Spanish or Italian school; 17th century.

Spanish or Italian school; 17th century.
"St. Peter as Pope".
Carved and polychrome wood. Textile.
Preserves old fanal.
Measurements: 37 x 21 x 17 cm; 46 x 39 x 34 cm (fanal).
By preserving the beacon, the base covered with textile, simulating a carpet, the gestational chair and a cushion for the feet, it could be said that it is a sculptural ensemble starring St. Peter as Pope. The saint in wood has been conceived as a dressing figure and is dressed in papal vestments, highlighting the large mitre. Dressing figures were often used in processions, in this case it is a figure intended for private devotion, given its small size. The visible parts are covered with a thin layer of stucco and polychrome, while the rest is covered by real clothes. They are images that were especially liked for their naturalism, since by wearing authentic clothes a greater degree of realism was achieved than with the simply carved ones, which often did not have enough quality to achieve that degree of naturalism, so sought after in religious art since the Baroque.
St. Peter (Bethsaida, c. 1 B.C. - Rome, 67) was, according to the New Testament, a fisherman, known to be one of Jesus' twelve apostles. The Catholic Church identifies him through the apostolic succession as the first Pope, based, among other arguments, on the words addressed to him by Jesus: "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the power of Death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." St. Peter could be said to have been Jesus' confessor, his closest disciple, both being united by a very special bond, as narrated in both the canonical and apocryphal Gospels.