Peter's Cock

Dated 1977, "Peter's Cock" — the rooster associated with Peter's denial — returns to the subject Watanabe had explored in the 1974 "Peter and the Rooster" print, here focusing specifically on the rooster itself as the narrative's central symbolic element. The cock, crowing at dawn after Peter's third denial, is the animal messenger of an unwanted truth. Watanabe's katazome rendering gives the rooster the same bold visual presence as his human figures, making the bird a full participant in the Passion's drama.