Christ's Charge to St Peter

Jesus, clad in a white mantle, stands on the left beside a flock of sheep, representing his followers. St. Peter kneels before him in a yellow and blue robe, clutching two large keys, while the remaining disciples stand behind him in a dense group. The scene is set in an expansive landscape with a coastal village and mountains visible under a soft sky.

This composition illustrates the 'Traditio Clavium' or the 'Charge to Peter,' establishing the foundation of spiritual authority and the transmission of divine governance. Within the intellectual circle of Pope Leo X—a former pupil of Marsilio Ficino—this work reflects the High Renaissance synthesis of Christian theology with the hierarchical order characteristic of Neoplatonic thought.