Tapestry based on Raphael cartoon: Christ’s Charge to Peter

This is one of three large tapestries in Glencairn’s collection based on a set of designs painted by the Renaissance artist Raphael (1483-1520). Raphael’s ten original paintings or “cartoons” were commissioned by Pope Leo X to make tapestries to hang on the lower portion of the walls of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican Palace. The scene illustrated in this tapestry represents the moment when the risen Christ appears to the Apostles for the third time and asks Simon Peter if he loves him (John 21:14-17). After each of the three positive replies, Christ charges Peter to tend and feed his lambs and sheep. Here, Christ stands and points to Peter with his right hand, and to the sheep behind him with his left hand. (See External Link.)

Sources:
- Jack Hinton, “History Repeating: The Story of Glencairn Museum’s Acts of the Apostles Tapestries,” _Glencairn Museum News_, Number 2, 2023.