Vitale da Bologna and Workshop, The Resurrection: The Upper Room
Circa 1351-60
Fresco
Pomposa Abbey, Codigoro, Italy
John 20:19 says that on the evening of the Sunday when Jesus was resurrected the Apostles were gathered behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. Acts 1:13 refers to it as "the upper room." The locks notwithstanding, Jesus suddenly appeared in their midst. The image shows a sturdy lock on the door. On the right stands a man in a medieval Jew's cap with eyes like the villain in a James Bond parody; on the left, a hostile crowd.
The man in the center is St. Peter with his square beard and oddly rendered bald spot. The portrait has been clumsily reworked to give him pressed-together hands rather than arms crossed over his chest. Beneath the hands one can see a bit of the table with perhaps a small loaf on it.
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Photographed at the abbey by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.