The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of June 7, 2026

A vertically oriented woodcut in four shades of brown depicts Saint Peter, an elderly man with a curly white beard. Standing and facing left, he wears voluminous, draped robes that pool at his feet. He cradles a large, open book in his left arm while holding two keys in his right hand. Strong chiaroscuro highlights and deep shadows define the figure's form against a dark, monochromatic background.

Saint Peter

c. 1547

Domenico Beccafumi

(Italian, 1486–1551)
Italy, 16th century
chiaroscuro woodcut printed in four shades of brown
Sheet: 41.2 x 21.4 cm (16 1/4 x 8 7/16 in.)
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2002.9
Catalogue raisonné: Bartsch vol XII, p. 71, no. 14; Passavant vol. VI, pp.150-1, no. 5
Location: Not on view

Description

Beccafumi was an important and extremely versatile Sienese artist––a painter of altarpieces, frescoes, and furniture, a sculptor in wood, stucco, and bronze, and a designer of a large portion of the inlaid marble floor in the Siena Cathedral. He was also one of the most imaginative, daring, and versatile printmakers of the Italian Renaissance. Although his first prints were engravings, in order to reproduce the rich, tonal effects of his drawings, Beccafumi began to make chiaroscuro woodcuts. Around 1547, he completed a series of six chiaroscuros of the apostles, including Saint Peter. These are the artist's most skillful, complex, and successful prints, and among the most extraordinary color prints in 16th-century Italy. The blocks were carved and printed in an innovative manner. In order to attain the brilliant highlights common in his chiaroscuro drawings, Beccafumi created the effect of thin white hatching lines on a dark ground. He also treated each impression as a separate work of art.
  • Takahatake, Naoko, et al. The Chiaroscuro Woodcut in Renaissance Italy. Los Angeles : Los Angeles County Museum of Art ; Munich ; New York : DelMonico Books/Prestel, 2018. Reproduced and mentioned: pp. 179-183.
  • Renaissance to Runway: The Enduring Italian Houses. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 9, 2025-February 1, 2026).
    The Chiaroscuro Woodcut in Renaissance Italy. Los Angeles County Museum of Art (organizer) (June 3-September 16, 2018); National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (October 14, 2018-January 20, 2019).
    Against the Grain: Woodcuts from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 17-November 9, 2003).
  • {{cite web|title=Saint Peter|url=false|author=Domenico Beccafumi|year=c. 1547|access-date=07 June 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2002.9