Gospel in Art - Feast of Saints Peter and Paul

SS Peter & Paul, Carlo Crivelli © National Gallery

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 29 June 2022
Matthew 16:13-19

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, 'Who do people say the Son of Man is?' And they said, 'Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.' 'But you,' he said 'who do you say I am?' Then Simon Peter spoke up, 'You are the Christ,' he said 'the Son of the living God.' Jesus replied, 'Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.'

Reflection on the painting

Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Peter & Saint Paul. There is evidence of an already lengthy tradition of celebrating the solemnities of both saints on the 29th of June as early as the year 258 AD. Both are regarded as the founders of the See of Rome, through their preaching, their active ministry and martyrdom there.

In our painting by Carlo Crivelli, we see both saints deep in conversation over a Bible passage, with Peter pointing out a particular passage to Paul. Paul carries his own copy that includes a bookmark in the passage that he has selected to show Peter. Both saints have bare feet and tooled gilt haloes. Peter is holding a weighty set of keys hanging from his left wrist: the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, given to him by Christ at the end of today's Gospel passage. Saint Paul is depicted with long dark hair, leaning on the sword used to execute him. Together they symbolise the Catholic Church: Paul as Apostle to the Gentiles (non-Jews) and Peter as Vicar of Christ and first Bishop of Rome.

Jesus saw the amazing potential in Peter. Even though Peter was flawed, emotional, impulsive, volatile, Jesus nevertheless chose him to build his church on. But Peter knew his own weaknesses. He knew that he could only build Christ's church by being entirely dependent on Him.

LINKS
Christian Art: www.christian.art
Today's image: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/matthew-16-13-19-2022-3/