Artwork
Christ's Charge to Peter
Christ's Charge to Peter is a print by the Baroque artist Nicholas Dorigny. It dates from 1719 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Overview
The print titled “Christ’s Charge to Peter” presents the biblical moment when Jesus entrusts Peter with the care of his followers, merging passages from Matthew and John. Rendered in a Baroque aesthetic, the image is a reversed copy of one of Raphael’s celebrated cartoons, which originally served as full‑size designs for tapestries.
Subject & Meaning
In the composition, Christ hands Peter the symbolic keys of heaven and exhorts him to shepherd the faithful, reflecting the theological emphasis on Peter’s authority within the early Church. The surrounding landscape, including a lake that continues the scene from an adjacent tapestry of the Miraculous Draught of Fishes, reinforces the narrative continuity.
Technique & Style
The work is a printed reproduction, executed in reverse of Raphael’s original cartoon. While the cartoon itself was a large-scale, full‑color design for tapestry, the print translates its composition through engraving techniques that emerged in the early sixteenth century, preserving the dramatic chiaroscuro and dynamic movement characteristic of Baroque visual language.
History & Provenance
Raphael’s cartoons were commissioned in the early 1500s and completed by 1516, the year he received final payment. The original designs remain in the Royal Collection, loaned to the museum since 1865. The earliest known print of these cartoons dates to 1516, initiating a print‑making tradition that spans more than four centuries.
Legacy
Prints after Raphael’s cartoons, such as this one, were widely disseminated and discussed, exemplified by a 1711 editorial in the Spectator praising their devotional value. The enduring circulation of these images illustrates their role in shaping visual interpretations of Peter’s biblical charge across successive generations of artists and viewers.
Artist & collection
Artist
This guy made prints that feel like travel souvenirs from another century. He carved religious scenes so crisp they look like photographs—except the robes are a little too dramatic. A friend once pointed out how he…
