The Denial of Saint Peter is a 1650 painting of the Denial of Peter by Georges de La Tour, possibly with some assistance from the painter's son Étienne. [1] It was signed and dated by the senior artist. In 1810 it was acquired from François Cacault by the musée d'Arts de Nantes, where it still hangs. [2] [3]
The work was commissioned by Henri de La Ferté-Senneterre, governor of Lorraine, where La Tour lived and worked. [4] de La Ferté-Senneterre is recorded as paying 650 francs for a work entitled The Denial of St Peter in 1650, possibly the work now in Nantes. He was then one of the most important collectors of La Tour's work. [5]
The work's approach is very Caravagist, sidelining the work's supposed main subject and placing the soldiers gaming at a table at its centre. [1] In 17th century French society, "gaming was inseparable from luxury" [6] and was evidence of "indifference to salvation" - a similar link is made in the artist's The Card Sharp with the Ace of Diamonds, contemporary with Tristan L'Hermite's The Disgraced Page. [6] The gaming soldiers also refer forwards in time to those casting lots for Jesus' clothing at the foot of the cross. [7]
The Denial of Saint Peter is a 1650 painting of the Denial of Peter by Georges de La Tour, possibly with some assistance from the painter's son Étienne. [1] It was signed and dated by the senior artist. In 1810 it was acquired from François Cacault by the musée d'Arts de Nantes, where it still hangs. [2] [3]
The work was commissioned by Henri de La Ferté-Senneterre, governor of Lorraine, where La Tour lived and worked. [4] de La Ferté-Senneterre is recorded as paying 650 francs for a work entitled The Denial of St Peter in 1650, possibly the work now in Nantes. He was then one of the most important collectors of La Tour's work. [5]
The work's approach is very Caravagist, sidelining the work's supposed main subject and placing the soldiers gaming at a table at its centre. [1] In 17th century French society, "gaming was inseparable from luxury" [6] and was evidence of "indifference to salvation" - a similar link is made in the artist's The Card Sharp with the Ace of Diamonds, contemporary with Tristan L'Hermite's The Disgraced Page. [6] The gaming soldiers also refer forwards in time to those casting lots for Jesus' clothing at the foot of the cross. [7]