Saint Peter
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
"And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven."--Matthew 16:19 "One knocking at the door of paradise, Saint Peter looked out, and asked, Who's there ?' He that knocked answered, I am Pope Innocent the Tenth. ' ' Unlock the door, and come in,' said St. Peter. I have not the keys about me,' quoth the other. No, ' said St. Peter, you left them with Donna Olympia; go, fetch them. I do not use to turn the key for popes ; they may use their own keys.' The old man going thence discontented, saw a door standing open, into which he was invited to enter, and was told that he was welcome. ' Oh,' said Pluto, long looked for, come at last!'"--Pasquil against Pope Innocent X, in a letter from John Pell to John Thurloe |
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Saint Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. He is buried at the St. Peter's Basilica.
Popular culture
Over the years "St. Peter" has evolved into a stock character that is now widely used in jokes, cartoons, comedies, dramas, and plays. Such caricatures almost all play upon Peter's role as the "keeper of the keys of the kingdom of heaven" in Matthew 16:19, on the basis of which he is often depicted as an elderly, bearded man who sits at the pearly gates that serve as heaven's main entrance, often portrayed as a sort of hotel-style doorman / bouncer who personally interviews prospective entrants into Heaven, often seated behind a desk, or standing at a lectern. He usually has a big book in which the names of the saved are written.
In traditional Medieval iconography, Peter is a bald man with a long beard. He usually has one or more large keys in his hand or hanging from his belt.