Saint Peter

The saint is shown as an elderly, bearded man with his traditional attributes, a set of keys and a closed book, lying on the ground before him. A landscape is visible through an opening in the cavern behind the figure. The engraving uses a sophisticated system of swelling and tapering lines to define the form and textures of the skin and drapery.

This print is the first in a series by Goltzius depicting Christ and the Apostles, each corresponding to an article of the Apostles' Creed. It illustrates the late 16th-century intellectual effort to visualize the foundational tenets of Christian natural philosophy and faith through the virtuosity of the Haarlem Mannerist style.