Saint Peter
Grão Vasco, 1529
Saint Peter is an oil painting on chestnut wood by Grão Vasco, dated around 1529. It was commissioned by Miguel da Silva, Bishop of Viseu, for a side altar in the cathedral of that city, and it now belongs to the collections of the Grão Vasco National Museum. The apostle sits at the centre of a symmetrical arrangement, on an ornate Italianate throne, blessing the viewer in full papal vestments: a red brocade cope with medallions of angels holding the instruments of the Passion, a tiara, and the Fisherman's Ring. In his left hand he holds a golden key, a reference to the Keys of Heaven. Two arches on either side open onto scenes from his life, one showing his calling alongside Andrew and the other the risen Christ's appearance in the apocryphal Quo Vadis episode. Its quality helped it escape repainting, and it is regarded as a masterpiece of the Portuguese Renaissance.
- Painter
- Grão Vasco
- Date
- 1529
- Medium
- oil paint, chestnut wood
- Museum
- Grão Vasco National Museum, Viseu
- Genre
- religious art
- Depicts
- Saint Peter
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