De apostel Petrus 1518 - 1550

This small woodcut depicts the Apostle Peter and was made by an anonymous artist. The keys held by Peter allude to the “keys to the kingdom of heaven” promised to him by Christ, keys that would historically come to represent the authority of the Pope in Rome. Images such as this were made across Europe during the early age of print. Small, portable, and relatively inexpensive, they allowed for the quick dissemination of imagery, especially during the tumult of the Reformation, when the Catholic Church faced unprecedented challenges to its authority. Woodcuts like this played a crucial role in bolstering the traditional iconography of the Church. As historians, we need to look at how the image circulated, who paid for it, and who it was intended for. These are the kinds of questions that can help us to understand the public role of art and the politics of imagery in the past.