![]() Contemporary devotional practices urged individuals to confront their personal sins through meditation on the lives of saints such as Peter and Mary Magdalen, who was also frequently shown weeping. ![]() Cardinal Bellarmine insisted that Peter’s tears were a form of confession. The moment is after he denied being a disciple of Christ in the courtyard of the house of the High Priest: "and Peter remembered how Jesus had said, ‘Before the cock crows you will disown me three times.’ He went outside, and wept bitterly." (Matthew 26:75 Mark 14:66–72 Luke 22:55–62 John 18:17–18, 25–27) As Emile Mâle has explained, the subject became especially popular following the Council of Trent’s defense of penitence as a sacrament. The picture and subject: The picture shows Saint Peter, his hands clasped in prayer, his head directed heavenwards, his eyes reddened and filled with tears. ![]()
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