The figure of St. Paul is an early work from Baroque sculptor Jožef Holzinger, who studied at Jožef Straub’s workshop. Holzinger’s opus is characterized by depicting facial structure with thick, pouty lips and voluminous robes with bell-shaped folds.

Paul, born as Saul and originally a persecutor of Christians, had an epiphany on his journey to Damascus, falling off his horse and being converted to Paul. He and St. Peter were chosen as apostles, as the bedrock of Christ’s church.

In the past, this sculpture likely adorned one of the altars in Štajerska, perhaps in tandem with one of St. Peter. His outstretched left hand probably held his most recognizable attribute, a sword, which has not been preserved. Both saints are commonplace in the artist’s opus. St. Paul’s statue in the National Gallery is stylistically similar to the depiction atop the pulpit at the parish church of St. George in Ptuj (circa 1763), though its quality is far better than the sculptor’s renditions of saints from his later opus, for example at the main altar of the parish church of St. Bartholomew in Slovenska Bistrica (1787).