Saint Peter(?) Penitent c.1600-40
Oil on canvas | 66.3 x 50.1 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 406134
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St Peter, chief of the Apostles, is shown bust-length against a dark background. He is gazing upwards, with his hands clasped in prayer before him. St Peter's repentance, following his denial that he knew Christ (Mark 14.72), became a popular subject in painting from the time of the Counter-Reformation. This painting resembles the general type of St Peter penitent, though the saint is more typically pictured by Reni as balding.
Numerous pictures of the subject by or associated with Reni are recorded from the seventeenth century onwards; this work is perhaps closest to the studio variants of the 'St Peter Penitent' in the Galleria Doria Pamphili, Rome.Provenance
Possibly the picture by Guido bought by Charles I from Nicolas Lanier, which was probably the 'Apostle's head' valued by the Trustees for the Sale at St James's in 1649 at £3; possibly acquired by Charles II in 1660 for £15 from William Frizell at Breda (List II no 36); certainly recorded in the room called 'Paradise' at Hampton Court in 1666 (no 77)
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Creator(s)
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Medium and techniques
Oil on canvas
Measurements
66.3 x 50.1 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
59.0 x 43.5 cm (support (etc), excluding additions)
81.0 x 64.9 x 5.5 cm (frame, external)
Category
Object type(s)