Old Master Paintings
Old Master Paintings
Property from a Spanish Private Collection
WORKSHOP OF DOMÉNIKOS THEOTOKOPOULOS, CALLED EL GRECO | THE TEARS OF SAINT PETER
Lot Closed
September 23, 01:06 PM GMT
Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property from a Spanish Private Collection
WORKSHOP OF DOMÉNIKOS THEOTOKOPOULOS, CALLED EL GRECO
Candía, Crete 1541 – 1614 Toledo
THE TEARS OF SAINT PETER
bears inventory number lower right: 150
oil on canvas
unframed: 104.5 x 82.5 cm.; 41⅛ x 32½ in.
framed: 123 x 100.5 cm.; 48½ x 39½ in.
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Anonymous sale, London, Bonhams, 8 July 2015, lot 76, where acquired.
The present composition exists in at least six autograph variants by El Greco painted during the course of his career, several of which gave rise to studio copies. The earliest version is in the Bowes Museum (on canvas, 109 x 90.3 cm.)1; the composition of the background detail on the left-hand side in the present work comes closer to El Greco's version in the San Diego Museum of Art (on canvas, 125.1 x 107.6 cm.), however.2 The success of the subject was due to its association with the Sacrament of Penance (or Confession) which was crucial in the Counter-Reformation's fight against Protestantism at this time. Saint Peter is shown weeping tears of repentance after betraying Christ, and several contemporary texts emphasised the importance of tears in devotional practice. On the left the Magdalen can be seen leaving the empty tomb.