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St. Peter's Basilica

January 26, 2023

For other uses, see St. Peter's Basilica (disambiguation).

The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (Italian: Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica (Latin: Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal enclave that is within the city of Rome, Italy. It was initially planned by Pope Nicholas V and then Pope Julius II to replace the aging Old St. Peter's Basilica, which was built in the fourth century by Roman emperor Constantine the Great. Construction of the present basilica began on 18 April 1506 and was completed on 18 November 1626.[2]

Saint Peter's Basilica
Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican
  • Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano (Italian)
  • Basilica Sancti Petri (Latin)
Main façade and dome of St. Peter's Basilica, seen from St. Peter's Square
41°54′08″N 12°27′12″E / 41.90222°N 12.45333°E / 41.90222; 12.45333Coordinates: 41°54′08″N 12°27′12″E / 41.90222°N 12.45333°E / 41.90222; 12.45333
CountryVatican City
DenominationCatholic
TraditionRoman Rite
WebsiteSt. Peter's Basilica
History
StatusPapal major basilica
DedicationSaint Peter
Consecrated18 November 1626
Architecture
Architect(s)
StyleRenaissance and Baroque
Groundbreaking18 April 1506
Completed18 November 1626 (1626-11-18)
Specifications
Length220 metres (720 ft)
Width150 metres (490 ft)
Height136.6 metres (448 ft)[1]
Nave height46.2 metres (152 ft)
Dome diameter (outer)42 metres (138 ft)
Dome diameter (inner)41.5 metres (136 ft)
Administration
DioceseRome
Clergy
ArchpriestMauro Gambetti
Official nameVatican City
TypeCultural
Criteriai, ii, iv, vi
Designated1984 (8th session)
Reference no.286
RegionEurope and North America

Designed principally by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, St. Peter's is the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture[3] and the largest church in the world by interior measure.[note 1] While it is neither the mother church of the Catholic Church nor the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome (these equivalent titles being held by the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome), St. Peter's is regarded as one of the holiest Catholic shrines. It has been described as "holding a unique position in the Christian world"[4] and as "the greatest of all churches of Christendom."[3][5]

Catholic tradition holds that the basilica is the burial site of Saint Peter, chief among Jesus's apostles and also the first Bishop of Rome (Pope). Saint Peter's tomb is supposedly directly below the high altar of the basilica, also known as the Altar of the Confession.[6] For this reason, many popes have been interred at St. Peter's since the Early Christian period.

St. Peter's is famous as a place of pilgrimage and for its liturgical functions. The pope presides at a number of liturgies throughout the year both within the basilica or the adjoining St. Peter's Square; these liturgies draw audiences numbering from 15,000 to over 80,000 people.[7] St. Peter's has many historical associations, with the Early Christian Church, the Papacy, the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-reformation and numerous artists, especially Michelangelo. As a work of architecture, it is regarded as the greatest building of its age.[8] St. Peter's is one of the four churches in the world that hold the rank of Major papal basilica, all four of which are in Rome, and is also one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome. Contrary to popular misconception, it is not a cathedral because it is not the seat of a bishop; the cathedra of the pope as bishop of Rome is at Saint John Lateran.[9]

Overview

 
View from the Tiber on Ponte Sant'Angelo and the Basilica. The iconic dome dominates the skyline of Rome.

St. Peter's is a church built in the Renaissance style located in the Vatican City west of the River Tiber and near the Janiculum Hill and Hadrian's Mausoleum. Its central dome dominates the skyline of Rome. The basilica is approached via St. Peter's Square, a forecourt in two sections, both surrounded by tall colonnades. The first space is oval and the second trapezoidal. The façade of the basilica, with a giant order of columns, stretches across the end of the square and is approached by steps on which stand two 5.55 metres (18.2 ft) statues of the first-century apostles to Rome, Saints Peter and Paul.[10][11]

The basilica is cruciform in shape, with an elongated nave in the Latin cross form but the early designs were for a centrally planned structure and this is still in evidence in the architecture. The central space is dominated both externally and internally by one of the largest domes in the world. The entrance is through a narthex, or entrance hall, which stretches across the building. One of the decorated bronze doors leading from the narthex is the Holy Door, only opened during jubilees.[10]

The interior dimensions are vast when compared to other churches.[2] One author wrote: "Only gradually does it dawn upon us – as we watch people draw near to this or that monument, strangely they appear to shrink; they are, of course, dwarfed by the scale of everything in the building. This in its turn overwhelms us."[12]

The nave which leads to the central dome is in three bays, with piers supporting a barrel vault, the highest of any church. The nave is framed by wide aisles which have a number of chapels off them. There are also chapels surrounding the dome. Moving around the basilica in a clockwise direction they are: The Baptistery, the Chapel of the Presentation of the Virgin, the larger Choir Chapel, the altar of the Transfiguration, the Clementine Chapel with the altar of Saint Gregory, the Sacristy Entrance, the Altar of the Lie, the left transept with altars to the Crucifixion of Saint Peter, Saint Joseph and Saint Thomas, the altar of the Sacred Heart, the Chapel of the Madonna of Column, the altar of Saint Peter and the Paralytic, the apse with the Chair of Saint Peter, the altar of Saint Peter raising Tabitha, the altar of St. Petronilla, the altar of the Archangel Michael, the altar of the Navicella, the right transept with altars of Saint Erasmus, Saints Processo and Martiniano, and Saint Wenceslas, the altar of St. Jerome, the altar of Saint Basil, the Gregorian Chapel with the altar of the Madonna of Succour, the larger Chapel of the Holy Sacrament, the Chapel of Saint Sebastian and the Chapel of the Pietà.[10] The Monuments, in a clockwise direction, are to: Maria Clementina Sobieski, The Stuarts, Benedict XV, John XXIII, St. Pius X, Innocent VIII, Leo XI, Innocent XI, Pius VII, Pius VIII, Alexander VII, Alexander VIII, Paul III, Urban VIII, Clement X, Clement XIII, Benedict XIV, St Peter (Bronze Statue), Gregory XVI, Gregory XIV, Gregory XIII, Matilda of Canossa, Innocent XII, Pius XII, Pius XI, Christina of Sweden, Leo XII. At the heart of the basilica, beneath the high altar, is the Confessio or Chapel of the Confession, in reference to the confession of faith by St. Peter, which led to his martyrdom. Two curving marble staircases lead to this underground chapel at the level of the Constantinian church and immediately above the purported burial place of Saint Peter.

The entire interior of St. Peter's is lavishly decorated with marble, reliefs, architectural sculpture and gilding. The basilica contains a large number of tombs of popes and other notable people, many of which are considered outstanding artworks. There are also a number of sculptures in niches and chapels, including Michelangelo's Pietà. The central feature is a baldachin, or canopy over the Papal Altar, designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The apse culminates in a sculptural ensemble, also by Bernini, and containing the symbolic Chair of Saint Peter.

One observer wrote: "St Peter's Basilica is the reason why Rome is still the centre of the civilized world. For religious, historical, and architectural reasons it by itself justifies a journey to Rome, and its interior offers a palimpsest of artistic styles at their best ..."[13]

The American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson described St. Peter's as "an ornament of the earth ... the sublime of the beautiful."[14]

 
Panorama of St. Peter's Square

Status

St. Peter's Basilica is one of the papal basilicas (previously styled "patriarchal basilicas")[note 2] and one of the four Major Basilicas of Rome, the other Major Basilicas (all of which are also Papal Basilicas) being the Basilicas of St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul outside the Walls. The rank of major basilica confers on St. Peter's Basilica precedence before all minor basilicas worldwide. However, unlike all the other Papal Major Basilicas, it is wholly within the territory, and thus the sovereign jurisdiction, of the Vatican City State, and not that of Italy.[15] This is in contrast to the other three Papal Major Basilicas, which are within Italian territory and not the territory of the Vatican City State. (Lateran Treaty of 1929, Article 15 (Ibidem)) However, the Holy See fully owns these three basilicas, and Italy is legally obligated to recognize its full ownership thereof (Lateran Treaty of 1929, Article 13 (Ibidem)) and to concede to all of them "the immunity granted by International Law to the headquarters of the diplomatic agents of foreign States" (Lateran Treaty of 1929, Article 15 (Ibidem)).

 
Bishops at the Second Vatican Council in 1962

It is the most prominent building in the Vatican City. Its dome is a feature of the skyline of Rome. Probably the largest church in Christendom,[note 1] it covers an area of 2.3 hectares (5.7 acres). One of the holiest sites of Christianity and Catholic Tradition, it is traditionally the burial site of its titular, St. Peter, who was the head of the twelve Apostles of Jesus and, according to tradition, the first Bishop of Antioch and later the first Bishop of Rome, rendering him the first Pope. Although the New Testament does not mention St. Peter's martyrdom in Rome, tradition, based on the writings of the Fathers of the Church,[clarification needed] holds that his tomb is below the baldachin and the altar of the Basilica in the "Confession". For this reason, many Popes have, from the early years of the Church, been buried near Pope St. Peter in the necropolis beneath the Basilica. Construction of the current basilica, over the old Constantinian basilica, began on 18 April 1506 and finished in 1615. At length, on 18 November 1626 Pope Urban VIII solemnly dedicated the Basilica.[2]

St. Peter's Basilica is neither the Pope's official seat nor first in rank among the Major Basilicas of Rome. This honour is held by the Pope's cathedral, the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran which is the mother church of all churches in communion with the Catholic Church. However, St. Peter's is certainly the Pope's principal church in terms of use because most Papal liturgies and ceremonies take place there due to its size, proximity to the Papal residence, and location within the Vatican City proper. The "Chair of Saint Peter", or cathedra, an ancient chair sometimes presumed to have been used by St. Peter himself, but which was a gift from Charles the Bald and used by many popes, symbolizes the continuing line of apostolic succession from St. Peter to the reigning Pope. It occupies an elevated position in the apse of the Basilica, supported symbolically by the Doctors of the Church and enlightened symbolically by the Holy Spirit.[16]

As one of the constituent structures of the historically and architecturally significant Vatican City, St. Peter's Basilica was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984 under criteria (i), (ii), (iv), and (vi).[17] With an exterior area of 21,095 square metres (227,060 sq ft),[18] an interior area of 15,160 square metres (163,200 sq ft),[19][20] St. Peter's Basilica is the largest Christian church building in the world by the two latter metrics and the second largest by the first as of 2016. The top of its dome, at 448.1 feet (136.6 m), also places it as the second tallest building in Rome as of 2016.[21] The dome's soaring height placed it among the tallest buildings of the Old World, and it continues to hold the title of tallest dome in the world. Though the largest dome in the world by diameter at the time of its completion, it no longer holds this distinction.[22]

History

Saint Peter's burial site

Main article: Saint Peter's tomb
 
A modern conjectural reconstruction of the relative locations of the circus, and the medieval and current Basilicas of St. Peter.[23]

After the crucifixion of Jesus, it is recorded in the Biblical book of the Acts of the Apostles that one of his twelve disciples, Simon known as Saint Peter, a fisherman from Galilee, took a leadership position among Jesus' followers and was of great importance in the founding of the Christian Church. The name Peter is "Petrus" in Latin and "Petros" in Greek, deriving from "petra" which means "stone" or "rock" in Greek, and is the literal translation of the Aramaic "Kepa", the name given to Simon by Jesus. (John 1:42, and see Matthew 16:18)

Catholic tradition holds that Peter, after a ministry of thirty-four years, travelled to Rome and met his martyrdom there along with Paul on 13 October 64 AD during the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero. His execution was one of the many martyrdoms of Christians following the Great Fire of Rome. According to Jerome, Peter was crucified head downwards, by his own request because he considered himself unworthy to die in the same manner as Jesus.[24] The crucifixion took place near an ancient Egyptian obelisk in the Circus of Nero.[25] The obelisk now stands in St. Peter's Square and is revered as a "witness" to Peter's death. It is one of several ancient Obelisks of Rome.[26]

According to tradition, Peter's remains were buried just outside the Circus, on the Mons Vaticanus across the Via Cornelia from the Circus, less than 150 metres (490 ft) from his place of death. The Via Cornelia was a road which ran east-to-west along the north wall of the Circus on land now covered by the southern portions of the Basilica and St. Peter's Square. A shrine was built on this site some years later. Almost three hundred years later, Old St. Peter's Basilica was constructed over this site.[25]

The area now covered by the Vatican City had been a cemetery for some years before the Circus of Nero was built. It was a burial ground for the numerous executions in the Circus and contained many Christian burials because for many years after the burial of Saint Peter many Christians chose to be buried near Peter.

