Michelangelo Buonarroti

The Crucifixion of Saint Peter, c.1542, Fresco, 625 x 662 cm (approx.), The Vatican; Scala / Art Resource, NY

Martyrdom (The World Turned Upside Down)

Commentary by Clemena Antonova

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Read by Chloë Reddaway

The crucifixion of Peter is not mentioned in the Bible, but martyrdom is implied in the message of the narrative. The motif of the crucifixion derives from early Christian texts (Eusebius Eccl. Hist. 2.25; 1 Clem. 5.4, etc.), which invariably emphasize that Peter was nailed on the cross upside down. Peter himself asked to be martyred in this way, as he felt it was unseemly for him to die in the exact manner of the Lord. Thus, the humility he learned in bitter tears on the night of Jesus’s arrest would eventually determine even the manner of his death.

The crucifixion of Peter was rarely represented in medieval art. A figure shown upside down makes an awkward candidate for the believer seeking solace from the presence of a saint, which is mostly communicated through the face. What Michelangelo did in his fresco in the Cappella Paolina was, thus, highly original—he depicted a slightly earlier moment in the narrative. Instead of representing Peter already hanging on his cross, he showed the saint nailed on a cross that was in the process of being raised. In other words, the iconographical type of The Crucifixion of St Peter was transformed to The Raising of the Cross of St Peter.

The focus on the moment before the cross is being raised allows Michelangelo to show Peter’s face, forcefully turned around and looking directly at the viewer. The saint’s gaze connects the pictorial space and the viewer’s space and makes us part of the sacred drama, an effect that falls in line with contemporary Counter-Reformation spirituality.

Here, the one who so forcefully denied his Lord while Jesus was on trial undergoes his own final trial. We now find ourselves in his place, fixed by his gaze, as he once was by Christ’s (Luke 22:61).

 

References

Friedlaender, Walter. 1945. ‘The Crucifixion of St. Peter: Caravaggio and Reni’, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 8: 152–60

Steinberg, Leo. 1975. Michelangelo’s Last Paintings: The Conversion of St Paul and The Crucifixion of St Peter in the Cappella Paolina, the Vatican Palace (New York: Oxford University Press)

Wallace, William E. 1989. ‘Narrative and Religious Expression in Michelangelo’s Pauline Chapel’, Arbitus et Historiae 19

See full exhibition for Matthew 26:69–75; Mark 14:66–72; Luke 22:54–62; John 18:15–18, 25–27

Matthew 26:69–75; Mark 14:66–72; Luke 22:54–62; John 18:15–18, 25–27

Revised Standard Version

Matthew 26

69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a maid came up to him, and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” 70But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” 71And when he went out to the porch, another maid saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72And again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man.” 73After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you are also one of them, for your accent betrays you.” 74Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the cock crowed. 75And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Mark 14

66 And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the maids of the high priest came; 67and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him, and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” 68But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway. 69And the maid saw him, and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” 70But again he denied it. And after a little while again the bystanders said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them; for you are a Galilean.” 71But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” 72And immediately the cock crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.

Luke 22

54 Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house. Peter followed at a distance; 55and when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. 56Then a maid, seeing him as he sat in the light and gazing at him, said, “This man also was with him.” 57But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” 58And a little later some one else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” 59And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him; for he is a Galilean.” 60But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are saying.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. 61And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.” 62And he went out and wept bitterly.

John 18

15 Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. As this disciple was known to the high priest, he entered the court of the high priest along with Jesus, 16while Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the maid who kept the door, and brought Peter in. 17The maid who kept the door said to Peter, “Are not you also one of this man’s disciples?” He said, “I am not.” 18Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves; Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said to him, “Are not you also one of his disciples?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” 26One of the servants of the high priest, a kinsman of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” 27Peter again denied it; and at once the cock crowed.

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