| Maker(s): | Bellis, Antonio de
| | Culture: | Italian (ca. 1616 - ca. 1657)
| | Title: | The Liberation of Saint Peter
| | Date Made: | 1640s
| | Type: | Painting
| | Materials: | oil on canvas
| | Place Made: | Italy
| | Measurements: | stretcher: 70 1/4 in x 102 1/2 in; 178.435 cm x 260.35 cm
| | Narrative Inscription: | unsigned, undated
| | Accession Number: | SC 2011.15
| | Credit Line: | Purchased with the Hillyer-Tryon-Mather Fund, the Beatrice Oenslager Chace, class of 1928, Fund, the Madeleine H. Russell, class of 1937, Fund, the Museum Acquisition Fund,
| | Museum Collection: | Smith College Museum of Art
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Currently on view |
Description:
interior, jail cell, seated downcast man holding a staff, wearing blue robe seated at lower left, angel in white in center walking toward Saint Peter who sits dressed in blue robe with an astonished look on his face gesturing with both hands, near him another man draped in red cloth sits with head on his knees
Label Text:
This large canvas was presumably painted for a church, although its early history is unknown. Its subject is the biblical account of the apostle Peter’s miraculous escape from prison following his arrest by King Herod for spreading the teachings of Christ. The night before his trial, Peter is visited in prison by an angel, who commands him to dress and leave. As the guards sleep, Peter follows the angel and flees.
Antonio de Bellis was an important artist working in Naples during the Baroque period, when art was characterized by dynamism, intense emotion, and theatrical effects. Here, the painter emphasizes the sudden appearance of the angel, rushing in with flying robes to grasp the collar of the surprised apostle, who is shown as a common man with mouth agape and unwashed, bare feet. Keys—one in the prison lock, another hanging from a blue ribbon—symbolize the keys of heaven given to Peter by Christ.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=SC+2011.15 |
