Saint Peter Martyr

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

How you can use this image

This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).

Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.

The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.

Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.

Buy a print or image licence

You can purchase this reproduction

If you have any products in your basket we recommend that you complete your purchase from Art UK before you leave our site to avoid losing your purchases.

Notes

Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.

A saint holding a lily and a book gazes upwards, seemingly untroubled by the curved knife which splits his skull and the dagger in his shoulder. His hair is tonsured (shaved) to show that he was a member of a religious order, and he wears the black and white uniform of the Dominicans. This is Peter Martyr, the second Dominican saint and their first martyr.

The lily is the symbol of his lifelong chastity, while the book represents his writings and his scholarly attitude to his faith. The Dominicans believed in intellectual rigour and the pursuit of truth. They were very important in fifteenth-century Padua as they were closely involved in its university, one of the oldest in Italy.

He once stood at the right side of a polyptych (a multi-panelled altarpiece) painted by Giorgio Schiavone, possibly for the church of San Niccolò in Padua.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

Saint Peter Martyr

Date

probably 1456-61

Medium

Tempera on wood

Measurements

H 66 x W 23 cm

Accession number

NG630.4

Acquisition method

Bought, 1860

Work type

Painting

Tags

See a tag that’s incorrect or offensive? Challenge it and notify Art UK.

Help improve Art UK. Tag artworks and verify existing tags by joining the Tagger community.

Normally on display at

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

This venue is open to the public. Not all artworks are on display. If you want to see a particular artwork, please contact the venue.
View venue