Caravaggio 1573 – 1610

The Crucifixion of St Peter

oil on canvas (230 × 175 cm) — ca. 1601 Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome

Caravaggio biography

This work is linked to 2 Peter 1:14

Tradition had it that St Peter was captured and crucified head-down in Rome during the reign of Nero, between 64 and 67. Caravaggio's image of St Peter strongly resembles a mirror image of him in a fresco by Michelangelo.

Peter was crucified upside down because he saw himself unworthy to be crucified in the same manner as Jesus.

The Crucifixion was made for for the Cerasi Chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome, where it still is today. Across the chapel is Caravaggio's Conversion of Paul.

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