In 1939, in the reign of Pope Pius XII, 10 years of archaeological research began under the crypt of the basilica in an area inaccessible since the ninth century. The excavations revealed the remains of shrines of different periods at different levels, from Clement VIII (1594) to Callixtus II (1123) and Gregory I (590–604), built over an aedicula containing fragments of bones that were folded in a tissue with gold decorations, tinted with the precious murex purple. Although it could not be determined with certainty that the bones were those of Peter, the rare vestments suggested a burial of great importance. On 23 December 1950, in his pre-Christmas radio broadcast to the world, Pope Pius XII announced the discovery of Saint Peter's tomb.[27]

Old St. Peter's Basilica

 
Maarten van Heemskerck - Santa Maria della Febbre, Vatican Obelisk, Saint Peter's Basilica in construction (1532)
 
A conjectural view of the Old St. Peter's Basilica by H. W. Brewer, 1891
Main article: Old St. Peter's Basilica

Old St. Peter's Basilica was the fourth-century church begun by the Emperor Constantine the Great between 319 and 333 AD.[28] It was of typical basilical form, a wide nave and two aisles on each side and an apsidal end, with the addition of a transept or bema, giving the building the shape of a tau cross. It was over 103.6 metres (340 ft) long, and the entrance was preceded by a large colonnaded atrium. This church had been built over the small shrine believed to mark the burial place of St. Peter, though the tomb was "smashed" in 846 AD.[29] It contained a very large number of burials and memorials, including those of most of the popes from St. Peter to the 15th century. Like all of the earliest churches in Rome, both this church and its successor had the entrance to the east and the apse at the west end of the building.[30] Since the construction of the current basilica, the name Old St. Peter's Basilica has been used for its predecessor to distinguish the two buildings.[31]

Plan to rebuild

By the end of the 15th century, having been neglected during the period of the Avignon Papacy, the old basilica had fallen into disrepair. It appears that the first pope to consider rebuilding or at least making radical changes was Pope Nicholas V (1447–1455). He commissioned work on the old building from Leone Battista Alberti and Bernardo Rossellino and also had Rossellino design a plan for an entirely new basilica, or an extreme modification of the old. His reign was frustrated by political problems and when he died, little had been achieved.[25] He had, however, ordered the demolition of the Colosseum and by the time of his death, 2,522 cartloads of stone had been transported for use in the new building.[25][note 3] The foundations were completed for a new transept and choir to form a domed Latin cross with the preserved nave and side aisles of the old basilica. Some walls for the choir had also been built.[33]

Pope Julius II planned far more for St Peter's than Nicholas V's program of repair or modification. Julius was at that time planning his own tomb, which was to be designed and adorned with sculpture by Michelangelo and placed within St Peter's.[note 4] In 1505 Julius made a decision to demolish the ancient basilica and replace it with a monumental structure to house his enormous tomb and "aggrandize himself in the popular imagination".[8] A competition was held, and a number of the designs have survived at the Uffizi Gallery. A succession of popes and architects followed in the next 120 years, their combined efforts resulting in the present building. The scheme begun by Julius II continued through the reigns of Leo X (1513–1521), Adrian VI (1522–1523), Clement VII (1523–1534), Paul III (1534–1549), Julius III (1550–1555), Marcellus II (1555), Paul IV (1555–1559), Pius IV (1559–1565), Pius V (saint) (1565–1572), Gregory XIII (1572–1585), Sixtus V (1585–1590), Urban VII (1590), Gregory XIV (1590–1591), Innocent IX (1591), Clement VIII (1592–1605), Leo XI (1605), Paul V (1605–1621), Gregory XV (1621–1623), Urban VIII (1623–1644) and Innocent X (1644–1655).

Financing with indulgences

One method employed to finance the building of St. Peter's Basilica was the granting of indulgences in return for contributions. A major promoter of this method of fund-raising was Albrecht, Archbishop of Mainz and Magdeburg, who had to clear debts owed to the Roman Curia by contributing to the rebuilding program. To facilitate this, he appointed the German Dominican preacher Johann Tetzel, whose salesmanship provoked a scandal.[34]

A German Augustinian priest, Martin Luther, wrote to Archbishop Albrecht arguing against this "selling of indulgences". He also included his "Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences", which came to be known as The 95 Theses.[35] This became a factor in starting the Reformation, the birth of Protestantism.

Architecture

Successive plans

Pope Julius' scheme for the grandest building in Christendom[8] was the subject of a competition for which a number of entries remain intact in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence. It was the design of Donato Bramante that was selected, and for which the foundation stone was laid in 1506. This plan was in the form of an enormous Greek Cross with a dome inspired by that of the huge circular Roman temple, the Pantheon.[8] The main difference between Bramante's design and that of the Pantheon is that where the dome of the Pantheon is supported by a continuous wall, that of the new basilica was to be supported only on four large piers. This feature was maintained in the ultimate design. Bramante's dome was to be surmounted by a lantern with its own small dome but otherwise very similar in form to the Early Renaissance lantern of Florence Cathedral designed for Brunelleschi's dome by Michelozzo.[36]

Bramante had envisioned that the central dome would be surrounded by four lower domes at the diagonal axes. The equal chancel, nave and transept arms were each to be of two bays ending in an apse. At each corner of the building was to stand a tower, so that the overall plan was square, with the apses projecting at the cardinal points. Each apse had two large radial buttresses, which squared off its semi-circular shape.[37]

When Pope Julius died in 1513, Bramante was replaced with Giuliano da Sangallo and Fra Giocondo, who both died in 1515 (Bramante himself having died the previous year). Raphael was confirmed as the architect of St. Peter's on 1 August 1514.[38] The main change in his plan is the nave of five bays, with a row of complex apsidal chapels off the aisles on either side. Raphael's plan for the chancel and transepts made the squareness of the exterior walls more definite by reducing the size of the towers, and the semi-circular apses more clearly defined by encircling each with an ambulatory.[39]

In 1520 Raphael also died, aged 37, and his successor Baldassare Peruzzi maintained changes that Raphael had proposed to the internal arrangement of the three main apses, but otherwise reverted to the Greek Cross plan and other features of Bramante.[40] This plan did not go ahead because of various difficulties of both Church and state. In 1527 Rome was sacked and plundered by Emperor Charles V. Peruzzi died in 1536 without his plan being realized.[8]

At this point Antonio da Sangallo the Younger submitted a plan which combines features of Peruzzi, Raphael and Bramante in its design and extends the building into a short nave with a wide façade and portico of dynamic projection. His proposal for the dome was much more elaborate of both structure and decoration than that of Bramante and included ribs on the exterior. Like Bramante, Sangallo proposed that the dome be surmounted by a lantern which he redesigned to a larger and much more elaborate form.[41] Sangallo's main practical contribution was to strengthen Bramante's piers which had begun to crack.[25]

On 1 January 1547 in the reign of Pope Paul III, Michelangelo, then in his seventies, succeeded Sangallo the Younger as "Capomaestro", the superintendent of the building program at St Peter's.[42] He is to be regarded as the principal designer of a large part of the building as it stands today, and as bringing the construction to a point where it could be carried through. He did not take on the job with pleasure; it was forced upon him by Pope Paul, frustrated at the death of his chosen candidate, Giulio Romano and the refusal of Jacopo Sansovino to leave Venice. Michelangelo wrote, "I undertake this only for the love of God and in honour of the Apostle." He insisted that he should be given a free hand to achieve the ultimate aim by whatever means he saw fit.[25]

  •  

    Bramante's plan

  •  

    Raphael's plan

  •  

    Michelangelo's plan

Michelangelo's contribution

Michelangelo took over a building site at which four piers, enormous beyond any constructed since ancient Roman times, were rising behind the remaining nave of the old basilica. He also inherited the numerous schemes designed and redesigned by some of the greatest architectural and engineering minds of the 16th century. There were certain common elements in these schemes. They all called for a dome to equal that engineered by Brunelleschi a century earlier and which has since dominated the skyline of Renaissance Florence, and they all called for a strongly symmetrical plan of either Greek Cross form, like the iconic St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, or of a Latin Cross with the transepts of identical form to the chancel, as at Florence Cathedral.

Even though the work had progressed only a little in 40 years, Michelangelo did not simply dismiss the ideas of the previous architects. He drew on them in developing a grand vision. Above all, Michelangelo recognized the essential quality of Bramante's original design. He reverted to the Greek Cross and, as Helen Gardner expresses it: "Without destroying the centralising features of Bramante's plan, Michelangelo, with a few strokes of the pen converted its snowflake complexity into massive, cohesive unity."[43]

As it stands today, St. Peter's has been extended with a nave by Carlo Maderno. It is the chancel end (the ecclesiastical "Eastern end") with its huge centrally placed dome that is the work of Michelangelo. Because of its location within the Vatican State and because the projection of the nave screens the dome from sight when the building is approached from the square in front of it, the work of Michelangelo is best appreciated from a distance. What becomes apparent is that the architect has greatly reduced the clearly defined geometric forms of Bramante's plan of a square with square projections, and also of Raphael's plan of a square with semi-circular projections.[44] Michelangelo has blurred the definition of the geometry by making the external masonry of massive proportions and filling in every corner with a small vestry or stairwell. The effect created is of a continuous wall surface that is folded or fractured at different angles, but lacks the right angles which usually define change of direction at the corners of a building. This exterior is surrounded by a giant order of Corinthian pilasters all set at slightly different angles to each other, in keeping with the ever-changing angles of the wall's surface. Above them, the huge cornice ripples in a continuous band, giving the appearance of keeping the whole building in a state of compression.[45]

Dome: successive and final designs

The dome of St. Peter's rises to a total height of 136.57 metres (448.1 ft) from the floor of the basilica to the top of the external cross. It is the tallest dome in the world.[note 5] Its internal diameter is 41.47 metres (136.1 ft), slightly smaller than two of the three other huge domes that preceded it, those of the Pantheon of Ancient Rome, 43.3 metres (142 ft), and Florence Cathedral of the Early Renaissance, 44 metres (144 ft). It has a greater diameter by approximately 30 feet (9.1 m) than Constantinople's Hagia Sophia church, completed in 537. It was to the domes of the Pantheon and Florence duomo that the architects of St. Peter's looked for solutions as to how to go about building what was conceived, from the outset, as the greatest dome of Christendom.

Bramante and Sangallo, 1506 and 1513

 
1506 medal by Cristoforo Foppa depicting Bramante's design, including the four flanking smaller domes[46]

The dome of the Pantheon stands on a circular wall with no entrances or windows except a single door. The whole building is as high as it is wide. Its dome is constructed in a single shell of concrete, made light by the inclusion of a large amount of the volcanic stones tuff and pumice. The inner surface of the dome is deeply coffered which has the effect of creating both vertical and horizontal ribs while lightening the overall load. At the summit is an ocular opening 8 metres (26 ft) across which provides light to the interior.[8]

Bramante's plan for the dome of St. Peter's (1506) follows that of the Pantheon very closely, and like that of the Pantheon, was designed to be constructed in Tufa Concrete for which he had rediscovered a formula. With the exception of the lantern that surmounts it, the profile is very similar, except that in this case, the supporting wall becomes a drum raised high above ground level on four massive piers. The solid wall, as used at the Pantheon, is lightened at St. Peter's by Bramante piercing it with windows and encircling it with a peristyle.

