Spanish school; 17th century.

Spanish School; XVII century.
"St. Peter penitent".
Oil on canvas.
Presents restorations and patch on the back.
Measurements: 84 x 62,5 cm; 90 x 69 cm (frame).
In this canvas we see St. Peter showing his repentance, after having denied Christ three times after his capture on the Mount of Olives. The figure is worked with an enormous naturalism, highlighting the wrinkles of the face and the expressiveness of the hands, and the tenebrist lighting used manages to provide a greater physical presence, a greater three-dimensionality and also intensity and effectiveness to the figure.
Regarding the subject represented, St. Peter (Bethsaida, c. 1 B.C. - Rome, 67) was, according to the New Testament, a fisherman, known for being one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. The Catholic Church identifies him through the apostolic succession as the first Pope, based, among other arguments, on the words addressed to him by Jesus: "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the power of Death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." St. Peter could be said to have been Jesus' confessor, his closest disciple, both being united by a very special bond, as narrated in both the canonical and apocryphal Gospels.