Saints Peter and Paul

Around 1490 Crivelli built a large altarpiece for the cathedral of Camerino, a town in the Marche. Its centre, a Madonna known as the Madonna della Candeletta, hangs today in the Brera in Milan, and the side panels ended up here in Venice. The altarpiece did not survive intact because the cathedral itself did not: an earthquake destroyed it in 1799 and the pieces were scattered. This panel still carries the damage. The whole left side, with half of Saint Peter, has broken away and leaves the bare wood exposed. What remains shows Peter and Paul with their heavy gospel books, Peter's finger resting on an open page as if in the middle of explaining it.