In the case of Florence Cathedral, the desired visual appearance of the pointed dome existed for many years before Brunelleschi made its construction feasible.[note 6] Its double-shell construction of bricks locked together in a herringbone pattern (re-introduced from Byzantine architecture), and the gentle upward slope of its eight stone ribs made it possible for the construction to take place without the massive wooden formwork necessary to construct hemispherical arches. While its appearance, with the exception of the details of the lantern, is entirely Gothic, its engineering was highly innovative, and the product of a mind that had studied the huge vaults and remaining dome of Ancient Rome.[36]

Sangallo's plan (1513), of which a large wooden model still exists, looks to both these predecessors. He realized the value of both the coffering at the Pantheon and the outer stone ribs at Florence Cathedral. He strengthened and extended the peristyle of Bramante into a series of arched and ordered openings around the base, with a second such arcade set back in a tier above the first. In his hands, the rather delicate form of the lantern, based closely on that in Florence, became a massive structure, surrounded by a projecting base, a peristyle and surmounted by a spire of conic form.[41] According to James Lees-Milne the design was "too eclectic, too pernickety and too tasteless to have been a success".[25]

  •  

    Bramante's dome

  •  

    Sangallo's design

  •  

    The engraving by Stefan du Pérac was published in 1569, five years after the death of Michelangelo

Michelangelo and Giacomo della Porta, 1547 and 1585

 
St. Peter's Basilica from Castel Sant'Angelo showing the dome rising behind Maderno's façade.
 
The dome was brought to completion by Giacomo della Porta and Fontana.

Michelangelo redesigned the dome in 1547, taking into account all that had gone before. His dome, like that of Florence, is constructed of two shells of brick, the outer one having 16 stone ribs, twice the number at Florence but far fewer than in Sangallo's design. As with the designs of Bramante and Sangallo, the dome is raised from the piers on a drum. The encircling peristyle of Bramante and the arcade of Sangallo are reduced to 16 pairs of Corinthian columns, each of 15 metres (49 ft) high which stand proud of the building, connected by an arch. Visually they appear to buttress each of the ribs, but structurally they are probably quite redundant. The reason for this is that the dome is ovoid in shape, rising steeply as does the dome of Florence Cathedral, and therefore exerting less outward thrust than does a hemispherical dome, such as that of the Pantheon, which, although it is not buttressed, is countered by the downward thrust of heavy masonry which extends above the circling wall.[8][25]

The ovoid profile of the dome has been the subject of much speculation and scholarship over the past century. Michelangelo died in 1564, leaving the drum of the dome complete, and Bramante's piers much bulkier than originally designed, each 18 metres (59 ft) across. Following his death, the work continued under his assistant Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola with Giorgio Vasari appointed by Pope Pius V as a watchdog to make sure that Michelangelo's plans were carried out exactly. Despite Vignola's knowledge of Michelangelo's intentions, little happened in this period. In 1585 the energetic Pope Sixtus V appointed Giacomo della Porta who was to be assisted by Domenico Fontana. The five-year reign of Sixtus was to see the building advance at a great rate.[25]

Michelangelo left a few drawings, including an early drawing of the dome, and some details. There were also detailed engravings published in 1569 by Stefan du Pérac who claimed that they were the master's final solution. Michelangelo, like Sangallo before him, also left a large wooden model. Giacomo della Porta subsequently altered this model in several ways. The major change restored an earlier design, in which the outer dome appears to rise above, rather than rest directly on the base.[47] Most of the other changes were of a cosmetic nature, such as the adding of lion's masks over the swags on the drum in honour of Pope Sixtus and adding a circlet of finials around the spire at the top of the lantern, as proposed by Sangallo.[25]

A drawing by Michelangelo indicates that his early intentions were towards an ovoid dome, rather than a hemispherical one.[43] In an engraving in Galasso Alghisi' treatise (1563), the dome may be represented as ovoid, but the perspective is ambiguous.[48] Stefan du Pérac's engraving (1569) shows a hemispherical dome, but this was perhaps an inaccuracy of the engraver. The profile of the wooden model is more ovoid than that of the engravings, but less so than the finished product. It has been suggested that Michelangelo on his death bed reverted to the more pointed shape. However, Lees-Milne cites Giacomo della Porta as taking full responsibility for the change and as indicating to Pope Sixtus that Michelangelo was lacking in the scientific understanding of which he himself was capable.[25]

Helen Gardner suggests that Michelangelo made the change to the hemispherical dome of lower profile in order to establish a balance between the dynamic vertical elements of the encircling giant order of pilasters and a more static and reposeful dome. Gardner also comments, "The sculpturing of architecture [by Michelangelo] ... here extends itself up from the ground through the attic stories and moves on into the drum and dome, the whole building being pulled together into a unity from base to summit."[43]

It is this sense of the building being sculptured, unified and "pulled together" by the encircling band of the deep cornice that led Eneide Mignacca to conclude that the ovoid profile, seen now in the end product, was an essential part of Michelangelo's first (and last) concept. The sculptor/architect has, figuratively speaking, taken all the previous designs in hand and compressed their contours as if the building were a lump of clay. The dome must appear to thrust upwards because of the apparent pressure created by flattening the building's angles and restraining its projections.[45] If this explanation is the correct one, then the profile of the dome is not merely a structural solution, as perceived by Giacomo della Porta; it is part of the integrated design solution that is about visual tension and compression. In one sense, Michelangelo's dome may appear to look backward to the Gothic profile of Florence Cathedral and ignore the Classicism of the Renaissance, but on the other hand, perhaps more than any other building of the 16th century, it prefigures the architecture of the Baroque.[45]

Completion

Giacomo della Porta and Domenico Fontana brought the dome to completion in 1590, the last year of the reign of Sixtus V. His successor, Gregory XIV, saw Fontana complete the lantern and had an inscription to the honour of Sixtus V placed around its inner opening. The next pope, Clement VIII, had the cross raised into place, an event which took all day, and was accompanied by the ringing of the bells of all the city's churches. In the arms of the cross are set two lead caskets, one containing a fragment of the True Cross and a relic of St. Andrew and the other containing medallions of the Holy Lamb.[25]

In the mid-18th century, cracks appeared in the dome, so four iron chains were installed between the two shells to bind it, like the rings that keep a barrel from bursting. As many as ten chains have been installed at various times, the earliest possibly planned by Michelangelo himself as a precaution, as Brunelleschi did at Florence Cathedral.

Around the inside of the dome is written, in letters 1.4 metres (4.6 ft) high:

TV ES PETRVS ET SVPER HANC PETRAM AEDIFICABO ECCLESIAM MEAM ET TIBI DABO CLAVES REGNI CAELORVM
("... you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. ... and I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven ..." Vulgate, Matthew 16:18–19.)

Beneath the lantern is the inscription:

S. PETRI GLORIAE SIXTVS PP. V. A. M. D. XC. PONTIF. V.
(To the glory of St Peter; Sixtus V, pope, in the year 1590, the fifth of his pontificate.)

Discovery of Michelangelo draft

On 7 December 2007, a fragment of a red chalk drawing of a section of the dome of the basilica, almost certainly by the hand of Michelangelo, was discovered in the Vatican archives.[49] The drawing shows a small precisely drafted section of the plan of the entablature above two of the radial columns of the cupola drum. Michelangelo is known to have destroyed thousands of his drawings before his death.[50] The rare survival of this example is probably due to its fragmentary state and the fact that detailed mathematical calculations had been made over the top of the drawing.[49]

Addition of nave and facade

 
Michelangelo's plan extended with Maderno's nave and narthex

On 18 February 1606, under Pope Paul V, the dismantling of the remaining parts of the Constantinian basilica began.[25] The marble cross that had been set at the top of the pediment by Pope Sylvester and Constantine the Great was lowered to the ground. The timbers were salvaged for the roof of the Borghese Palace and two rare black marble columns, the largest of their kind, were carefully stored and later used in the narthex. The tombs of various popes were opened, treasures removed and plans made for re-interment in the new basilica.[25] The Pope had appointed Carlo Maderno in 1602. He was a nephew of Domenico Fontana and had demonstrated himself as a dynamic architect. Maderno's idea was to ring Michelangelo's building with chapels, but the Pope was hesitant about deviating from the master's plan, even though he had been dead for forty years. The Fabbrica or building committee, a group drawn from various nationalities and generally despised by the Curia who viewed the basilica as belonging to Rome rather than Christendom, were in a quandary as to how the building should proceed. One of the matters that influenced their thinking was the Counter-Reformation which increasingly associated a Greek Cross plan with paganism and saw the Latin Cross as truly symbolic of Christianity.[25] The central plan also did not have a "dominant orientation toward the east."[51]

Another influence on the thinking of both the Fabbrica and the Curia was a certain guilt at the demolition of the ancient building. The ground on which it and its various associated chapels, vestries and sacristies had stood for so long was hallowed. The only solution was to build a nave that encompassed the whole space. In 1607 a committee of ten architects was called together, and a decision was made to extend Michelangelo's building into a nave. Maderno's plans for both the nave and the facade were accepted.

The building of the nave began on 7 May 1607, and proceeded at a great rate, with an army of 700 labourers being employed. The following year, the façade was begun, in December 1614 the final touches were added to the stucco decoration of the vault and early in 1615 the partition wall between the two sections was pulled down. All the rubble was carted away, and the nave was ready for use by Palm Sunday.[52]

Maderno's facade

 
Maderno's façade, with the statues of Saint Peter (left) and Saint Paul (right) flanking the entrance stairs

The facade designed by Maderno, is 114.69 metres (376.3 ft) wide and 45.55 metres (149.4 ft) high and is built of travertine stone, with a giant order of Corinthian columns and a central pediment rising in front of a tall attic surmounted by thirteen statues: Christ flanked by eleven of the Apostles (except Saint Peter, whose statue is left of the stairs) and John the Baptist.[note 7] The inscription below the cornice on the 1 metre (3.3 ft) tall frieze reads:

IN HONOREM PRINCIPIS APOST PAVLVS V BVRGHESIVS ROMANVS PONT MAX AN MDCXII PONT VII
(In honour of the Prince of Apostles, Paul V Borghese, a Roman, Supreme Pontiff, in the year 1612, the seventh of his pontificate)

(Paul V (Camillo Borghese), born in Rome but of a Sienese family, liked to emphasize his "Romanness.")

The facade is often cited as the least satisfactory part of the design of St. Peter's. The reasons for this, according to James Lees-Milne, are that it was not given enough consideration by the Pope and committee because of the desire to get the building completed quickly, coupled with the fact that Maderno was hesitant to deviate from the pattern set by Michelangelo at the other end of the building. Lees-Milne describes the problems of the façade as being too broad for its height, too cramped in its details and too heavy in the attic story. The breadth is caused by modifying the plan to have towers on either side. These towers were never executed above the line of the facade because it was discovered that the ground was not sufficiently stable to bear the weight. One effect of the facade and lengthened nave is to screen the view of the dome, so that the building, from the front, has no vertical feature, except from a distance.[25]

Bernini's Towers

Pope Urban had long been a critic of Bernini's predecessor, Carlo Maderno. His disapproval of the architect's work stemmed largely from Maderno's design for the longitudinal nave of St. Peters, which was widely condemned for obscuring Michelangelo's dome. When the Pope gave the commission to Bernini he therefore requested that a new design for the facade's bell towers to be submitted for consideration. Baldinucci describes Bernini's tower as consisting of "two orders of columns and pilasters, the first order being Corinthian" and "a third or attic story formed of pilasters and two columns on either side of the open archway in the center".

