Saint Peter

Vic Cathedral is dedicated to Saint Peter, so there are several images of this saint – the prince of Jesus' apostles – from the Cathedral. Saint Peter is usually portrayed as an old man with a beard. His most characteristic attribute is the key, symbolising the key to Heaven. We see him this way in the image next to it (MEV 10643). This image, on the other hand, bears a phylactery with the inscription Domine quo vadis. It therefore corresponds to the moment when Saint Peter, fleeing Rome, met Jesus carrying the cross. Peter asked him: “Domine quo vadis”, meaning “My lord, where are you going?”; and Jesus replied: “I am coming to Rome, to be crucified again.” Then Peter, ashamed, returned to Rome and was martyred there. From the stylistic point of view, this work has points in common with the production of the sculptors Jordi de Déu and Pere Oller. Given the latter's links with Vic Cathedral as the maker of the high altarpiece it seems more realistic to consider it the work of Oller, from a very early moment in his career.