CARAVAGGIO
(b. 1571, Caravaggio, d. 1610, Porto Ercole)

The Crucifixion of Saint Peter (detail)

1600-01
Oil on canvas
Cerasi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome

Caravaggio has painted St Peter's body with his astonishing feeling for anatomy and the skin structure of an elderly male physique. At the same time, he has chosen the very instant when the Prince of the Apostles is raised into the undignified position in which he will be crucified - upside-down.