Pope Urban desired the towers to be completed by a very specific date: 29 June 1641, the feast day dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. To this end an order was issued which stated that "all work should take a second seat to that of the campanile". The south tower was completed on time even in spite of these issues, but records show that in the wake of the unveiling the Pope was not content with what he saw and he ordered the top level of Bernini's tower removed so that the structure could be made even grander. The tower continued to grow, and as the construction began to settle, the first cracks started to appear followed by Urban's infamous public admonishment of his architect.

In 1642 all work on both towers came to a halt. Bernini had to pay the cost for the demolition; eventually the idea of completing the bell towers was abandoned.

 
The narthex

Narthex and portals

Behind the façade of St. Peter's stretches a long portico or "narthex" such as was occasionally found in Italian churches. This is the part of Maderno's design with which he was most satisfied. Its long barrel vault is decorated with ornate stucco and gilt, and successfully illuminated by small windows between pendentives, while the ornate marble floor is beamed with light reflected in from the piazza. At each end of the narthex is a theatrical space framed by ionic columns and within each is set a statue, an equestrian statue of Charlemagne (18th century) by Cornacchini in the south end and The Vision of Constantine (1670) by Bernini in the north end.

Five portals, of which three are framed by huge salvaged antique columns, lead into the basilica. The central portal has a bronze door created by Antonio Averulino c. 1440 for the old basilica[53] and somewhat enlarged to fit the new space.

Maderno's nave

 
Maderno's nave, looking towards the chancel, as painted by Panini, 1731

To the single bay of Michelangelo's Greek Cross, Maderno added a further three bays. He made the dimensions slightly different from Michelangelo's bay, thus defining where the two architectural works meet. Maderno also tilted the axis of the nave slightly. This was not by accident, as suggested by his critics. An ancient Egyptian obelisk had been erected in the square outside, but had not been quite aligned with Michelangelo's building, so Maderno compensated, in order that it should, at least, align with the Basilica's façade.[25]

The nave has huge paired pilasters, in keeping with Michelangelo's work. The size of the interior is so "stupendously large" that it is hard to get a sense of scale within the building.[25][note 8] The four cherubs who flutter against the first piers of the nave, carrying between them two holy water basins, appear of quite normal cherubic size, until approached. Then it becomes apparent that each one is over 2 metres high and that real children cannot reach the basins unless they scramble up the marble draperies. The aisles each have two smaller chapels and a larger rectangular chapel, the Chapel of the Sacrament and the Choir Chapel. These are lavishly decorated with marble, stucco, gilt, sculpture and mosaic. Remarkably, all of the large altarpieces, with the exception of the Holy Trinity by Pietro da Cortona in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, have been reproduced in mosaic. Two precious paintings from the old basilica, Our Lady of Perpetual Help and Our Lady of the Column are still being used as altarpieces.

Maderno's last work at St. Peter's was to design a crypt-like space or "Confessio" under the dome, where the cardinals and other privileged persons could descend in order to be nearer to the burial place of the apostle. Its marble steps are remnants of the old basilica and around its balustrade are 95 bronze lamps.

Influence on church architecture

The design of St. Peter's Basilica, and in particular its dome, has greatly influenced church architecture in Western Christendom. Within Rome, the huge domed church of Sant'Andrea della Valle was designed by Giacomo della Porta before the completion of St Peter's Basilica, and subsequently worked on by Carlo Maderno. This was followed by the domes of San Carlo ai Catinari, Sant'Agnese in Agone, and many others. Christopher Wren's dome at St Paul's Cathedral (London, England), the domes of Karlskirche (Vienna, Austria), St. Nicholas Church (Prague, Czech Republic), and the Pantheon (Paris, France) all pay homage to St Peter's Basilica.

The 19th and early-20th-century architectural revivals brought about the building of a great number of churches that imitate elements of St Peter's to a greater or lesser degree, including St. Mary of the Angels in Chicago, St. Josaphat's Basilica in Milwaukee, Immaculate Heart of Mary in Pittsburgh and Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral in Montreal, which replicates many aspects of St Peter's on a smaller scale. Postmodernism has seen free adaptations of St Peter's in the Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń, and the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro.

Bernini's furnishings

 
The apse with St. Peter's Cathedra supported by four Doctors of the Church

Pope Urban VIII and Bernini

As a young boy Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680) visited St. Peter's with the painter Annibale Carracci and stated his wish to build "a mighty throne for the apostle". His wish came true. As a young man, in 1626, he received the patronage of Pope Urban VIII and worked on the embellishment of the Basilica for 50 years. Appointed as Maderno's successor in 1629, he was to become regarded as the greatest architect and sculptor of the Baroque period. Bernini's works at St. Peter's include the baldachin (baldaquin, from Italian: baldacchino), the Chapel of the Sacrament, the plan for the niches and loggias in the piers of the dome and the chair of St. Peter.[25][43]

Baldacchino and niches

Main article: St. Peter's Baldachin

Bernini's first work at St. Peter's was to design the baldacchino, a pavilion-like structure 28.74 metres (94.3 ft) tall and claimed to be the largest piece of bronze in the world, which stands beneath the dome and above the altar. Its design is based on the ciborium, of which there are many in the churches of Rome, serving to create a sort of holy space above and around the table on which the Sacrament is laid for the Eucharist and emphasizing the significance of this ritual. These ciboria are generally of white marble, with inlaid coloured stone. Bernini's concept was for something very different. He took his inspiration in part from the baldachin or canopy carried above the head of the pope in processions, and in part from eight ancient columns that had formed part of a screen in the old basilica. Their twisted barley-sugar shape had a special significance as they were modelled on those of the Temple of Jerusalem and donated by the Emperor Constantine. Based on these columns, Bernini created four huge columns of bronze, twisted and decorated with laurel leaves and bees, which were the emblem of Pope Urban.

 
The altar with Bernini's baldacchino

The baldacchino is surmounted not with an architectural pediment, like most baldacchini, but with curved Baroque brackets supporting a draped canopy, like the brocade canopies carried in processions above precious iconic images. In this case, the draped canopy is of bronze, and all the details, including the olive leaves, bees, and the portrait heads of Urban's niece in childbirth and her newborn son, are picked out in gold leaf. The baldacchino stands as a vast free-standing sculptural object, central to and framed by the largest space within the building. It is so large that the visual effect is to create a link between the enormous dome which appears to float above it, and the congregation at floor level of the basilica. It is penetrated visually from every direction, and is visually linked to the Cathedra Petri in the apse behind it and to the four piers containing large statues that are at each diagonal.[25][43]

As part of the scheme for the central space of the church, Bernini had the huge piers, begun by Bramante and completed by Michelangelo, hollowed out into niches, and had staircases made inside them, leading to four balconies. There was much dismay from those who thought that the dome might fall, but it did not. On the balconies Bernini created showcases, framed by the eight ancient twisted columns, to display the four most precious relics of the basilica: the spear of Longinus, said to have pierced the side of Christ, the veil of Veronica, with the miraculous image of the face of Christ, a fragment of the True Cross discovered in Jerusalem by Constantine's mother, Helena, and a relic of Saint Andrew, the brother of Saint Peter. In each of the niches that surround the central space of the basilica was placed a huge statue of the saint associated with the relic above. Only Saint Longinus is the work of Bernini.[25] (See below)

Cathedra Petri and Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament

Main article: Chair of Saint Peter
 
Bernini's Cathedra Petri and Gloria

Bernini then turned his attention to another precious relic, the so-called Cathedra Petri or "throne of St. Peter" a chair which was often claimed to have been used by the apostle, but appears to date from the 12th century. As the chair itself was fast deteriorating and was no longer serviceable, Pope Alexander VII determined to enshrine it in suitable splendor as the object upon which the line of successors to Peter was based. Bernini created a large bronze throne in which it was housed, raised high on four looping supports held effortlessly by massive bronze statues of four Doctors of the Church, Saints Ambrose and Augustine representing the Latin Church and Athanasius and John Chrysostom, the Greek Church. The four figures are dynamic with sweeping robes and expressions of adoration and ecstasy. Behind and above the cathedra, a blaze of light comes in through a window of yellow alabaster, illuminating, at its centre, the Dove of the Holy Spirit. The elderly painter, Andrea Sacchi, had urged Bernini to make the figures large, so that they would be seen well from the central portal of the nave. The chair was enshrined in its new home with great celebration of 16 January 1666.[25][43]

Bernini's final work for St. Peter's, undertaken in 1676, was the decoration of the Chapel of the Sacrament.[54] To hold the sacramental Host, he designed a miniature version in gilt bronze of Bramante's Tempietto, the little chapel that marks the place of the death of St. Peter. On either side is an angel, one gazing in rapt adoration and the other looking towards the viewer in welcome. Bernini died in 1680 in his 82nd year.[25]

St. Peter's Piazza

Main article: St. Peter's Square
 
St. Peter's Basilica and the piazza at night

To the east of the basilica is the Piazza di San Pietro, (St. Peter's Square). The present arrangement, constructed between 1656 and 1667, is the Baroque inspiration of Bernini who inherited a location already occupied by an Egyptian obelisk which was centrally placed, (with some contrivance) to Maderno's facade.[note 9] The obelisk, known as "The Witness", at 25.31 metres (83.0 ft) and a total height, including base and the cross on top, of 40 metres (130 ft), is the second largest standing obelisk, and the only one to remain standing since its removal from Egypt and re-erection at the Circus of Nero in 37 AD, where it is thought to have stood witness to the crucifixion of Saint Peter.[55] Its removal to its present location by order of Pope Sixtus V and engineered by Domenico Fontana on 28 September 1586, was an operation fraught with difficulties and nearly ending in disaster when the ropes holding the obelisk began to smoke from the friction. Fortunately this problem was noticed by Benedetto Bresca, a sailor of Sanremo, and for his swift intervention, his town was granted the privilege of providing the palms that are used at the basilica each Palm Sunday.[25]

 
One of the two fountains which form the axis of the piazza.

The other object in the old square with which Bernini had to contend was a large fountain designed by Maderno in 1613 and set to one side of the obelisk, making a line parallel with the facade. Bernini's plan uses this horizontal axis as a major feature of his unique, spatially dynamic and highly symbolic design. The most obvious solutions were either a rectangular piazza of vast proportions so that the obelisk stood centrally and the fountain (and a matching companion) could be included, or a trapezoid piazza which fanned out from the facade of the basilica like that in front of the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena. The problems of the square plan are that the necessary width to include the fountain would entail the demolition of numerous buildings, including some of the Vatican, and would minimize the effect of the facade. The trapezoid plan, on the other hand, would maximize the apparent width of the facade, which was already perceived as a fault of the design.[43]

 
Evening aerial view of the piazza and facade

Bernini's ingenious solution was to create a piazza in two sections. That part which is nearest the basilica is trapezoid, but rather than fanning out from the facade, it narrows. This gives the effect of countering the visual perspective. It means that from the second part of the piazza, the building looks nearer than it is, the breadth of the facade is minimized and its height appears greater in proportion to its width. The second section of the piazza is a huge elliptical circus which gently slopes downwards to the obelisk at its centre. The two distinct areas are framed by a colonnade formed by doubled pairs of columns supporting an entablature of the simple Tuscan Order.

