute of his wisdom, hangs on his chest, and two large wings protrude from behind his back, alluding to the moment when the angels gird the saint with the cincture of chastity. Above his head, the Holy Spirit descends from heaven in the form of a dove to inspire him. The figure of the saint, depicted as a young, beardless man with a monastic tonsure, is superimposed on a landscape in which a small church appears on the left.