How does Crucifixion of Saint Peter (Caravaggio) elucidate its Style?
According to Denis Mahon, the two paintings in the Cerasi Chapel form "a closely-knit group of sufficiently clear character" with The Inspiration of Saint Matthew in the Contarelli Chapel and The Entombment of Christ in the Pinacoteca Vaticana. He called these four works "the middle group" and stated that they belong to Caravaggio's mature period. Comparing the two paintings in the Cerasi Chapel, Mahon saw the Conversion of Saint Paul "much more animated than its companion" which does not succeed conveying such a vivid sense of movement.
The most striking feature of the painting is its pronounced realism: the saint is "very much the poor fisherman from Bethsaida, and the executioners, their hands heavily veined and reddened, their feet dusty, are toiling workmen", says Helen Langdon. This was the beginning of a new phase in Caravaggio's art where he concentrated on the Christian ethos of humility and salvation through suffering.
Denis Mahon Cerasi Chapel The Inspiration of Saint Matthew The Entombment of Christ Pinacoteca Vaticana Caravaggio Paul M Contarelli Chapel