The part of the colonnade that is around the ellipse does not entirely encircle it, but reaches out in two arcs, symbolic of the arms of "the Catholic Church reaching out to welcome its communicants".[43] The obelisk and Maderno's fountain mark the widest axis of the ellipse. Bernini balanced the scheme with another fountain in 1675. The approach to the square used to be through a jumble of old buildings, which added an element of surprise to the vista that opened up upon passing through the colonnade. Nowadays a long wide street, the Via della Conciliazione, built by Mussolini after the conclusion of the Lateran Treaties, leads from the River Tiber to the piazza and gives distant views of St. Peter's as the visitor approaches, with the basilica acting as a terminating vista.[25]

Bernini's transformation of the site is entirely Baroque in concept. Where Bramante and Michelangelo conceived a building that stood in "self-sufficient isolation", Bernini made the whole complex "expansively relate to its environment".[43] Banister Fletcher says "No other city has afforded such a wide-swept approach to its cathedral church, no other architect could have conceived a design of greater nobility ... (it is) the greatest of all atriums before the greatest of all churches of Christendom."[8]

 
View of Rome from the Dome of St. Peter's Basilica

Clocks

The top of the facade of St. Peter's Basilica has two clocks and several sculptures. The clocks were created to replace Bernini's bell towers which had to be torn down due to insufficient support. The left clock shows Rome time, the one of the right shows European mean time. The statues are Christ the Redeemer, St. John the Baptist and 11 Apostles. From the left: St. Thadeus, St. Matthew, St. Philip, St. Thomas, St. James the Greater, St. John the Baptist, The Redeemer, St. Andrew, St. John the Evangelist, St. James the Lesser, St. Bartholomew, St. Simeon, and St. Matthias. Above the Roman clock is the coat of arms for the city-state of Vatican City since 1931 held by two angels.[citation needed]

Bells

The Basilica has 6 bells, placed in the room under the Roman clock, only 3 of them are visible from ground level while the rest are hidden behind the bourdon. They range from the smallest which is 260 kg to the massive bourdon that approximately weighs 9 tonnes. From 1931, the bells are operated electrically, thus permitting even the largest bell to be tolled from a distance. The oldest bell Rota dates from 1288 and the bourdon called Campanone is rung at Christmas and Easter, on the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, and every time the Pope imparts the "Urbi et Orbi" blessing to the city and to the world. Campanone also announces the election of a new pope.

Bell# Name Mass Date cast
1 Campanella 260 kg 1825
2 Ave Maria 280 kg 1932
3 Predica 850 kg 1893
4 Rota 2 t 1288
5 Campanoncino (Mezzana, Benedittina) 4 t 1725
6 Campanone 9 t 1785

Treasures

Tombs and relics

For a more comprehensive list, see List of papal tombs.
 
Air vents for the crypt in St. Peter's Basilica

There are over 100 tombs within St. Peter's Basilica (extant to various extents), many located beneath the Basilica. These include 91 popes, Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Holy Roman Emperor Otto II, and the composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. Exiled Catholic British royalty James Francis Edward Stuart and his two sons, Charles Edward Stuart and Henry Benedict Stuart, Cardinal Bishop of Frascati, are buried here, having been granted asylum by Pope Clement XI. Also buried here are Maria Clementina Sobieska, wife of James Francis Edward Stuart, Queen Christina of Sweden, who abdicated her throne in order to convert to Catholicism, and Countess Matilda of Tuscany, supporter of the Papacy during the Investiture Controversy. The most recent interment was Pope Benedict XVI, on 5 January 2023. Beneath, near the crypt, is the recently discovered vaulted fourth-century "Tomb of the Julii". (See below for some descriptions of tombs).

Artworks

Towers and narthex

  • In the towers to either side of the facade are two clocks. The clock on the left has been operated electrically since 1931. Its oldest bell dates from 1288.
  • One of the most important treasures of the basilica is a mosaic set above the central external door. Called the "Navicella", it is based on a design by Giotto (early 14th century) and represents a ship symbolizing the Christian Church.[10] The mosaic is mostly a 17th-century copy of Giotto's original.
  • At each end of the narthex is an equestrian figure, to the north Constantine the Great by Bernini (1670) and to the south Charlemagne by Cornacchini (18th century).[10]
  • Of the five portals from the narthex to the interior, three contain notable doors. The central portal has the Renaissance bronze door by Antonio Averulino (called Filarete) (1455), enlarged to fit the new space. The southern door, the Door of the Dead, was designed by 20th-century sculptor Giacomo Manzù and includes a portrait of Pope John XXIII kneeling before the crucified figure of Saint Peter.
  • The northernmost door is the "Holy Door" which, by tradition, is walled-up with bricks, and opened only for holy years such as the Jubilee year by the Pope. The present door is bronze and was designed by Vico Consorti in 1950 and cast in Florence by the Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry. Above it are inscriptions commemorating the opening of the door: PAVLVS V PONT MAX ANNO XIII and GREGORIVS XIII PONT MAX.

Recently installed commemorative plaques read above the door as follows:

PAVLVS VI PONT MAX HVIVS PATRIARCALIS VATICANAE BASILICAE PORTAM SANCTAM APERVIT ET CLAVSIT ANNO IVBILAEI MCMLXXV
(Paul VI, Pontifex Maximus, opened and closed the holy door of this patriarchal Vatican basilica in the jubilee year of 1975.)

IOANNES PAVLVS II P.M. PORTAM SANCTAM ANNO IVBILAEI MCMLXXVI A PAVLO PP VI RESERVATAM ET CLAVSAM APERVIT ET CLAVSIT ANNO IVB HVMANE REDEMP MCMLXXXIII–MCMLXXXIV
(John Paul II, Pontifex Maximus, opened and closed again the holy door closed and set apart by Pope Paul VI in 1976 in the jubilee year of human redemption 1983–1984.)

IOANNES PAVLVS II P.M. ITERVM PORTAM SANCTAM APERVIT ET CLAVSIT ANNO MAGNI IVBILAEI AB INCARNATIONE DOMINI MM–MMI
(John Paul II, Pontifex Maximus, again opened and closed the holy door in the year of the great jubilee, from the incarnation of the Lord 2000–2001.)

FRANCISCVS PP. PORTAM SANCTAM ANNO MAGNI IVB MM–MMI A IOANNE PAVLO PP. II RESERVATAM ET CLAVSAM APERVIT ET CLAVSIT ANNO IVB MISERICORDIAE MMXV–MMXVI
(Pope Francis opened and closed again the holy door, closed and set apart by Pope John Paul II in the year of the great jubilee 2000–2001, in the jubilee year of Mercy 2015–2016.)

Older commemorative plaques are removed to make way for the new plaque when the holy door is opened and sealed.

Nave

  • On the first piers of the nave are two Holy Water basins held by pairs of cherubs each 2 metres high, commissioned by Pope Benedict XIII from designer Agostino Cornacchini and sculptor Francesco Moderati, (1720s).
  • Along the floor of the nave are markers showing the comparative lengths of other churches, starting from the entrance.
  • On the decorative pilasters of the piers of the nave are medallions with relief depicting 56 of the first popes.
  • In niches between the pilasters of the nave are statues depicting 39 founders of religious orders.
  • Set against the north east pier of the dome is a statue of Saint Peter Enthroned, sometimes attributed to late 13th-century sculptor Arnolfo di Cambio, with some scholars dating it to the fifth century. One foot of the statue is largely worn away by pilgrims kissing it for centuries.
  • The sunken Confessio leading to the Vatican Grottoes (see above) contained a large kneeling statue by Canova of Pope Pius VI, who was captured and mistreated by Napoleon Bonaparte's army. This has now been moved to the back (eastern) end of the grottoes.
  • In the Confessio is the Niche of the Pallium ("Niche of Stoles") which contains a bronze urn, donated by Pope Benedict XIV, to contain white stoles embroidered with black crosses and woven with the wool of lambs blessed on St. Agnes' day.
  • The High Altar is surmounted by Bernini's baldachin. (See above)
  • Set in niches within the four piers supporting the dome are the larger-than-life statues associated with the basilica's primary holy relics: Saint Helena holding the True Cross and the Holy Nails, by Andrea Bolgi; Saint Longinus holding the spear that pierced the side of Jesus, by Bernini (1639); Saint Andrew with the St. Andrew's Cross, by Francois Duquesnoy and Saint Veronica holding her veil with the image of Jesus' face, by Francesco Mochi.
  •  

    Saint Helena
    by Andrea Bolgi

  •  

    Saint Longinus
    by Bernini

  •  

    Saint Andrew
    by Francois Duquesnoy

  •  

    Saint Veronica
    by Francesco Mochi

North aisle

  • In the first chapel of the north aisle is Michelangelo's Pietà.[note 10]
  • On the first pier in the right aisle is the monument of Queen Christina of Sweden, who abdicated in 1654 in order to convert to Catholicism.
  • The second chapel, dedicated to Saint Sebastian, contains the statues of popes Pius XI and Pius XII. The space below the altar used to be the resting place of Pope Innocent XI but his remains were moved to the Altar of the Transfiguration on 8 April 2011. This was done to make way for the body of Pope John Paul II. His remains were placed beneath the altar on 2 May 2011.
  • The large chapel on the right aisle is the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament which contains the tabernacle by Bernini (1664) resembling Bramante's Tempietto at San Pietro in Montorio supported by two kneeling angels and with behind it a painting of the Holy Trinity by Pietro da Cortona.
  • Near the altar of Our Lady of Succour are the monuments of popes Gregory XIII by Camillo Rusconi (1723) and Gregory XIV.
  • At the end of the aisle is an altar containing the relics of Saint Petronilla and with an altarpiece The Burial of St Petronilla by Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri), 1623.

South aisle

  • The first chapel in the south aisle is the baptistry, commissioned by Pope Innocent XII and designed by Carlo Fontana, (great nephew of Domenico Fontana). The font was carved from the lid of the purple porphyry sarcophagus which had once held the remains of the Emperor Hadrian, and is surmounted with a gilt-bronze figure of the "Lamb of God". Fontana's reworked porphyry sarcophagus lid font replaced an earlier font, which was re-purposed from the sarcophagus of Probus, the fourth-century Prefect of Rome, and which was used for baptisms from the 15th century until the late 17th century, when Fontana's work was completed.
  • Against the first pier of the aisle is the Monument to the Royal Stuarts: James Stuart, known as the "Old Pretender" and his sons, Charles Edward, known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie", and Henry, a cardinal. The tomb is a Neo-Classical design by Canova unveiled in 1819. Opposite it is the memorial of James Francis Edward Stuart's wife, Maria Clementina Sobieska.
  • The second chapel is that of the Presentation of the Virgin and contains the memorials of Pope Benedict XV and Pope John XXIII.
  • Against the piers are the tombs of Pope Pius X and Pope Innocent VIII.
  • The large chapel off the south aisle is the Choir Chapel which contains the altar of the Immaculate Conception.
  • At the entrance to the Sacristy is the tomb of Pope Pius VIII
  • The south transept contains the altars of Saint Thomas, Saint Joseph and the Crucifixion of Saint Peter.
  • The tomb of Fabio Chigi, Pope Alexander VII, towards the end of the aisle, is the work of Bernini and called by Lees-Milne "one of the greatest tombs of the Baroque Age". It occupies an awkward position, being set in a niche above a doorway into a small vestry, but Bernini has utilized the doorway in a symbolic manner. Pope Alexander kneels upon his tomb, facing outward. The tomb is supported on a large draped shroud in patterned red marble, and is supported by four female figures, of whom only the two at the front are fully visible. They represent Charity and Truth. The foot of Truth rests upon a globe of the world, her toe being pierced symbolically by the thorn of Protestant England. Coming forth, seemingly, from the doorway as if it were the entrance to a tomb, is the skeletal winged figure of Death, its head hidden beneath the shroud, but its right hand carrying an hourglass stretched upward towards the kneeling figure of the pope.[25]

Archpriests since 1053

 
Cardinals at Mass in Saint Peter's Basilica two days before a papal conclave, 16 April 2005.

