St. Peter
ca. 1440
The Netherlands, Utrecht
MS M.917/945, pp. 210–211
Purchased on the Belle da Costa Greene Fund with the assistance of the Fellows, 1963
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Three silver fish are entwined in the border below Peter, a fisherman before heeding the call of Christ and a fisher of men thereafter. In the miniature, the bearded apostle stands on a tiled floor before a textile background, a common setting for the images of saints in the Suffrages of Catherine's Book of Hours. The first pope, Peter, is clothed in priestly garb and carries a book and a large key . The key to the kingdom of heaven was promised to him by Christ in Matthew 16:19.