Relief of St. Peter Released from Prison

It is one of the two marble reliefs representing the liberation and the Crucifixion of St. Peter by Luca della Robbia. The attribution to the artist is supported by the documents traced by Rumohr. Both pieces were part of an altar for the chapel of St. Peter commissioned to Luca by the Opera of the Cathedral in 1439, along with that for the Chapel of St. Paul never started. The two altars were probably to be constructed on a model produced by Brunelleschi in 1435; Perhaps the altar was never finished as there is no trace left except the low-reliefs examined. Gentilini advances the hypothesis that the incompleteness of the altar may coincide with Luca’s decision to abandon marble sculpture. These reveal the style, the influences of Ghiberti and Jacopo