List of archpriests of the Vatican Basilica:[57]

 
The inauguration of Pope Francis in 2013

Specifications

 
Crepuscular rays are seen in St. Peter's Basilica at certain times each day.
  • Cost of construction of the basilica: more than 46,800,052 ducats[63]
  • Geographic orientation: chancel west, nave east
  • Total length: 730 feet (220 m)
  • Total width: 500 feet (150 m)
  • Interior length including vestibule: 693.8 feet (211.5 m),[2] more than 1⁄8 mile.
  • Length of the transepts in interior: 451 feet (137 m)[2]
  • Width of nave: 90.2 feet (27.5 m)[2]
  • Width at the tribune: 78.7 feet (24.0 m)[2]
  • Internal width at transepts: 451 feet (137 m)[2]
  • Internal height of nave: 151.5 feet (46.2 m) high[2]
  • Total area: 227,070 square feet (21,095 m2), more than 5 acres (20,000 m2).
  • Internal area: 163,182.2 square feet (3.75 acres; 15,160.12 m2)[2]
  • Height from pavement to top of cross: 448.1 feet (136.6 m)[1]
  • Façade: 167 feet (51 m) high by 375 feet (114 m) wide
  • Vestibule: 232.9 feet (71.0 m) wide, 44.2 feet (13.5 m) deep, and 91.8 feet (28.0 m) high[2]
  • The internal columns and pilasters: 92 feet (28 m) tall
  • The circumference of the central piers: 240 feet (73 m)
  • Outer diameter of dome: 137.7 feet (42.0 m)[2]
  • The drum of the dome: 630 feet (190 m) in circumference and 65.6 feet (20.0 m) high, rising to 240 feet (73 m) from the ground
  • The lantern: 63 feet (19 m) high
  • The ball and cross: 8 and 16 feet (2.4 and 4.9 m), respectively
  • St. Peter's Square: 1,115 feet (340 m) long, 787.3 feet (240.0 m) wide[2]
  • Each arm of the colonnade: 306 feet (93 m) long, and 64 feet (20 m) high
  • The colonnades have 284 columns, 88 pilasters, and 140 statues[2]
  • Obelisk: 83.6 feet (25.5 m). Total height with base and cross, 132 feet (40 m).
  • Weight of obelisk: 360.2 short tons (326,800 kg; 720,400 lb)[2]

See also

 
Silhouette of St. Peter's Basilica at sundown (view from Castel Sant'Angelo).

Notes

  1. ^ a b Claims made that the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro in Côte d'Ivoire is larger appear to be spurious, as the measurements include a rectorate, a villa and probably the forecourt. Its dome, based on that of St. Peter's Basilica, is lower but carries a taller cross, and thus claims to be the tallest domed church.[citation needed]
  2. ^ Benedict XVI's theological act of renouncing the title of "Patriarch of the West" had as a consequence that Catholic Roman Rite patriarchal basilicas are today officially known as Papal basilicas.
  3. ^ Quarrying of stone for the Colosseum had, in turn, been paid for with treasure looted at the Siege of Jerusalem and destruction of the temple by the emperor Vespasian's general (and the future emperor) Titus in 70 AD.[32]
  4. ^ Julius II's tomb was left incomplete and was eventually erected in the Church of St Peter ad Vincola.
  5. ^ This claim has recently been made for Yamoussoukro Basilica, the dome of which, modelled on St. Peter's, is lower but has a taller cross.[citation needed]
  6. ^ The dome of Florence Cathedral is depicted in a fresco at Santa Maria Novella that pre-dates its building by about 100 years.
  7. ^ Another view of the façade statues. From left to right: ① Thaddeus, ② Matthew, ③ Philip, ④ Thomas, ⑤ James the Elder, ⑥ John the Baptist (technically a 'precursor' and not an apostle); ⑦ Christ (centre, the only one with a halo); ⑧ Andrew, ⑨ John the Apostle, ⑩ James the Younger, ⑪ Bartholomew, ⑫ Simon and ⑬ Matthias. ("Unofficial architecture site". saintpetersbasilica.org. Retrieved 1 June 2011.)
  8. ^ The word "stupendous" is used by a number of writers trying to adequately describe the enormity of the interior. These include James Lees-Milne and Banister Fletcher.
  9. ^ The obelisk was originally erected at Heliopolis by an unknown pharaoh of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt (c. 2494 BC – 2345 BC).
  10. ^ The statue was damaged in 1972 by Lazlo Toft, a Hungarian-Australian, who considered that the veneration shown to the statue was idolatrous. The damage was repaired and the statue subsequently placed behind glass.

References

  1. ^ a b "St. Peter's Basilica - Dome" (in Italian). Vatican City State. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Baumgarten 1913
  3. ^ a b Banister Fletcher, the renowned architectural historian calls it "the greatest creation of the Renaissance" and "... the greatest of all churches of Christendom" in Fletcher 1996, p. 719.[clarification needed]
  4. ^ James Lees-Milne describes St. Peter's Basilica as "a church with a unique position in the Christian world" in Lees-Milne 1967, p. 12.
  5. ^ "St. Peter's Basilica (Basilica di San Pietro) in Rome, Italy". reidsitaly.com.
  6. ^ Giuliani, G., Guide to Saint Peter's Basilica: Altar of the Confession, published 1995, accessed 17 August 2021
  7. ^ Papal Mass (accessed 28 February 2012)
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Fletcher 1975
  9. ^ Noreen (19 November 2012). "St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican Is Not The Official Church Of The Pope". Today I Found Out. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  10. ^ a b c d e Pio V. Pinto, pp. 48–59
  11. ^ "St. Peter's Square – Statue of St. Paul". saintpetersbasilica.org. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
  12. ^ Masson, Georgina (2001). The Companion Guide to Rome. Companion Guides. pp. 615–6.
  13. ^ Helen F. North, quoted in Secrets of Rome, Robert Kahn, (1999) pp. 79–80
  14. ^ Ralph Waldo Emerson, 7 April 1833
  15. ^ Williamson, Benedict (1929). The Treaty of the Lateran. London, England: Burns, Oates, and Washbourne Limited. pp. 42–66.
  16. ^ . Internet Portal of the Vatican City State. p. 2. Archived from the original on 26 February 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
  17. ^ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "Vatican City". whc.unesco.org. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  18. ^ . Saintpetersbasilica.org. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  19. ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Basilica of St. Peter" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  20. ^ Ellis, Edward Robb (21 December 2004). The Epic of New York City: A Narrative History. Basic Books. p. 413. ISBN 978-0-7867-1436-0.
  21. ^ Fodor's Travel Guides (2014). Fodor's Italy 2015. Travel Distribution. ISBN 978-0-8041-4291-5 – via Google Books.
  22. ^ Rasch 1985, p. 118
  23. ^ Based on "".
  24. ^ "Jerome, De Viris Illustribus (On Illustrious Men)". New Advent. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  25. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Lees-Milne 1967
  26. ^ Frank J. Korn, Hidden Rome Paulist Press (2002)
  27. ^ Hijmans, Steven. . In search of St. Peter's Tomb. Archived from the original on 25 January 2006. Retrieved 25 December 2006.
  28. ^ Cunningham, Lawrence (2010). "Cultures and Values". USA: Clark Baxter: 671. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  29. ^ Peter Partner (1972). The Lands of St. Peter: The Papal State in the Middle Ages and the Early Renaissance, Volume 10. University of California Press. p. 57. ISBN 9780520021815. Retrieved 6 April 2019. excavation has revealed that the tomb of the apostle was wantonly smashed
  30. ^ Dietz, Helen (2005). "The Eschatological Dimension of Church Architecture". Sacred Architecture Journal. 10.
  31. ^ Boorsch, Suzanne (Winter 1982–1983). "The Building of the Vatican: The Papacy and Architecture". The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. 40 (3): 4–8.
  32. ^ Claridge, Amanda (1998). Rome: An Oxford Archaeological Guide (First ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1998. pp. 276–282. ISBN 0-19-288003-9.
  33. ^ Betts 1993, pp. 6–7
  34. ^ "Johann Tetzel", Encyclopædia Britannica, 2007: "Tetzel's experiences as a preacher of indulgences, especially between 1503 and 1510, led to his appointment as general commissioner by Albrecht, archbishop of Mainz, who, deeply in debt to pay for a large accumulation of benefices, had to contribute a considerable sum toward the rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Albrecht obtained permission from Pope Leo X to conduct the sale of a special plenary indulgence (i.e., remission of the temporal punishment of sin), half of the proceeds of which Albrecht was to claim to pay the fees of his benefices. In effect, Tetzel became a salesman whose product was to cause a scandal in Germany that evolved into the greatest crisis (the Reformation) in the history of the Western church."
  35. ^ Hillerbrand, Hans J. "Martin Luther: Indulgences and salvation," Encyclopædia Britannica, 2007.
  36. ^ a b Hartt 2006
  37. ^ Bramante's plan, Gardner, Kleiner & Mamiya 2005, p. 458
  38. ^ Golzio, Vincenzo (1969). The Complete Work of Raphael. New York: Reynal and Co., William Morrow and Company. pp. 593–94.
  39. ^ Raphael's plan, Fletcher 1996, p. 722[clarification needed]
  40. ^ Peruzzi's plan, Fletcher 1996, p. 722[clarification needed]
  41. ^ a b Sangallo's plan, Fletcher 1996, p. 722[clarification needed]
  42. ^ Goldscheider 1996
  43. ^ a b c d e f g h i Gardner, Kleiner & Mamiya 2005
  44. ^ Michelangelo's plan, Gardner, Kleiner & Mamiya 2005, p. 458
  45. ^ a b c Eneide Mignacca, Michelangelo and the architecture of St. Peter's Basilica, lecture, Sydney University, (1982)
  46. ^ De la Croix, Horst; Tansey, Richard G.; Kirkpatrick, Diane (1991). Gardner's Art Through the Ages (9th ed.). Thomson/Wadsworth. p. 641. ISBN 0-15-503769-2.
  47. ^ De la Croix, Horst; Tansey, Richard G.; Kirkpatrick, Diane (1991). Gardner's Art Through the Ages (9th ed.). Thomson/Wadsworth. p. 663. ISBN 0-15-503769-2.
  48. ^ *Galassi Alghisii Carpens., apud Alphonsum II. Ferrariae Ducem architecti, opus, by Galasso Alghisi, Dominicus Thebaldius (1563). page 44/147 of Google PDF download.
  49. ^ a b "Michelangelo 'last sketch' found". BBC News. 7 December 2007. Retrieved 8 December 2007.
  50. ^ BBC, Rare Michelangelo sketch for sale, Friday, 14 October 2005, [1] accessed: 9 February 2008
  51. ^ Pile 2005, p. 131
  52. ^ Lees-Milne 1967, "Maderno's Nave"
  53. ^ Decker, Heinrich (1969) [1967]. The Renaissance in Italy: Architecture • Sculpture • Frescoes. New York: The Viking Press. p. 279.
  54. ^ Kilby, Peter. "St Peter's Basilica (Basilica di San Pietro)". Retrieved 27 July 2011.
  55. ^ "St. Peter's, the Obelisk". saintpetersbasilica.org. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
  56. ^ "The Seminarian GuidesNorth American College, Rome". saintpetersbasilica.org. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  57. ^ Source: the respective biographical entries on Essay of a General List of Cardinals by Salvador Miranda with corrections provided by Werner Maleczek, Papst und Kardinalskolleg von 1191 bis 1216, Wien 1984 for the period before 1190 until 1254
  58. ^ a b Acta Apostolicae Sedis (PDF). Vol. LXXXIII. 1991. p. 631.
  59. ^ a b "Rinunce e Nomine, 24.04.2002" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 24 April 2002. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  60. ^ a b "Rinunce e Nomine, 31 October 2006" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 31 October 2006. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  61. ^ a b "Resignations and Appointments, 20.02.2021" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. 20 February 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  62. ^ "Rinunce e Nomine, 05.02.2005" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 5 February 2005. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  63. ^ "Since Nicholas V twenty-seven popes over a span of 178 years had imagined this day. They had already spent 46 800 052 ducats (...) And still the building was not done. The basic construction was complete, but the last genius (Bernini) to put his signature on the Basilica was just beginning his work." in Scotti 2007, p. 241.

