Saint Peter

Paolo Emilio Besenzi spent his whole career in Reggio Emilia, a small city in the Po valley, and he did a bit of everything there: painting, carving in stucco, and designing altars and buildings. He had learned to paint in nearby Bologna, in the studio of Francesco Albani, one of the leading names of that school. This Saint Peter dates from around 1650, a few years before Besenzi died. It shows the apostle Peter, the fisherman whom Christ made the first of his followers, holding the keys of heaven that are traditionally his emblem. Besenzi was also an architect, and he designed the high altar of the Reggio Emilia church where he was himself later buried.