Saturday, May 28, 2022

The Crucifixion of St. Peter - Michelangelo


We just learned about Michelangelo's painting of The Conversion of Saul.

Another famous work of art from Michelangelo is The Crucifixion of St. Peter, made in 1550 in Italy.

In the Bible, St. Peter was one of the Apostles of Jesus, and after Jesus died he was one of the first leaders of the church for Christianity.
The Bible does not say when or how St. Peter died, but many stories from history say that he was crucified upside down, because he didn't feel like he was good enough to die in the same way that Jesus did.

Michelangelo's painting shows Peter upside down on the cross in the middle, surrounded by a bunch of other people.
One interesting thing that people noticed in this painting is that in most paintings from those days where they showed someone who was dying in a sad way they would show the person crying or with their head down looking sad.
In this painting, Peter is lifting himself up to look angrily at the people who are putting him on the cross, to show them that even though he is going to die he is not happy and that they should feel bad for what they are doing.

This painting was a fresco, which means it was painted on wet plaster, and it was the last fresco that Michelangelo ever did.


(from: wikipedia - the crucifixion of st. peter (michelangelo))


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