The Repentant Saint Peter by El Greco Postcard

The Repentant Saint Peter by El Greco, c. 1605, is an oil on canvas painting of the Apostle Peter with hands clasped in prayer, looking heavenwards. Around his waist, beneath the bearded saint’s grey-white and ochre robes, hang the keys of heaven. The loose, expressive brushstrokes, flattened forms and heightened contrasts form a remarkable work of religious art that foreshadows the darkened, tenebrist backgrounds of the Baroque era as well as modern expressionism and Cubism. Domenikos Theotokópoulos (1541 - 1614) was born on the island of Crete where he apprenticed as a painter of religious icons in the Byzantine tradition. As a young man he studied in Venice under Titian and the painters of the Venetian Renaissance and became known by the moniker El Greco, "The Greek". El Greco permanently settled in Toledo, Spain, where he produced most of his famous paintings and worked also as a sculptor and architect. El Greco's unique manner defies classification, incorporating elements of the Italian and Spanish Renaissance, Byzantine art, Mannerism, and Expressionism. El Greco remained somewhat obscure until the 19th and 20th centuries, when his paintings profoundly influenced the rising modern artists.