Saint Peter Enthroned

Rodrigo de Osona's Saint Peter Enthroned in the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya is among the surviving works by the foremost Valencian painter of the third quarter of the fifteenth century. Osona, influenced by both Flemish painting and the Italian artists who came to work at the Valencian court, developed a distinctive style that shaped Spanish painting in the eastern Mediterranean region. Saint Peter enthroned in papal regalia — keys in hand, tiara or papal crown — asserts apostolic authority and the institutional continuity of the Roman church from Peter to the contemporary papacy, a common theme in church altarpiece programs.

Peter is shown enthroned in papal vestments, the keys of heaven in hand, his papal tiara or crown establishing his status as first bishop of Rome. Osona renders the elaborate vestments with Flemish attention to textile pattern. The throne is elaborately architectural, reflecting both Gothic and early Renaissance decorative vocabulary.