Bibliography

  • Bannister, Turpin (1968). "The Constantinian Basilica of Saint Peter at Rome". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 27 (1): 3–32. doi:10.2307/988425. JSTOR 988425. OCLC 19640446.(subscription required)
  • Baumgarten, Paul Maria (1913). "Basilica of St. Peter" . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  • Betts, Richard J. (1993). "Structural Innovation and Structural Design in Renaissance Architecture". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 52 (1): 5–25. doi:10.2307/990755. JSTOR 990755.
  • Boorsch, Suzanne (1982). "The Building of the Vatican: The Papacy and Architecture". The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. New York. XL (3): 4–64. doi:10.2307/3258914. JSTOR 3258914. OCLC 39642638.
  • Dzyubanskyy, Taras (2010). The Development of the Cult of St. Peter in the Vatican: from the poor man's grave to the largest basilica in the world. Lviv.
  • Finch, Margaret (1991). "The Cantharus and Pigna at Old Saint Peter's". Gesta. 30 (1): 16–26. doi:10.2307/767006. JSTOR 767006. S2CID 155861160.(subscription required)
  • Fletcher, Banister (1975). History of Architecture on the Comparative Method for the student, craftsman, and amateur. New York: Macmillan Pub Company. ISBN 978-99974-605-5-4.[clarification needed]
  •  ———  (2001) [First published 1896]. Sir Banister Fletcher's a History of Architecture (20th ed.). London: Architectural Press. ISBN 978-0-7506-2267-7.[clarification needed]
  • Frommel, Christoph (1986). "Papal Policy: The Planning of Rome during the Renaissance in The Evidence of Art: Images and Meaning in History" (PDF). Journal of Interdisciplinary History. Cambridge. 17 (1): 39–65. doi:10.2307/204124. ISSN 0022-1953. JSTOR 204124.(subscription required)
  • Gardner, Helen; Kleiner, Fred S.; Mamiya, Christin J. (2005). Gardner's Art through the Ages: The Western Perspective. Vol. 2 (12th ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth. pp. 499–500, 571–575. ISBN 978-0-495-00479-0.
  • Goldscheider, Ludwig (1996). Michelangelo (6th ed.). Oxford: Phaidon. ISBN 978-0-7148-3296-8.
  • Hartt, Frederick (2006). History of Italian Renaissance Art (6th ed.). Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-188247-8.
  • Hintzen-Bohlen, Brigitte; Sorges, Jürgen (2001). Rome and the Vatican City. Köln: Könemann. ISBN 978-3-8290-3109-7.
  • Korn, Frank J. (2002). Hidden Rome. New York: Paulist Press. ISBN 978-0-8091-4109-8.
  • Lanciani, Rodolfo (1892). "Chapter III: Christian Churches". Pagan and Christian Rome. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company.
  • Lees-Milne, James (1967). "Saint Peter's – the story of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome". London: Hamish Hamilton. OCLC 1393052.
  • McClendon, Charles (1989). "The History of the Site of St. Peter's Basilica, Rome". Perspecta: The Yale Architectural Journal. 25: 32–65. doi:10.2307/1567138. ISSN 0079-0958. JSTOR 1567138.
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus (1963). An Outline of European Architecture (7th ed.). Baltimore: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-020109-3. OCLC 2208913.
  • Pile, John F. (2005). A History of Interior Design (second ed.). London: Laurence King Publishing. ISBN 978-1-856-69418-6.
  • Pinto, Pio (1975). The Pilgrim's Guide to Rome. San Francisco: Harper & Row. ISBN 978-0-06-013388-7.
  • Scotti, R. A. (2007). Basilica: the Splendor and the Scandal – Building of St. Peter's. New York: Plume. ISBN 978-0-452-28860-7.
  • "Inside the Vatican". National Geographic News. National Geographic Society. 28 October 2010 [2004]. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  • . Archived from the original on 10 June 2014.

External links

  • Vaticanstate.va 22 February 2019 at the Wayback Machine – official website with images and information about the Basilica
  • "Virtual Reality Tour of the Basilica of Saint Peter"
  • St Peter's Basilica.info ‒ unofficial website on the basilica, with images and text from different books.
  • 360 Degree Photographs Inside Saint Peter's Basilica
  • Google Maps: Vatican ‒ Satellite image of the Basilica
Records
Preceded by
Unknown
 Tallest building in Rome
1626–2012
136.6 metres (448 ft) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Unknown
 Tallest dome
1626–present
136.6 metres (448 ft) 		Current holder

