Saint Peter’s altarpiece

Author: Unknown

Title: 1617 – 1618

Material: Gilded and polychromed woodcarving

Dimensions (cm): H 408 x W 304 x L 69

Provenance: Guimarães, Brotherhood of Saint Peter, Capela de São João Batista

Inventory N.º: MAS E 4

 

Altarpiece that belonged to the Brotherhood of Saint Peter and that, after 1616, became part of the Capela de São João Batista, in the Chapter Room of the Colegiada de Nossa Senhora da Oliveira.

In gilded woodcarving, following the Mannerist style, it is divided into three horizontal bodies, cut by three vertical bodies. In the niche of the central body, there may have been a sculpture of Saint Peter. Flanking it, the lateral bodies are decorated with reliefs of Saint John the Evangelist and Saint Paul. On the top of the set, in relief, there’s a panel of Saint John the Baptist, patron saint of the chapel this altarpiece belonged to. On the predella, three panels tell the story of the apostle Saint Peter: the saint in prison, the saint present during the via crucis of Christ and his crucifixion head down.