Saint Peter in Prison

by Rembrandt

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Price

$1,000

Dimensions

16.000 x 20.000 x 0.500 inches

Title

Saint Peter in Prison

Artist

Rembrandt

Medium

Painting - Oil On Canvas

Description

This is a reproduction of Rembrandt’s “St. Peter in Prison (The Apostle Peter Kneeling)” of 1631. About that time Herod the king laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John . . . and . . . he proceeded to arrest Peter also. . . . And when he had seized him, he put him in prison. (The Acts of the Apostles 12:1–4). Rembrandt's painting shows the apostle Peter in his prison cell in Jerusalem following his arrest. A shaft of soft, golden light falls on him from an unseen source, leaving large parts of the painting in total obscurity. The saint's attribute is clearly visible, however: two large metal keys signifying the keys to the kingdom of Heaven bestowed on him by Jesus, which in this situation suggest the irony of his jailed state. St. Peter kneels, his gnarled hands (the hands of the fisherman he once was) clasped in prayer but also in despair, his lined face expressing an old man's desolation. He cannot know that the Angel of God – perhaps foreshadowed in the mysterious source of light – will soon appear to bring about his miraculous escape. The simple humanity of Peter is emphasized, and yet the radiance that encircles his face like a kind of halo conveys his sanctity. This different interpretation of a familiar subject exemplifies Rembrandt's genius at portraying states of mind and spiritual qualities through the language of light and shadow. Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam in 1631, the year of this painting. He had married the year before the painting and Rembrandt took on his first pupils. In the year of this painting he moved into his prominent house in an upscale district. Later in the next decade after his wife died, he began an affair with their maid whom Rembrandt married after their daughter was born. In the next decade his fortunes declined and in 1660 he was forced to sell his home. He was a few years away from bankruptcy as his years of living beyond his means were finally catching up with him. This was the beginning of the poverty which haunted him until his death in 1669. The original is an oil on panel and measures 60 by 47.8 centimeters and is in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

If you are interested in commissioning an oil painting on canvas of this art print, please send me an email at troy@trycap.com.

Uploaded

October 29th, 2018

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