In the early morning hours following Christ’s arrest, Peter waited outside the house of the high priest Caiaphas, where Jesus stood trial. Three times Peter was identified as Jesus’ companion, and three times the apostle denied it. Here Dujardin focuses sharply on Peter and the maid who recognizes him, suggesting that this is the second denial, as described in Matthew 26:71–72: “and again [Peter] denied it with an oath.” The apostle’s testimony is emphasized by the placement of his hand over his heart. The moment’s high tension is conveyed by the maid’s accusatory look and gesture, Peter’s defensive response and the off-center placement of both figures. Dujardin’s use of strong chiaroscuro and a close-up presentation of unidealized figures suggests his familiarity with the Caravaggesque tendencies in Dutch Baroque art. Finely painted details, such as the maid’s white sleeve, and the smooth facture throughout, however, demonstrate Dujardin’s affiliation with Dutch classicism. Though he was primarily known as an accomplished landscape painter, the artist also painted a range of subjects drawn from history and the Bible, as well as portraits of Amsterdam’s elites. He enjoyed considerable success during his career.
Details
- Artist Name: Karel Dujardin (Dutch, 1622-1678)
- Title: Denial of Peter
- Date: c. 1663
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 47 x 41 in. (119.4 x 104.1 cm)
- Credit Line: Norton Simon Art Foundation
- Accession Number: M.1975.16.P
- Copyright: © Norton Simon Art Foundation
Object Information
Jacob Cromhout or Jasper Loskart (sale, Zomer, Amsterdam, 7-8 May 1709, lot 4).
Nicolaas Nieuhoff (sale, Amsterdam, April 14, 1777).
François Tronchin des Délices, Geneva, by 1781 (sale, Paris, 23 March, 1801, no. 44 to); Guillaume-Jean Constantin, who was C.P. at sale and therefore possibly bought-in);
John Walter, Bear Wood, Berkshire, by 1868, by inheritance to;
John Walter (sale, London, Sotheby’s, 10 June 1942, no. 45, to);
Welker [or Walter, i.e. bought-in?];
Henri Bredius, London (d. 1972), by inheritance to;
Bredius heirs, Haarlem, consigned to;
[Hans Cramer Oude Kunst, The Hague, by 1973-sold 1975 to];
Norton Simon Art Foundation.
National Exhibition of Works of Art at Leeds
- Leeds, 1868 to 1868
27e Oude kunst-en antiekbeurs der vereeniging van handelaren in oude kunst in Nederland
- Het Prinsenhof Museum, 1975-10-16 to 1975-11-05
Paintings by Old Masters
- The Hague, G. Cramer Oude Kunst, 1975 to 1976
[on loan]
- Krannert Art Museum, 1977-01-03 to 1977-08-02
Learning to Look: Line
- Norton Simon Museum, 2003-11-07 to 2004-02-23
Encountering the Dutch Likeness: Portraiture in 17th Century Holland
- Norton Simon Museum, 1993-09-02 to 1996
- Sutton, Peter, Great Dutch Paintings from America, p. 108
- Broos, Ben, "Karel Dujardin. Paulus geneest de kreupele man te Lystra",
- Smith, John, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters, no. 28 p. 242
- The Burlington Magazine, p. 820
- Abraham Bredius, Oud Holland, pp. 223-232
- Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, nos. 19a, 20, 20a p. 301
- Tronchin, F., Catalogue des Tableux de mon cabinet, Aux Délices, 1780, p. 61
- Skinner, J. R., Voyage historie et litteraire la Suisse Occidentale, 1781, p. 39
- Leeds, National Exhibition of Works of Art at Leeds, 1868, no. 895
- Hofstede de Groot, C., Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der Hervorragendsten Holländische Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts, 1936, nos. 19a, 20, 20a p. 301
- Geneva, Musée d'art historie, Musée Rath, De Genèva à l'Ermitage, Les collections de François Tronchin, 1974, no. 108 p. 53
- Kramer Oude Kunst, G., Paintings by Old Masters, 1975, no. 7 pp. 14-15
- Weltkunst, 1978, p. 2292
- Norton Simon Museum, Selected Paintings at the Norton Simon Museum, 1980, p. 58
- Kilian, Jennifer M., The Paintings of Karel Du Jardin, 1626-1678, 2005, no. 92, plate 74 pp. 10, 15 note 61, 36, 37 note 63, 66-67, 70, 177-78, 187,192-193
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 1277 p. 389
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