Born into a well-to-do Jewish family and the son of a Roman citizen, Saul was trained in the famous rabbinical school headed by Gamaliel. Here, in addition to studying the Law and the Prophets, he learned the trade of tent-making.
 
Saul was a self-righteous, almost fanatically anti-Christian young Pharisee who believed that the trouble-making new sect should be stamped out and its adherents punished.  He presided over the persecutions of the early Christians and was present at the martyrdom of Saint Stephen.
 
However, while traveling to Damascus to hunt down more Christians, Saul experienced a powerful vision that caused him to convert to Christianity. He was baptized and took the name Paul.
Paul began to travel the world, all the while preaching the Good News. He visited Jerusalem as well to see Saint Peter and have his mission blessed by him. During these travels, his preaching often drew criticism and ire from those who rebuffed his message. Jews, in particular, hated his preaching as they saw fellow Jews convert to Christianity because of him.
 
He brought the Gospel to much of Europe, incuding Greece, Italy, Spain, and Asia Minor. Paul endured much during his travels and was often imprisoned, stoned, scourged, shipwrecked, hungry and thirsty; besides these physical trials, he suffered many disappointments and almost constant anxieties over the weak and widely-scattered communities of Christians. 
 
In 67 AD, Paul was arrested in Rome for the last time and beheaded under the insane Emperor Nero. According to John Chrysostom, Nero knew Paul personally.
 
This print is part of the "Happy Saint" collection by Anna Morelli.
 
The image is professionally printed, hand-signed by the artist, and comes enclosed in a plastic sleeve to ensure protection.