User:AshleeAPAH/Pietro Perugino Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to St. Peter

The full title of Pietro Perugino’s masterpiece is, Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to Saint Peter. It is a fresco painting that is 11’ 5.5’’ x 18’ 8.5’’ in dimension and is currently located on the north wall of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican in Rome, Italy. Also, it is an artwork based on the state of Rome that calls upon religious themes in the subject and applies geometric principles throughout the composition. This painting incorporates influences from Perugino’s training and also serves as an instructional aid to Perugino’s pupils. His paintings were typically pleasant, calm, serene, and graceful, and his landscapes tended to be spacious and quiet. It was these qualities that patrons found appealing and that increased his popularity.

Background
Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to Saint Peter was created from 1481-1483 for the Sistine Chapel. Pietro Perugino, whose actual name was Pietro Vannucci, was from Perugia in Umbria, Italy. [1] Pope Sixtus IV had commissioned Perugino, among other great artists of the time, to create a work of art to adorn the Sistine Chapel. One of his pupils was Raphael, who was also from Umbria and whose artworks adorned parts of the Sistine Chapel as well. Perugino himself went to Florence and was the pupil of Andrea Verrocchio, whose influence in Perugino’s painting style becomes visible in some of his works of art. He was also influenced by another Florentine master, Piero della Francesca, who was very skilled in creating perspective and using color and light, all of which are notable components of Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to Saint Peter.



Subject
The subject is based on religious themes. The painting involves Christ (middle left) handing over the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven to St. Peter (kneeling up front). The twelve apostles, depicted with halos, all appear in the crowd in the foreground surrounding Christ and St. Peter. Perugino also painted himself in the image; he is in the foreground among the crowd, and the fifth person in from the right side.

Biblical Reference
In Matthew 16, verse 19 of the King James Bible, it states that, “I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” [2] This is what the papacy in Rome had used as justification for their power in the Roman Catholic Church. The papacy was a large contributor to the increase in artistic commissions during the Renaissance.

Composition
Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to Saint Peter is a painting in which the ideas of perspective, geometry, symmetry, and classical references are represented. The perspective begins with the vanishing point within the painting, which lies at about the door to the central building. All of the lines converge to that one point, such as the lines on the pavement and the angle of the arches on the right and left sides. There is a foreground, middle ground, and background. The foreground contains the main action and all of the identifiable people, while the middle ground contains unidentifiable people that seem to be mirroring the positions of the people in the foreground directly below them. For example, on the left side, there are two apostles standing close to each other and next to Christ, and directly above them, there are two people standing very closely next to each other. Likewise, St. Peter and the apostle slightly to the right of him seem to be leaning forward a bit, just like the two people directly above them.

The geometry in the painting is very prevalent and can be seem in the shapes that different sections create. The crowd of people on the bottom left, ending with Christ, the bottom right, starting with St. Peter, and the middle left all resemble the shape of a rectangle. Also, the temple in the center, which displays arcades similar to those of Brunelleschi, is in the shape of an octagon and the two arches on the right and left and in the shape of squares. Two less obvious triangles are also present in the artwork, with both tips beginning at the top of the temple, and the two bottom corners located at the innermost edges of the big, grey arches and the sides of the little arches that touch the outer edges of the temple. The elements of the painting are very symmetrical, which makes the artwork feel balanced; in the background, there are two arches on either side connecting to the temple, two arches on the very left and right, and clouds and trees on both sides. This geometry and symmetry was reflective of the Renaissance humanistic principles of perspective and mathematical order.

There is a reference to a past work of art, the Arch of Constantine, which is represented by the twin arches on the very left and right sides of the painting. The Arch itself was made to commemorate the achievements of Emperor Constantine in about 315 C.E. This interest in incorporating a reference to a classic artwork was also consistent with the Renaissance humanistic ideals.

Comparisons
One painting by his pupil Raphael, titled, the Marriage of the Virgin, had a very 	close resemblance to Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to Saint Peter. It was painted in 1504 for the Chapel of Saint Joseph in the church of San Francesco in Cittá di Castello, Italy. [3] The similarities to Perugino lie in the subject and composition. In both works, the main action reflects religious events, in this case Joseph’s proposal to Mary. Also, both feature the same temple in the background, 	lines and squares on the pavement, and crowds of people on both sides of the action in the foreground and middle ground. Copying classic works such as Raphael did of Perugino’s Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to Saint Peter, was a way to learn technique and gain practice.

A comparison can also be made to works by Verrocchio, in which the detailed drapery and complex positions of the figures is evident. This is especially the 	case with Saint John the Evangelist, who is very elegant and defined. In this way, 	St. John can be compared to, “St Thomas from Verrocchio's bronze group on Orsanmichele.” [4]