Denial of Peter

"Peter's Denial" redirects here. For other uses, see Peter's Denial (disambiguation).
The Denial of Saint Peter, an oil-on-canvas painting by Gerard Seghers, dating to around 1620–25 and now held by the North Carolina Museum of Art[1]

The Denial of Peter (or Peter's Denial) refers to three acts of denial of Jesus by the Apostle Peter as described in all four Gospels of the New Testament.[2]

All four Canonical Gospels state that during Jesus's Last Supper with his disciples, he predicted that Peter would deny knowledge of him, stating that Peter would disown him before the rooster crowed the next morning.[a] Following the arrest of Jesus, Peter denied knowing him three times, but after the third denial, he heard the rooster crow and recalled the prediction as Jesus turned to look at him. Peter then began to cry bitterly.[4][b] This final incident is known as the Repentance of Peter.[5]

The turbulent emotions behind Peter's denial and later repentance have been the subject of major works of art for centuries. Examples include Caravaggio's Denial of Saint Peter, which is now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The incidents have also inspired segments in various films related to the life and death of Jesus Christ (for instance, when Francesco De Vito performed as Peter in The Passion of the Christ) as well as references in musical works, both religious and secular.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference ncartmuseum.org was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cullmann 1969, p. 105.
  3. ^ "Mark 14 – New International Version". Biblica.com. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  4. ^ Perkins 2000, p. 85.
  5. ^ Lange 1865, p. 499.


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