Final answer:
No text provided a literal person holding a key to Paradise; rather, the concept is metaphorical, referring to divine grace or authority to grant access to the afterlife. In Christian theology, God or Christ is depicted as having sovereign control over entrance to Paradise, symbolically holding its key.
Step-by-step explanation:
The concept of 'the key to Paradise' can be interpreted in many ways, depending on the context. In a literal sense, none of these texts suggest that a physical person possesses a key to Paradise. However, figuratively, the key to Paradise can be a metaphor for divine grace, redemption, or access to heavenly afterlife, which in many religious beliefs is granted by a deity, such as God in Christian theology.
In one of the excerpts, the pediment represents the House of Paradise, and it depicts saints and a scene where the souls of the dead are weighed and then admitted to heaven or hell. Here, the use of the key isn't literal but symbolic, indicating divinely granted access to Paradise post-judgment. In the context of the Old Testament and Christian theology, God has the sovereignty over the access to Paradise. This is why the pediment shows angels opening the graves and a division between the entryway to Paradise and Hell, representing the outcome of divine judgment.
In another excerpt, the discussion about Adam and Eve's punishment by God after taking the forbidden fruit suggests that God has foreknowledge and ultimate control over the access to Paradise – which by extension implies that God 'possesses' the key to Paradise in a metaphorical sense.
Lastly, the description of Christ sitting on an orb, with references to the four rivers of paradise, further reinforces the idea of a divine being (in this case, Christ) having authority over Paradise and thus metaphorically holding its key.