Neapolitan school; XVII century.

Neapolitan school; XVII century.
"Christ and St. Peter".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Presents frame of the nineteenth century with faults.
Measurements: 74 x 56 cm; 99 x 82 cm (frame).
We are before a painting representative of the Neapolitan school of the XVII century, in which a moment of deep spiritual and introspective density is represented: the bust of Christ appears in front of the spectator, although his look is not directed towards him, but it remains alien, absent, absorbed in a universe of interior recollection. In front of him, with his back to the viewer, St. Peter seems to address a few words to him, bowing his body with an almost reverent gesture. This arrangement generates a visual dialogue charged with silent tension and allows the viewer to stand as a silent witness to a scene of confession or warning, profoundly human and at the same time transcendent.
The composition concentrates the action in the middle planes, avoiding all superfluous elements, which gives the work an almost sculptural intensity. The lighting, characteristic of the tenebrist naturalism that dominated in Naples as a result of Caravaggio's influence, comes from a lateral spotlight that cuts the profiles of the figures, highlighting the volumes of Christ's face and the dynamism implicit in Peter's posture. This play of light and shadow accentuates the psychology of the moment.From the thematic point of view, the encounter between Christ and St. Peter has been the subject of multiple iconographic interpretations throughout the history of art.
The Neapolitan school of the 17th century is characterized by its particular fusion of crude realism, emotional intensity and theological depth. A direct heir of Caravaggism, but enriched by Hispanic dramatism and the pictorial sensuality of southern Italy, this school gave rise to some of the most striking works of the European Baroque. Authors such as Battistello Caracciolo, Jusepe de Ribera or Francesco Fracanzano explored chiaroscuro not only as an optical effect, but also as an expressive resource that dramatizes the spiritual. In this work, this heritage is translated into an intimate scene, simple in appearance, but loaded with moral and symbolic meaning.