The Denial of St. Peter
Nicolas Tournier
French, 1590–1638
Details
Title
The Denial of St. Peter
Artist/Maker
Nicolas Tournier (French, 1590–1638)
Date
ca. 1630
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
63 x 95 inches
Credit
Gift of the Members Guild in honor of its 20th anniversary and in memory of Mr. Robert W. Woodruff on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Coca-Cola
Accession #
1986.52
This painting depicts the Apostle Peter’s moment of spiritual crisis when he denies being a follower of Jesus. Peter, distinguished from the others by his old-fashioned dress, points to himself and raises a hand in a gesture of refutation, fulfilling Jesus’s prediction that he would deny him three times. Tournier, a French painter who spent seven years studying in Rome, used dramatic light and shade to instill the scene with emotional intensity and pathos.