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Preview image of work. oil on canvas,  St. Peter Delivered from Prison by an Angel 164
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1813.22

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St. Peter Delivered from Prison by an Angel

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Artists

Ludovico Dorigny (Paris, France, 6/14/1654 - 10/17/1742, Venice, Italy) [formerly attributed to Antonio Balestra];

Title

St. Peter Delivered from Prison by an Angel

Creation Date

ca. 1720

Century

early 18th century

Dimensions

58 in. x 44 in. (147.3 cm. x 111.8 cm.)

Object Type

painting

Creation Place

Europe, Italy

Medium and Support

oil on canvas

Credit Line

Bequest of the Honorable James Bowdoin III

Copyright

Public Domain

Accession Number

1813.22

Long attributed to the northern Italian artist Antonio Balestra, this work was recently identified as a painting by Ludovico Dorigny, a Frenchman from a distinguished Parisian artist family who was active in Venice and Verona. As a young man, Dorigny produced works for King Louis XIV and for Cardinal Richelieu. In Italy, he was also a sought-after decorative painter. The Acts of the Apostles relate the story of Peter’s imprisonment by Herod, who at the time persecuted the leadership of the nascent Christian Church. During the night before his public prosecution, an angel appeared to Peter, “and a light shone in the cell, and he … woke him, saying, ‘Get up quickly.’ And the chains fell off his hands.” In his right hand, Peter holds the keys that symbolize the power to bind or loosen souls.

Object Description

St. Peter seated at lower left; angel standing to right grasping Peter's upraised left hand.