Saint Peter holding keys and an open book, facing left
ca. 1750–80
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 5 7/16 × 3 15/16 in. (13.8 × 10 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 2017
Accession Number
2017.423
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the tranquil collection of prints at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Joachim Leonardo da Rocha's etching *Saint Peter holding keys and an open book, facing left* (ca. 1750–80) captures the revered apostle in a moment of quiet authority. Created on a modest sheet measuring just 5 7/16 × 3 15/16 inches, this intimate work exemplifies 18th-century devotional art, a time when religious imagery remained central to Catholic visual culture amid Europe's Enlightenment shifts. Saint Peter, the first pope and keeper of heaven's gates, is depicted with his iconic attributes: the keys symbolizing papa...