The Tears of Saint Peter
Jusepe de Ribera·1612
Historical Context
The Tears of Saint Peter at the Metropolitan Museum, painted around 1612, is one of Ribera's earliest known works, created during his time in Rome. The weeping apostle was one of the Counter-Reformation's most powerful devotional subjects. Ribera painted his saints with unflinching naturalism rooted in his early study of Caravaggio's Rome before settling in Naples in 1616. Working under Spanish viceregal patronage, he produced devotional images combining brutal physical realism with profound ...
Technical Analysis
Peter's anguished expression is rendered with the bold Caravaggesque tenebrism of Ribera's youth. The concentrated emotional intensity and dramatic lighting announce a major new talent in Italian painting.
