Tenebrism

               Caravaggio was known for his tenebrism and work with dark and light contrasts.  Since we recently went over this in class I thought it would be a good topic to do a blog post on.  One of the works I found by Caravaggio that we didn't go over in class is The Denial of Saint Peter. This work was done in 1610 and is one of the last paintings done by Caravaggio.  It can be found at the MET in Gallery 621 where other Caravaggio's are also located.




               This painting depicts a biblical scene involving one of Jesus' apostles, Peter.  Jesus told Peter that "before the cock crowed he would deny him thrice."  In other words, before the next morning, Peter would deny Jesus three times.  Peter told Jesus that this was not true and he would never deny Jesus, but the prophecy was proven true.  When Jesus was arrested, Peter followed him until he was confronted by three people who accused him of being a follower of Jesus.  To protect himself, he denied each of the three people.  Caravaggio depicted this scene in the painting.

               Tenebrism is used to highlight various aspects of this painting, including the face of the maid who is confronting Peter and also Peter himself.  The soldier has been darkened for the most part, and also has the body of the maid and most of the background.  The light can be made to represent how much the accusers know about Peter.  Because the soldier is mostly in the dark, he knows nothing about Peter's connection with Jesus.  The maid, partially lighted, knows a little about
Peter and his connection, but not enough to convict him, only to accuse him.

               Hand gestures, which are an important aspect of Caravaggio's paintings, are important in this work as well.  The three pointing fingers (two from the maid and one from the soldier) are said to represent the three times that Peter denied Christ.  Also the hands of Peter show confirmation of what he is saying, meaning that he is trying to adamantly confirm that he does not know Jesus.

               Peter's expression on his face also shows that he is whole-heartedly denying Christ.  He seems to have tears in his eyes, as if he knows what he is doing, yet cannot stop himself from doing it.  He needs his accusers to believe him and his expression shows this.  Also the expression of the maid in the center is important, because while she seems to be looking at the soldier, her eyes are also wandering, almost as if she is just looking blankly in his direction.  She isn't focused on the soldier; she really isn't focused on anything at all.  This makes the audience wonder what she is focusing on.  Maybe she's focusing on her own thoughts, and if it is that, then what is she thinking about?

               A quick fun fact: this painting was referenced in a 2014 episode of The Walking Dead.

     Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Denial_of_Saint_Peter_(Caravaggio)
                    http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/his/CoreArt/art/bar_cvggo_deny.html
                    http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/437986
                    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/08/arts/design/caravaggio-denial-of-st-peter-met-museum-of-art.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
                   http://arthistory.we-wish.net/2008/06/15/caravaggios-the-denial-of-st-peter/