The St Peter and a half-length St Paul, which is probably a pendant, are among Goya's last devotional subjects. In style they are close to the 'black' paintings and must have been made shortly before Goya left Spain or in Bordeaux. This portrayal of an old man praying, in Goya's late manner, is more expressive of religious emotion than many of his earlier representations of saints (e.g. St Gregory), relating it to The Last Communion of St Joseph of Calasanz and The Agony in the Garden.
|