An eighteenth-century wooden dossal enriched by a rococo-style carving decoration on the sides and at the top, delimits a niche in which there is a polychrome local stone statue depicting St. Peter in the chair. The niche, with a sober line, an early Renaissance motif, is similar to that found in the underground church of San Michele in Monte Laureto, containing a Madonna and Child.
The effigy of the Saint, stands out for its dignity of bearing with somatic features that characterize the humble fisherman of Galilee. With a somewhat rigid attitude, the Apostle presents the symbols of his high mandate: in his right hand he holds the two keys received from Christ, the golden and the silver (the spiritual authority of the priest and his knowledge), both necessary for the absolution of the sinner and admission to forgiveness; with his left he holds an open book in which vv. 8-9 of Chapter 5 of his first letter:
«Fratres sobrii estote et vigilate quia adversarius vester, diabolus, tamquam leo rugiens circuit quaerens quem devoret, cui resistite fortes in fide»
The representative style also wants to symbolize the direct dependence of our Church, "nullius", from the Vatican one, imitating it in the depiction of the Saint (refer to the beautiful bronze statue of Arnolfo di Cambio) as shown by the papal emblem carved on the pediment of the altar and on the pedestal of the two columns that flank it.
On the base we read:
«Hoc opus fieri fecit don(n)us Vit(us) Fanelli De Venera 1502».
This Vito Fanelli de Venera, who had the statue sculpted and donated, is a Putignanese priest, noted at n. 49 in the register of priests cited below.
The base is chipped in the sides, a damage perhaps caused by the time, when, in the middle of the eighteenth century, a rich carved and gilded wooden seat was placed, which, however, does not adapt well to the austere simplicity of the effigy.
The author is with certainty Stefano da Putignano, as demonstrated by relevant stylistic signs and specifically the way of composing the folds, which are loaded with chiaroscuro and rest with a studied order at the feet, which we find in other works of this period. slightly later such as the Pietà and the Madonna and Child of the Mother Church of Polignano a Mare. Again, the rendering of the face with the clear naturalistic signs of the wrinkled forehead, of the watchful eyes, of the thick beard, in the strong grip of the prehensile and noccolute hands and in the advancement of well-built knees.
News of this work is reported in the book of the "Notamento dei Sacerdoti", available in the archives of the Church, with a note that has all the air of being belated, and on p. 19 of the "Putignanesi Ephemerides" by Domenico Campanella, who writes about it:
"We see on the left hand as you enter a chapel all gilded with its prominent effigy, so well defined and sculpted by the virtuous Stefano Pugliese our citizen, that it incites devotion, and satisfies the eye in those who hold back to contemplate it".