The Sacrament of Ordination (Christ Presenting the Keys to Saint Peter), c. 1636–40

The Sacrament of Ordination is from one of the most celebrated groups of paintings in the entire history of art, a series by Poussin called The Seven Sacraments. To illustrate ordination—the taking of holy orders to become a priest—Poussin depicted the gospel account of Christ giving the keys of heaven and earth to the kneeling apostle Peter, showing the authority vested in him as head of the Roman church: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church . . . I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 16:18–19).

Poussin infused the picture with emotional power, conveyed through the varied gestures and expressions of each apostle. The figure at the far right, with his face obscured in shadow, is Judas Iscariot, who will betray Christ and is shown beneath the gallows tree from which he will hang himself. Matthew, the oldest of the Apostles and whose gospel account relates the story being depicted, is to the left of Judas. Next to Matthew is John, the youngest of the Apostles. The men discoursing in the distance, on the opposite bank of the River Jordan, may depict a grove of ancient philosophers, recalling the old order that gives way to the new order instituted by Christ. On the painting’s far left in the middle distance, the walking man reading a book is Paul, who was not one of the original Twelve Apostles and never actually met Christ but who would go on to spread the gospel.

Cassiano dal Pozzo, secretary to Cardinal Francesco Barberini and one of Poussin’s most important patrons, commissioned The Seven Sacraments. Charles Manners, 4th Duke of Rutland, purchased the paintings from the heirs of Cassiano dal Pozzo in 1785 and installed them at Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire. The duke had consulted the English painter Sir Joshua Reynolds, who proclaimed the series to be “the greatest work of Poussin, who was certainly one of the greatest Painters that ever lived.” Of the original seven paintings, the Duke of Rutland retains Marriage; Baptism belongs to the National Gallery of Art, Washington; Eucharist to the National Gallery, London; Confirmation to the Abu Dhabi Collection, and Extreme Unction to the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK. Penance was destroyed in a fire in 1816.