Christ giving the keys to Peter

Summary

A reproduction produced by the Vasari Society of a drawing by Raphael. The drawing, in red chalk, shows a figure on the right with his right arm raised in the air. He appears to be wearing only underclothes, and is bare-legged and barefoot. He is looking down at a man, also partially clothed, who is kneeling in front of him, holding some keys which are loosely sketched. Eight figures can be seen standing behind the kneeling man; the foremost of these is stepping forwards towards the man on right, with his hands joined in front of him. Text from the accompanying booklet produced by the Vasari Society: "7. RAPHAEL (b. 1483; d. 1520) CHRIST GIVING THE KEYS TO PETER Royal Library, Windsor Castle. Red chalk. 25.7 x 37.5 cm. (10 1/8 x 14 3/4 in.). The deviations in this design from the tapestry cartoon at Kensington (for which it is a study) are too conspicuous for comment, notably in the action of the Saviour, who has been drawn from some model or apprentice of Raphael's stripped to the shirt, whilst other figures retain entirely or in part their every-day clothes. The composition is not only in reverse but is shaded from left to right; this last characteristic proves that the Windsor page - fine and vivid as it is - is not the actual original but a singularly sharp off-set from a drawing by the master, of which the study for Christ in the Louvre, identical in every stroke of the chalk, is all that is left. The Louvre fragment has been, in part, cut out and mended in the left foot and in the left sleeve. The Windsor version therefore preserves in its entirety (but in reverse) the original design which at some time has been cut up, in all probability, by some dealer. C. R."