The martyrdom of Saint Paul and the condemnation of Saint Peter

The martyrdom of Saint Paul and the condemnation of Saint Peter

Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Engraved just before the Sack of Rome in 1527, this print is the result of the collaboration of the Italian Mannerist artist Parmigianino and the skilled engraver Caraglio. A number of drawings by Parmigianino relating to the composition survive, including the actual model used by Caraglio to transfer the design to the plate (British Museum, London). Parmigianino may have created this design to decorate the Sala dei Pontefici in the Vatican—a commission that was never realized—though that is far from certain. The engraving shows the moments preceding the execution ordered by Emperor Nero of the apostles Peter and Paul. Saint Peter kneels in the foreground before his executioner, while behind him Saint Paul is pulled away by his beard to be crucified. A drawing by Parmigianino depicting an apparition of Christ in the Metrpolitan Museum (65.112.2) is drawn on the back of a fragment of an impression of Caraglio's print. The fragment of the print is the section showing Jupiter and the eagle from the upper right.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The martyrdom of Saint Paul and the condemnation of Saint PeterThe martyrdom of Saint Paul and the condemnation of Saint PeterThe martyrdom of Saint Paul and the condemnation of Saint PeterThe martyrdom of Saint Paul and the condemnation of Saint PeterThe martyrdom of Saint Paul and the condemnation of Saint Peter

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.