Peter of Verona

This 1647 painting of Peter of Verona (Peter Martyr) depicts the Dominican inquisitor who was assassinated in 1252 and swiftly canonized. Peter of Verona was particularly venerated by the Dominican order, and his image appeared in churches across Counter-Reformation Spain. Zurbarán's austere, powerfully meditative style—white-robed monks in intense chiaroscuro, saints presented against dark backgrounds with sculptural solidity—made him the ideal painter for the Counter-Reformation religious orders of Extremadura and Seville.

The Dominican saint is shown in the black and white habit of his order with the cleaver in his head that identifies his martyrdom. Zurbarán renders the gruesome attribute with characteristic matter-of-fact realism.