THE IMAGE OF SAINT PETER
16th century Flemish carving of black oak and hollow inside. It responds to the iconographic model of the time and that the work over the centuries has had modifications that respond to changes in fashion or tastes. In this way, the sculpture presents important modifications to adapt it to a more baroque aesthetic and another iconography, transforming a Saint Peter the Apostle into a Saint Peter invested as Pope.
In the study of the inventories of partitions of Tazacorte, carried out by Jesús Pérez Morera, appears in 1557 as an inventory of the hermitage of San Miguel de Tazacorte "the image of San Miguel, with a crucifix placed on the bulky cross, and the image of Saint Peter in his box, covered by a layer of old velvet”. The box is supposed to be a Flemish altarpiece. He also says the inventory: ”along with other pieces that are still preserved today, such as the « image of San Miguel de bulko » or « a crucifix placed on the cross de bulko ».
In 1613, this Saint Peter was venerated in his own altarpiece, in the same way that the images of Christ and Saint Michael the Archangel were worshiped in their respective altarpieces and as the “olio of Our Lady” integrated the iconographic ensemble of the main altarpiece. Lady with a child Jesus" and the "turned" images of "Santa Anna and Our Lady with the Child Jesus"
Another historical fact provided is that in 1948, when Santiago Hernández Rodríguez was the parish priest, the saint was lowered, together with the painting of the Martyrs, to the Puerto de Tazacorte for the feast of Saint Peter and “the fact is that it is the first time for now that an image processions through the sea. They embarked to San Pedro and for a time the image remained in the port until Don Ángel Luis, being a parish priest, went up to Tazacorte.
The work was radically intervened, so that its original iconography of Saint Peter the Apostle was transformed by criteria of fashion and cult needs into an image of Saint Peter invested as Pope.
This image has been restored leaving it as close to its original state as possible. To do this, all the symbols that tell us about Saint Peter Pope were removed to return to being Saint Peter the Apostle. It has returned to its Church of San Miguel and put to worship again on March 9, 2022, by the restoration workshop of the Cabildo de La Palma under the direction of Isabel Santos and Isabel Concepción.
This finding was announced in February 2014 in the restoration workshop of the Cabildo Insular.
You can access the restoration report at this link.
In this link you can access the photo gallery
