Sunday, June 29, 2008

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul

The Crucifixion of Saint Peter
Caravaggio
1601
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From the Acts of the Apostles

On the very night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter, secured by double chains, was sleeping between two soldiers,while outside the door guards kept watch on the prison. Suddenly the angel of the Lord stood by him and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and awakened him, saying,“Get up quickly.” The chains fell from his wrists. The angel said to him, “Put on your belt and your sandals.”
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Tradition had it that St Peter was captured and crucified head-down in Rome during the reign of Nero, between 64 and 67. Caravaggio's image of St Peter strongly resembles a mirror image of him in a fresco by Michelangelo. Art and above text from: http://www.artbible.info/art/
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here's my question: crucifixion kills by suffocation. Your knees give out and you slump so that your lungs won't take in air. When you can't take that anymore, you push back up, getting what air you can until your knees give out again. Hence it's a long (days, potentially) process. Breaking the knees ended the process quickly, if painfully.

So how does that work upside down? You won't suffocate since your diaphram isn't pushed up against your lungs. What kills you?

Francis Shivone said...

I don't know. Miserable thought, really.

Outside the obvious of bleeding to death or starvation. I wonder how long a person lives if upside down in general?