ABOUT THE CHURCH AND THE VATICAN

PORTRAITS OF ST. PETER

Here is the companion portrait of St. Peter found last week in the same ceiling fresco in a cubicle of the catacombs of St. Tecla as the one of Saint Paul. [See earlier post on this page.]

(Similar portraits of two other apostles were uncovered, thought to be Saints John and James the Elder, but no photos have been released yet).




Below, detail of St. Peter's head from Michelangelo's 1550 fresco of The Crucifixion of Peter in the newly-restored Pauline Chapel at the Vatican:




The iconography of both Saints Peter and Paul appears to have been established pretty well by the 3rd-4th century when the Tecla portraits were done. (See photos in the banner strip above for this post).