Saint Peter

Studio of Sir Peter Paul Rubens

National Gallery of Art

Shown from the waist up, an elderly man with pale, peachy skin, wavy, silvery-gray hair, and a long beard stands facing our right, almost filling this vertical painting. He wears a butterscotch-gold robe and clutches two large skeleton keys the length of his forearm in his right hand while his other fist rests at his waist. One key is iron gray and the other is copper colored. The man’s balding, high forehead slopes down to thick black brows arching over deep-set, hazel eyes that gaze upward. He has a long nose, pale pink mouth, and hollows under his high cheekbones. He is brightly lit from the upper left against an ink-black background. The strong light creates shadows in the folds of his garment and on his craggy features.