Saint Pierre pleurant son reniement

Saint Peter Weeping at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Pau (c. 1640–42) depicts the apostle's remorse after his triple denial of Christ — one of the Gospel's most humanizing episodes, in which the leader of the twelve fails his master from simple fear. Peter's subsequent repentance, traditionally marked by the crowing of a cock, became a Counter-Reformation model of the redemptive power of contrition: even the rock on which Christ built his church had stumbled and been forgiven. Reni's multiple versions of the Penitent Peter — produced throughout his career and much copied — reflect the enormous devotional market for this subject in Catholic Italy, Spain, and France. The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Pau in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques holds a collection that includes significant Italian Baroque works acquired through Napoleonic redistributions and nineteenth-century purchases. Reni's late manner gives the weeping apostle a transparency that suits his spiritual state: the flesh dissolves as the soul expands in grief and hope.

Peter's upturned, tear-filled eyes create the concentrated image of remorse. Reni's luminous technique and empathetic handling transform grief into devotional beauty.