Located within the Vatican Museums in Rome are two very interesting, and small, depictions of the apostles Ss. Peter and Paul. Originally these took the form of a diptych -- meaning that the two portraits were connected in the middle in such a way that they could be closed like a book, with the portraits being on the interior.
The dating on these panels is subject to some speculation, but most sources seem to place them to the approximate period of the fifth through eighth centuries -- though I have seen at least one source putting the diptych as early as even the fourth century.
This diptych was, within the medieval period, kept within the treasury of Old St. Peter's Basilica, and it is suggested by some that an event taken the legend of St. Silvester may well have come with specific reference to this diptych. The legend in question tell us of the two apostles appearing in a dream to the Emperor Constantine, instructing him to be baptized by St. Silvester -- who reigned as Roman pontiff from A.D. 314-335. The two men were unknown to Constantine, but heeding their admonition he was indeed so baptized and St. Silvester showed the neophyte emperor the images of Ss. Peter and Paul whom Constantine immediately recognized as the unknown men who had appeared in his dream.
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| St Sylvester showing the images of Ss. Peter and Paul to the newly baptized Constantine. Chapel of St. Sylvester in the Basilica of Santi Quattro Coronati, Rome |
The individual icon panels that make up the diptych are quite small in size, each measuring only 5.6 cm by 8.2 cm (approximately 2.25" x 3.25") -- meaning that when the diptych was fully opened, it would be approximately five inches in width.
If one looks more closely at each individual panel, one can readily identify the classic features of each saint, with St. Peter having a fuller, greying head of hair and shorter beard, while St. Paul is depicted with his characteristic balding head and longer beard of brown. Both are shown in period attire.
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| St. Peter |
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| St. Paul |
What is certain is that it is edifying to see early depictions such as this of these two venerable apostles and founders of the Church in Rome. It is further edifying to note that, even without the benefit of the labelling, even now, well over a millennia or more later, most Christians of the Catholic and Orthodox traditions would be able to readily identify which saint was which; a testament to the continuity of a tradition that has handed down over the centuries details of how Ss. Peter and Paul would have appeared to their own contemporaries.
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