West’s arrival in England from Italy in 1763 occurred at a time when artists were seeking to create a distinguished national school of history painting. George III was eager to support such a goal and was also a keen supporter of the proposal to found a national academy for the teaching and display of arts: his patronage of West and the foundation of the Royal Academy in 1768 were closely intertwined. At the King’s instruction, ‘The Departure of Regulus’ (OM 1152, 405614) was shown at the first Royal Academy exhibition in 1769; he succeeded Sir Joshua Reynolds as President of the Royal Academy in 1792. West painted around sixty pictures for George III between 1768 and 1801. From 1772 he was described in Royal Academy catalogues as ‘Historical Painter to the King’ and from 1780 he received an annual stipend from the King of £100. In the 1780s he gave drawing lessons to the Princesses and in 1791 he succeeded Richard Dalton as Surveyor of the King’s Pictures. This painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1779, soon after, according to West, 'His Majesty honoured me by accepting' it as a present. This is a common subject in seventeenth-century painting in Catholic countries because it seemed to illustrate the Council of Trent’s ideas concerning the efficacy of the Sacrament of Confession, which had been challenged by Protestant theologians. As predicted, St Peter has denied the captured Christ three times when challenged by a maid; the cock has crowed. According to the Bible the saint wept; according to Catholic theologians he thereby expressed his sincere penance and was presumably absolved. West is probably more interested in the expressive power of artists like Guercino than their doctrinal significance.