Manner of Giuseppe Vermiglio (Italian, 1585-1635) St. Paul Holding a Book and Sword Unsigned. Oil on an oval panel, 14 x 10 in. (35.5 x 25.5 cm), framed (in a liner). Condition: Probable skinning, craquelure, surface grime. N.B. St. Paul is often depicted holding a sword and a book; the book refers to the New Testament, and the sword relates to Paul's letters to the Ephesians in which he urges them to take on the armor of God and the sword of the spirit. The sword is equally a reminder of the means of his martyrdom - he was beheaded in Rome in 67 AD.