Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter (Sistine Chapel)
| Delivery of the Keys | |
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| Artist | Perugino |
| Year | c. 1481–1482 |
| Type | Fresco |
| Dimensions | 330 cm × 550 cm (130 in × 220 in) |
| Location | Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, Rome |
The Delivery of the Keys, or Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter is a fresco by the Italian Renaissance painter Pietro Perugino, executed in 1481–1482 and located in the Sistine Chapel, Rome.
The commission of the work originated in 1480, when Perugino was decorating a chapel in the Old St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Pope Sixtus IV was pleased by his work, and decided to commission him also the decoration of the new Chapel he had built in the Vatican Palace. Due to the size of the work, Perugino was later joined by a group of painters from Florence, including Botticelli, Ghirlandaio and others.
The scene, part of the series of the Stories of Jesus on the chapel's northern wall, is a reference to Matthew 16 in which the "keys of the kingdom of heaven" are given to Saint Peter. These keys represent the power to forgive and to share the word of God thereby giving them the power to allow others into heaven. The main figures are organized in a frieze in two tightly compressed rows close to the surface of the picture and well below the horizon. The principal group, showing Christ handing the silver and gold keys to the kneeling St. Peter, is surrounded by the other Apostles, including Judas (fifth figure to the left of Christ), all with halos, together with portraits of contemporaries, including one said to be a self-portrait (fifth from the right edge). The flat, open square is divided by coloured stones into large foreshortened rectangles. In the center of the painting is the porticoed Temple of Solomon. On either side are triumphal arches. Scattered in the middle distance are two scenes from the life of Christ, including the Tribute Money on the left and the Stoning of Christ on the right.
The style of the figures is inspired by Andrea del Verrocchio. The active drapery, with its massive complexity, and the figures, particularly several apostles, including St. John the Evangelist, with beautiful features, long flowing hair, elegant demeanour, and refinement recall St Thomas from Verrocchio's bronze group in Orsanmichele. The poses of the actors fall into a small number of basic attitudes that are consistently repeated, usually in reverse from one side to the other, signifying the use of the same cartoon. They are graceful and elegant figures who tend to stand firmly on the earth. Their heads are smallish in proportion to the rest of their bodies, and their features are delicately distilled with considerable attention to minor detail.
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