Harvard Art Museums > 1997.31: Saint Peter Paintings Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Saint Peter (Peter Paul Rubens) , 1997.31,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Dec 02, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/226173. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Gallery Text This work shows the robust style of painting Rubens developed after 1608, when he returned to Antwerp after nearly a decade of working in Italy. Rubens set up a successful workshop in his home city, where the Counter-Reformation was in full swing. Many of his commissions came from churches whose artworks had been damaged or destroyed during the Protestant iconoclastic riots of the previous century. Paired with an image of Saint Paul (displayed nearby), Saint Peter is shown in profile, a view evocative of Roman coins. In his hand are the keys to the gates of heaven, glinting against a black background. Despite its austere subject matter, the painting has an exuberant, even irrepressible quality, with loose, rhythmic brushwork inspired by Venetian painting, and flashes of bright color: blue mingled with the white highlights in the hair, and strokes of vivid pink in the flesh. Identification and Creation Object Number 1997.31 People Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish (Siegen, Westphalia 1577 - 1640 Antwerp, Belgium) Title Saint Peter Classification Paintings Work Type painting Date c. 1615 Places Creation Place: Europe, Netherlands Culture Flemish Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/226173 Physical Descriptions Medium Oil on panel Dimensions 65.5 x 48.5 cm (25 13/16 x 19 1/8 in.) framed: 92.5 x 75 cm (36 7/16 x 29 1/2 in.) Provenance Recorded Ownership History ?St. Donatus's Church, Bruges. Augustine Monastery of St. Florian, St. Florian, Austria (Chorherrenstift Sankt Florian) (until 1936) sold; to [Galerie Sankt Lucas, Vienna], sold; to [Dr. and Mrs. Rudolf J. Heinemann], (1936-1997) bequest; to Harvard University Art Museums, 1997. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Lore Heinemann in memory of her husband, Dr. Rudolf J. Heinemann Accession Year 1997 Object Number 1997.31 Division European and American Art Contact am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Publication History Johannes Hollnsteiner, Das Chorherrenstift St. Florian (Steyr, Austria, 1923), p. 41, repro. William R. Valentiner, "Rubens' Paintings in America", The Art Quarterly (1946), vol. IX, p. 159, no. 53 Jan-Albert Goris and Julius S. Held, Rubens in America, Pantheon Books (New York and Antwerp, 1947), p. 36, no. 65, pl. 49 Erik Larsen, Peter Paul Rubens, De Sikkel (Antwerp, 1952), p. 216, no. 35 Hans Vlieghe, Saints, I (Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard), Phaidon (London, England and New York, NY, 1972), pp. 68-70, no. 53, repr. as fig. 95 James Cuno, ed., A Decade of Collecting: Recent Acquisitions by the Harvard University Art Museums, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, Mass., Spring 2000), pp. 46-47, repr. p. 46 Exhibition History Calming the Tempest with Peter Paul Rubens, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 12/22/2001 - 03/17/2002 Re-View: S424-426 Western Art from 1560 to 1900, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 08/16/2008 - 06/18/2011 32Q: 2300 Dutch & Flemish, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 09/08/2017 Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu