Apostles Peter and Paul by El Greco.

El Greco depicted two Apostles as two completely different personalities, which was quite an innovation in art in those days since in religious perspective they belonged to other worldliness. The person in the left part of the painting is a simple fisherman Peter from Galilee with all the weaknesses of human nature. Peter was arrested, he got scared and denied Christ, but later accepted his guilt, repented and received forgiveness – Christ gave him the keys from Paradise. His head in the painting is bowed, his gaze is sad and thoughtful and his pale aged face is framed with greying hair – all this emphasizes his humble, good, gentle and indecisive character. The person in the right part of the canvas is the scientist from a noble family from Tars named Saul, who was a fierce persecutor of the Christians, later received Christ and became Paul – the one of the giants of the faith preaching among pagans. Unlike Apostle Peter, Paul is shown as a man of character and spirit. The determined expression of the dark eyes and the energetic movement of his hand reveal the passionate and charismatic preacher in him. The artist made a vivid and profound portrait of human character, showing people the contrasting psychological makeup.