The Denial of Saint Peter
Hendrick Terbrugghen
1621–1631
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 132.3 × 178 cm (51 5/8 × 69 5/8 in.); Framed: 149.2 × 194.3 × 7 cm (58 3/4 × 76 1/2 × 2 3/4 in.)
- Genre
- oil on canvas
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago
Styles
Tags
religionoil paintings (visual works)paintingpaintcanvaswomandutchoil on canvasmenoil paint (paint)painting (image making)17th Centurypainting techniquesreligious scenesSaintsChristian subjectsreligiousFirebiblicaloil paintingeuropean paintingChristianity
About
For this depiction of Peter denying that he is a follower of Jesus (seen under arrest in the background at right), Utrecht artist Hendrick ter Brugghen embraced the strong contrast of light and shadow and emotional urgency popularized by Italian painter Caravaggio. The dancing sparks of the fire illuminate the servant’s condemnatory finger and shroud the fearful saint in shadow, underlining the Dutch taste for naturalistic treatments of lighting in the 17th century.