“Denial of St Peter” 1609/10, Caravaggio, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The story of St Peter’s three-fold denial of Jesus is told in all four gospels. Here Caravaggio manages to include much of the detail given in these narratives in one single scene. Having denied Jesus a third time the cock crowed for a second time and St Peter remembered the words of Jesus, “Before the cock crows twice you will deny me three times.” Then St Peter broke down and wept. In this painting we can see the tears but also we can see the denials which preceded them. In many of his paintings the figures emerge from the darkness, but here in the background is the light cast by the charcoal fire at which St Peter had warmed himself. Its flying sparks are visible in air. But it is the hands of the three characters which tell the story and do so with great economy. The young woman in the centre looks back at the bystander but points towards St Peter with both of her hands. The third figure also points a finger at St Peter. In this way all three denials are represented. St Peter’s hands are closed on his chest in what could be a gesture of denial or repentance. Caravaggio has the bystander wear armour and a helmet, as if he were a soldier. No soldier is mentioned in the gospels but this suggestion evokes Peter’s fear of being arrested like Jesus. The face of St Peter is very finely rendered. Tears are beginning to form in his eyes. His look is one of immense sorrow. It is extraordinary. Experts agree that it was painted during Caravaggio’s second stay in Naples. These were to be the last months of his life. Negotiations for a Papal pardon were underway which, if granted, would allow him to return to Rome. On the way there he would die. It is know that while in Naples he was ambushed and injured. Some experts say that the handling of paint in “The Denial of St Peter”, shows a loss of manual dexterity and yet we can see St Peter portrayed with such extraordinary power. At the time the subject of St Peter in tears was far more common than his denial. But in this painting Caravaggio puts the focus on the denial and the danger in which St Peter found himself. While he does not exclude the tears, it is the denial of St Peter that is most powerfully captured. The painting is perhaps all the more poignant when you see in it evidence of Caravaggio’s own diminishment and his hope for the pardon which he would not live to receive.
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