Saint Peter

Nicola di Maestro Antonio d'Ancona's Saint Peter, painted around 1480 and now in the Courtauld Gallery in London, depicts the prince of the apostles — the fisherman from Galilee who became the foundation of the Christian church — in the standard devotional panel format with his keys, the symbol of his authority to bind and loose in heaven and on earth. D'Ancona was a painter active in the Marche region of central Italy, working in the orbit of the Adriatic coast painting tradition that combined Venetian colorism with the strong linear emphasis of the Crivelli tradition. Saint Peter panels served as altarpiece wings, devotional images, and church dedicatory images across the entire Italian peninsula, and the universal importance of the apostle meant that his image was in constant demand across all artistic traditions. The Courtauld panel is a significant example of this Marchigian painter's work in a major international collection.

D'Ancona renders Peter in the devotional half-length format with keys and perhaps a book, the face and drapery treated with the emphatic linearity characteristic of the Adriatic coast painting tradition. The warm palette and precise linear definition of the saint's features and garments reflect the Marchigian synthesis of Venetian colorism and Crivelli-influenced graphic clarity.