Christ Giving the Keys to Peter

Christ Giving the Keys to Peter, 1600–1634. Pieter I de Jode (Flemish, 1570–1634), after Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640). Engraving. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Brenda and Evan H. Turner, 1992.201

Created in 1600 during the Late Renaissance/Mannerism period, this work belongs firmly within the religion & mythology tradition. Pieter I de Jode worked at a moment when the rivalry between Catholic Baroque drama and Protestant restraint reshaped what a painting could mean. Every gesture, fabric, and gleam of light was decoded by contemporary viewers like a private language.

Working in engraving at Unknown, Pieter I de Jode constructs depth through value contrast rather than outline, letting figures emerge from darkness the way they would under candlelight or through a shuttered window.

Look closely and the painting opens up. Objects you might pass over — a folded letter, a half-drawn curtain, the angle of a glance — were placed to be read. Figures and gestures here follow a visual vocabulary contemporary viewers would have read fluently — attributes, poses, and settings that identify who is who and what is at stake.

Today the painting is held by Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland, where it remains a touchstone for understanding Pieter I de Jode's contribution to Western art. It has been studied, copied, restored, and argued over for centuries — proof that great paintings keep generating new readings long after their creators have gone.

“A silence so complete it becomes its own witness.”