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This stern and commanding figure is Saint Peter, the first pope and one of the founders of the Catholic Church. He comes from a polyptych (a multi-panelled altarpiece) which Crivelli painted for the high altar of the church of San Domenico, in Ascoli Piceno in the Italian Marche. His hooded eyes gaze intently out at us, while his greying beard, tanned face and deeply lined features, painted with Crivelli’s customary exactness, suggest a life of toil in the open air: Peter was a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee before being called by Christ to join him.

Peter stands on a marble shelf, like a statue, in front of a background of burnished gold which is tooled – patterned with special tools – to look like damask. In a detail typical of Crivelli, his right shoe pokes out over the edge of the marble parapet – as if asking us to kiss his foot, as those admitted to audience with a pope would have done.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

Saint Peter

Date

1476

Medium

Tempera on lime

Measurements

H 139 x W 40.5 cm

Accession number

NG788.3

Acquisition method

Bought, 1868

Work type

Painting

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

This venue is open to the public. Not all artworks are on display. If you want to see a particular artwork, please contact the venue.

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Artist or maker

Carlo Crivelli

c.1430–c.1495

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The Virgin and Child Victoria and Albert Museum
St John the Baptist Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Saint Roch The Wallace Collection
Saint Thomas Aquinas The National Gallery, London
Saint Catherine of Alexandria The National Gallery, London
Saint Peter The National Gallery, London
La Madonna della Rondine (The Madonna of the Swallow) The National Gallery, London
20 more