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.

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