The Liberation of St. Peter, a 350-year-old Baroque masterpiece recently acquired by the Toledo Museum of Art, was officially introduced Thursday evening.

Bishop Daniel E. Thomas, along with Toledo Museum of Art Director Brian Kennedy and Lawrence Nichols, the William Hutton senior curator of European and American painting and sculpture before 1900, dedicated the painting in front of more than 300 guests.

The oil-on-canvas work is by Italian Baroque painter Luca Giordano. It depicts a scene from the Bible’s New Testament book of Acts in which an angel frees St. Peter from prison.

It is likely the largest painting in the building, Mr. Nichols said. The painting measures 70 inches by 121 inches and hangs with other Baroque paintings in the museum.

At the introduction the lights dimmed, replicating the pre-electricity viewing experience for those in Giordano’s day. A remarkable aspect of the piece, Mr. Nichols told the audience, is the source of light in the painting, the central figure of the angel.

“Our attention is directed at the role of the divine,” he said. “It’s the light that shined in the prison, the radiance emanating from the resplendent and divine messenger.”

Bishop Thomas, after reading the passage in Acts that inspired the work, gave visitors theological context for the work. He said the scene depicted Peter’s third imprisonment, captured at a time when early Christians were persecuted by the Roman Empire.

“For this moment in time, our meditation on Giordano’s depiction of Peter’s miraculous release from prison, with the assistance of the angel of the Lord, reveals to us what it offered to those who were first called Christians,” he said. “The promise and power of the Holy Spirit to carry them into every time and place.”

Giordano, who lived in Naples from 1634 to 1705, also has a connection to Toledo’s sister-city and namesake. The artist painted portions of the ceiling in the sacristy at the Toledo Cathedral in Spain.

The museum acquired The Liberation of St. Peter from the Matthiesen Gallery in London for an undisclosed amount. Before that, the painting was in a private collection held by one English family for more than 100 years.

Mr. Nichols called the piece the finest example of Giordano’s work in the United States.

“I was certain, along with the curators and director, that this acquisition was a superlative one” he said. “It will doubtless be appreciated by the Toledo community.”

Contact Lauren Lindstrom at llindstrom@theblade.com, 419-724-6154, or on Twitter @lelindstrom.

First Published November 14, 2014, 5:00 a.m.