In the sixteenth-century church of San Paolino and Donato, a large painting tells the story of the miracle of San Paolino.

In 1664, on the day of the celebrations for Lucca's patron saint, cannons were fired for the festivities, but that day, the cannons weren't loaded with blanks, as planned, and were aimed at the crowd! Only the miraculous intervention of the saint ensured that the crowd gathered beneath the walls was saved.

The painting, created in commemoration by Giovanni Domenico Lombardi, known as Omino, around 1682/1751, vividly depicts the scene unfolding on the new Renaissance walls, whose structure is being rebuilt. Saint Paulinus is in the upper right, surrounded by angels.
Below him, on the parade ground, the Bomber Captain and the Captain's Adjutant man the guns.

To the left of the cannon are two drummers and three bombardiers, a standard-bearer and a broken Lance.

On the bridge in front of the Porta San Donato, designed by Muzio Oddi of Urbino between 1628 and 1639 and completed in 1667 with the placement of two statues depicting Saints Paolino and Donato on its sides, there was a crowd of people, as well as in the square of the bastion, confirming that it was a feast day.

Another painting, attributed to Pompeo Pinotti, placed on the counter-façade wall, depicts the Saint as he is usually depicted in Lucca: with the city of Lucca in his hands, in this case the Roman city easily recognizable by its walls with towers.

The same depiction is found on the door of San Donato and in the choir of the cathedral where the miracle of 1664 is also depicted.

St. Paulinus was the first bishop of Lucca and martyr on Monte Pisano, once known for the presence of many hermits and religious men.

On June 15, 1261, the bishop of Lucca granted indulgences in memory of three martyrs, listed only by name: Paulinus, bishop and disciple of St. Peter the Apostle, the first bishop of Lucca, Severus the priest, and Teobaldo the soldier.
The martyrs named on that occasion ended up in oblivion but not Saint Paulinus who became the first bishop and evangelizer and patron saint, despite the ancient cult paid to the local bishop Saint Frediano and that already given as patron of the Church of Lucca to Saint Martin, to whom the cathedral was dedicated.
The cult of St. Paulinus increased in the following centuries; between 1518 and 1519, a larger and more elaborate basilica was erected for the patron saint, designed by Baccio da Montelupo. It houses the ancient sarcophagus, with an epigraph describing the discovery of the relics of St. Paulinus, St. Severus, and St. Theobald.

The celebrations of the patron saint begin from this basilica and culminate in the Palio di San Paolino on the night of the feast, preceded by songs, music and flag games.