January 26, 2023
peter, basilica, other, uses, disambiguation, papal, basilica, saint, peter, vatican, italian, basilica, papale, pietro, vaticano, simply, saint, peter, basilica, latin, basilica, sancti, petri, church, built, renaissance, style, located, vatican, city, papal,. For other uses see St Peter s Basilica disambiguation The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican Italian Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano or simply Saint Peter s Basilica Latin Basilica Sancti Petri is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City the papal enclave that is within the city of Rome Italy It was initially planned by Pope Nicholas V and then Pope Julius II to replace the aging Old St Peter s Basilica which was built in the fourth century by Roman emperor Constantine the Great Construction of the present basilica began on 18 April 1506 and was completed on 18 November 1626 2 Saint Peter s BasilicaPapal Basilica of Saint Peter in the VaticanBasilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano Italian Basilica Sancti Petri Latin Main facade and dome of St Peter s Basilica seen from St Peter s Square41 54 08 N 12 27 12 E 41 90222 N 12 45333 E 41 90222 12 45333 Coordinates 41 54 08 N 12 27 12 E 41 90222 N 12 45333 E 41 90222 12 45333CountryVatican CityDenominationCatholicTraditionRoman RiteWebsiteSt Peter s BasilicaHistoryStatusPapal major basilicaDedicationSaint PeterConsecrated18 November 1626ArchitectureArchitect s Donato BramanteAntonio da Sangallo the YoungerMichelangeloGiacomo Barozzi da VignolaGiacomo della PortaCarlo MadernoGian Lorenzo BerniniCarlo FontanaStyleRenaissance and BaroqueGroundbreaking18 April 1506Completed18 November 1626 1626 11 18 SpecificationsLength220 metres 720 ft Width150 metres 490 ft Height136 6 metres 448 ft 1 Nave height46 2 metres 152 ft Dome diameter outer 42 metres 138 ft Dome diameter inner 41 5 metres 136 ft AdministrationDioceseRomeClergyArchpriestMauro GambettiUNESCO World Heritage SiteOfficial nameVatican CityTypeCulturalCriteriai ii iv viDesignated1984 8th session Reference no 286RegionEurope and North AmericaDesigned principally by Donato Bramante Michelangelo Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini St Peter s is the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture 3 and the largest church in the world by interior measure note 1 While it is neither the mother church of the Catholic Church nor the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome these equivalent titles being held by the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome St Peter s is regarded as one of the holiest Catholic shrines It has been described as holding a unique position in the Christian world 4 and as the greatest of all churches of Christendom 3 5 Catholic tradition holds that the basilica is the burial site of Saint Peter chief among Jesus s apostles and also the first Bishop of Rome Pope Saint Peter s tomb is supposedly directly below the high altar of the basilica also known as the Altar of the Confession 6 For this reason many popes have been interred at St Peter s since the Early Christian period St Peter s is famous as a place of pilgrimage and for its liturgical functions The pope presides at a number of liturgies throughout the year both within the basilica or the adjoining St Peter s Square these liturgies draw audiences numbering from 15 000 to over 80 000 people 7 St Peter s has many historical associations with the Early Christian Church the Papacy the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter reformation and numerous artists especially Michelangelo As a work of architecture it is regarded as the greatest building of its age 8 St Peter s is one of the four churches in the world that hold the rank of Major papal basilica all four of which are in Rome and is also one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome Contrary to popular misconception it is not a cathedral because it is not the seat of a bishop the cathedra of the pope as bishop of Rome is at Saint John Lateran 9 Contents 1 Overview 2 Status 3 History 3 1 Saint Peter s burial site 3 2 Old St Peter s Basilica 3 3 Plan to rebuild 3 4 Financing with indulgences 4 Architecture 4 1 Successive plans 4 2 Michelangelo s contribution 4 3 Dome successive and final designs 4 3 1 Bramante and Sangallo 1506 and 1513 4 3 2 Michelangelo and Giacomo della Porta 1547 and 1585 4 3 3 Completion 4 3 4 Discovery of Michelangelo draft 4 4 Addition of nave and facade 4 4 1 Maderno s facade 4 4 2 Bernini s Towers 4 4 3 Narthex and portals 4 4 4 Maderno s nave 4 5 Influence on church architecture 5 Bernini s furnishings 5 1 Pope Urban VIII and Bernini 5 1 1 Baldacchino and niches 5 1 2 Cathedra Petri and Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament 6 St Peter s Piazza 7 Clocks 8 Bells 9 Treasures 9 1 Tombs and relics 9 2 Artworks 9 2 1 Towers and narthex 9 2 2 Nave 9 2 3 North aisle 9 2 4 South aisle 10 Archpriests since 1053 11 Specifications 12 See also 13 Notes 14 References 15 Bibliography 16 External linksOverview EditThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed April 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message View from the Tiber on Ponte Sant Angelo and the Basilica The iconic dome dominates the skyline of Rome St Peter s is a church built in the Renaissance style located in the Vatican City west of the River Tiber and near the Janiculum Hill and Hadrian s Mausoleum Its central dome dominates the skyline of Rome The basilica is approached via St Peter s Square a forecourt in two sections both surrounded by tall colonnades The first space is oval and the second trapezoidal The facade of the basilica with a giant order of columns stretches across the end of the square and is approached by steps on which stand two 5 55 metres 18 2 ft statues of the first century apostles to Rome Saints Peter and Paul 10 11 The basilica is cruciform in shape with an elongated nave in the Latin cross form but the early designs were for a centrally planned structure and this is still in evidence in the architecture The central space is dominated both externally and internally by one of the largest domes in the world The entrance is through a narthex or entrance hall which stretches across the building One of the decorated bronze doors leading from the narthex is the Holy Door only opened during jubilees 10 The interior dimensions are vast when compared to other churches 2 One author wrote Only gradually does it dawn upon us as we watch people draw near to this or that monument strangely they appear to shrink they are of course dwarfed by the scale of everything in the building This in its turn overwhelms us 12 The nave which leads to the central dome is in three bays with piers supporting a barrel vault the highest of any church The nave is framed by wide aisles which have a number of chapels off them There are also chapels surrounding the dome Moving around the basilica in a clockwise direction they are The Baptistery the Chapel of the Presentation of the Virgin the larger Choir Chapel the altar of the Transfiguration the Clementine Chapel with the altar of Saint Gregory the Sacristy Entrance the Altar of the Lie the left transept with altars to the Crucifixion of Saint Peter Saint Joseph and Saint Thomas the altar of the Sacred Heart the Chapel of the Madonna of Column the altar of Saint Peter and the Paralytic the apse with the Chair of Saint Peter the altar of Saint Peter raising Tabitha the altar of St Petronilla the altar of the Archangel Michael the altar of the Navicella the right transept with altars of Saint Erasmus Saints Processo and Martiniano and Saint Wenceslas the altar of St Jerome the altar of Saint Basil the Gregorian Chapel with the altar of the Madonna of Succour the larger Chapel of the Holy Sacrament the Chapel of Saint Sebastian and the Chapel of the Pieta 10 The Monuments in a clockwise direction are to Maria Clementina Sobieski The Stuarts Benedict XV John XXIII St Pius X Innocent VIII Leo XI Innocent XI Pius VII Pius VIII Alexander VII Alexander VIII Paul III Urban VIII Clement X Clement XIII Benedict XIV St Peter Bronze Statue Gregory XVI Gregory XIV Gregory XIII Matilda of Canossa Innocent XII Pius XII Pius XI Christina of Sweden Leo XII At the heart of the basilica beneath the high altar is the Confessio or Chapel of the Confession in reference to the confession of faith by St Peter which led to his martyrdom Two curving marble staircases lead to this underground chapel at the level of the Constantinian church and immediately above the purported burial place of Saint Peter The entire interior of St Peter s is lavishly decorated with marble reliefs architectural sculpture and gilding The basilica contains a large number of tombs of popes and other notable people many of which are considered outstanding artworks There are also a number of sculptures in niches and chapels including Michelangelo s Pieta The central feature is a baldachin or canopy over the Papal Altar designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini The apse culminates in a sculptural ensemble also by Bernini and containing the symbolic Chair of Saint Peter One observer wrote St Peter s Basilica is the reason why Rome is still the centre of the civilized world For religious historical and architectural reasons it by itself justifies a journey to Rome and its interior offers a palimpsest of artistic styles at their best 13 The American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson described St Peter s as an ornament of the earth the sublime of the beautiful 14 Panorama of St Peter s SquareStatus EditSt Peter s Basilica is one of the papal basilicas previously styled patriarchal basilicas note 2 and one of the four Major Basilicas of Rome the other Major Basilicas all of which are also Papal Basilicas being the Basilicas of St John Lateran St Mary Major and St Paul outside the Walls The rank of major basilica confers on St Peter s Basilica precedence before all minor basilicas worldwide However unlike all the other Papal Major Basilicas it is wholly within the territory and thus the sovereign jurisdiction of the Vatican City State and not that of Italy 15 This is in contrast to the other three Papal Major Basilicas which are within Italian territory and not the territory of the Vatican City State Lateran Treaty of 1929 Article 15 Ibidem However the Holy See fully owns these three basilicas and Italy is legally obligated to recognize its full ownership thereof Lateran Treaty of 1929 Article 13 Ibidem and to concede to all of them the immunity granted by International Law to the headquarters of the diplomatic agents of foreign States Lateran Treaty of 1929 Article 15 Ibidem Bishops at the Second Vatican Council in 1962 It is the most prominent building in the Vatican City Its dome is a feature of the skyline of Rome Probably the largest church in Christendom note 1 it covers an area of 2 3 hectares 5 7 acres One of the holiest sites of Christianity and Catholic Tradition it is traditionally the burial site of its titular St Peter who was the head of the twelve Apostles of Jesus and according to tradition the first Bishop of Antioch and later the first Bishop of Rome rendering him the first Pope Although the New Testament does not mention St Peter s martyrdom in Rome tradition based on the writings of the Fathers of the Church clarification needed holds that his tomb is below the baldachin and the altar of the Basilica in the Confession For this reason many Popes have from the early years of the Church been buried near Pope St Peter in the necropolis beneath the Basilica Construction of the current basilica over the old Constantinian basilica began on 18 April 1506 and finished in 1615 At length on 18 November 1626 Pope Urban VIII solemnly dedicated the Basilica 2 St Peter s Basilica is neither the Pope s official seat nor first in rank among the Major Basilicas of Rome This honour is held by the Pope s cathedral the Archbasilica of St John Lateran which is the mother church of all churches in communion with the Catholic Church However St Peter s is certainly the Pope s principal church in terms of use because most Papal liturgies and ceremonies take place there due to its size proximity to the Papal residence and location within the Vatican City proper The Chair of Saint Peter or cathedra an ancient chair sometimes presumed to have been used by St Peter himself but which was a gift from Charles the Bald and used by many popes symbolizes the continuing line of apostolic succession from St Peter to the reigning Pope It occupies an elevated position in the apse of the Basilica supported symbolically by the Doctors of the Church and enlightened symbolically by the Holy Spirit 16 As one of the constituent structures of the historically and architecturally significant Vatican City St Peter s Basilica was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984 under criteria i ii iv and vi 17 With an exterior area of 21 095 square metres 227 060 sq ft 18 an interior area of 15 160 square metres 163 200 sq ft 19 20 St Peter s Basilica is the largest Christian church building in the world by the two latter metrics and the second largest by the first as of 2016 update The top of its dome at 448 1 feet 136 6 m also places it as the second tallest building in Rome as of 2016 update 21 The dome s soaring height placed it among the tallest buildings of the Old World and it continues to hold the title of tallest dome in the world Though the largest dome in the world by diameter at the time of its completion it no longer holds this distinction 22 History EditSaint Peter s burial site Edit Main article Saint Peter s tomb A modern conjectural reconstruction of the relative locations of the circus and the medieval and current Basilicas of St Peter 23 After the crucifixion of Jesus it is recorded in the Biblical book of the Acts of the Apostles that one of his twelve disciples Simon known as Saint Peter a fisherman from Galilee took a leadership position among Jesus followers and was of great importance in the founding of the Christian Church The name Peter is Petrus in Latin and Petros in Greek deriving from petra which means stone or rock in Greek and is the literal translation of the Aramaic Kepa the name given to Simon by Jesus John 1 42 and see Matthew 16 18 Catholic tradition holds that Peter after a ministry of thirty four years travelled to Rome and met his martyrdom there along with Paul on 13 October 64 AD during the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero His execution was one of the many martyrdoms of Christians following the Great Fire of Rome According to Jerome Peter was crucified head downwards by his own request because he considered himself unworthy to die in the same manner as Jesus 24 The crucifixion took place near an ancient Egyptian obelisk in the Circus of Nero 25 The obelisk now stands in St Peter s Square and is revered as a witness to Peter s death It is one of several ancient Obelisks of Rome 26 According to tradition Peter s remains were buried just outside the Circus on the Mons Vaticanus across the Via Cornelia from the Circus less than 150 metres 490 ft from his place of death The Via Cornelia was a road which ran east to west along the north wall of the Circus on land now covered by the southern portions of the Basilica and St Peter s Square A shrine was built on this site some years later Almost three hundred years later Old St Peter s Basilica was constructed over this site 25 The area now covered by the Vatican City had been a cemetery for some years before the Circus of Nero was built It was a burial ground for the numerous executions in the Circus and contained many Christian burials because for many years after the burial of Saint Peter many Christians chose to be buried near Peter In 1939 in the reign of Pope Pius XII 10 years of archaeological research began under the crypt of the basilica in an area inaccessible since the ninth century The excavations revealed the remains of shrines of different periods at different levels from Clement VIII 1594 to Callixtus II 1123 and Gregory I 590 604 built over an aedicula containing fragments of bones that were folded in a tissue with gold decorations tinted with the precious murex purple Although it could not be determined with certainty that the bones were those of Peter the rare vestments suggested a burial of great importance On 23 December 1950 in his pre Christmas radio broadcast to the world Pope Pius XII announced the discovery of Saint Peter s tomb 27 Old St Peter s Basilica Edit Maarten van Heemskerck Santa Maria della Febbre Vatican Obelisk Saint Peter s Basilica in construction 1532 A conjectural view of the Old St Peter s Basilica by H W Brewer 1891 Main article Old St Peter s Basilica Old St Peter s Basilica was the fourth century church begun by the Emperor Constantine the Great between 319 and 333 AD 28 It was of typical basilical form a wide nave and two aisles on each side and an apsidal end with the addition of a transept or bema giving the building the shape of a tau cross It was over 103 6 metres 340 ft long and the entrance was preceded by a large colonnaded atrium This church had been built over the small shrine believed to mark the burial place of St Peter though the tomb was smashed in 846 AD 29 It contained a very large number of burials and memorials including those of most of the popes from St Peter to the 15th century Like all of the earliest churches in Rome both this church and its successor had the entrance to the east and the apse at the west end of the building 30 Since the construction of the current basilica the name Old St Peter s Basilica has been used for its predecessor to distinguish the two buildings 31 Plan to rebuild Edit By the end of the 15th century having been neglected during the period of the Avignon Papacy the old basilica had fallen into disrepair It appears that the first pope to consider rebuilding or at least making radical changes was Pope Nicholas V 1447 1455 He commissioned work on the old building from Leone Battista Alberti and Bernardo Rossellino and also had Rossellino design a plan for an entirely new basilica or an extreme modification of the old His reign was frustrated by political problems and when he died little had been achieved 25 He had however ordered the demolition of the Colosseum and by the time of his death 2 522 cartloads of stone had been transported for use in the new building 25 note 3 The foundations were completed for a new transept and choir to form a domed Latin cross with the preserved nave and side aisles of the old basilica Some walls for the choir had also been built 33 Pope Julius II planned far more for St Peter s than Nicholas V s program of repair or modification Julius was at that time planning his own tomb which was to be designed and adorned with sculpture by Michelangelo and placed within St Peter s note 4 In 1505 Julius made a decision to demolish the ancient basilica and replace it with a monumental structure to house his enormous tomb and aggrandize himself in the popular imagination 8 A competition was held and a number of the designs have survived at the Uffizi Gallery A succession of popes and architects followed in the next 120 years their combined efforts resulting in the present building The scheme begun by Julius II continued through the reigns of Leo X 1513 1521 Adrian VI 1522 1523 Clement VII 1523 1534 Paul III 1534 1549 Julius III 1550 1555 Marcellus II 1555 Paul IV 1555 1559 Pius IV 1559 1565 Pius V saint 1565 1572 Gregory XIII 1572 1585 Sixtus V 1585 1590 Urban VII 1590 Gregory XIV 1590 1591 Innocent IX 1591 Clement VIII 1592 1605 Leo XI 1605 Paul V 1605 1621 Gregory XV 1621 1623 Urban VIII 1623 1644 and Innocent X 1644 1655 Financing with indulgences Edit One method employed to finance the building of St Peter s Basilica was the granting of indulgences in return for contributions A major promoter of this method of fund raising was Albrecht Archbishop of Mainz and Magdeburg who had to clear debts owed to the Roman Curia by contributing to the rebuilding program To facilitate this he appointed the German Dominican preacher Johann Tetzel whose salesmanship provoked a scandal 34 A German Augustinian priest Martin Luther wrote to Archbishop Albrecht arguing against this selling of indulgences He also included his Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences which came to be known as The 95 Theses 35 This became a factor in starting the Reformation the birth of Protestantism Architecture EditSuccessive plans Edit Pope Julius scheme for the grandest building in Christendom 8 was the subject of a competition for which a number of entries remain intact in the Uffizi Gallery Florence It was the design of Donato Bramante that was selected and for which the foundation stone was laid in 1506 This plan was in the form of an enormous Greek Cross with a dome inspired by that of the huge circular Roman temple the Pantheon 8 The main difference between Bramante s design and that of the Pantheon is that where the dome of the Pantheon is supported by a continuous wall that of the new basilica was to be supported only on four large piers This feature was maintained in the ultimate design Bramante s dome was to be surmounted by a lantern with its own small dome but otherwise very similar in form to the Early Renaissance lantern of Florence Cathedral designed for Brunelleschi s dome by Michelozzo 36 Bramante had envisioned that the central dome would be surrounded by four lower domes at the diagonal axes The equal chancel nave and transept arms were each to be of two bays ending in an apse At each corner of the building was to stand a tower so that the overall plan was square with the apses projecting at the cardinal points Each apse had two large radial buttresses which squared off its semi circular shape 37 When Pope Julius died in 1513 Bramante was replaced with Giuliano da Sangallo and Fra Giocondo who both died in 1515 Bramante himself having died the previous year Raphael was confirmed as the architect of St Peter s on 1 August 1514 38 The main change in his plan is the nave of five bays with a row of complex apsidal chapels off the aisles on either side Raphael s plan for the chancel and transepts made the squareness of the exterior walls more definite by reducing the size of the towers and the semi circular apses more clearly defined by encircling each with an ambulatory 39 In 1520 Raphael also died aged 37 and his successor Baldassare Peruzzi maintained changes that Raphael had proposed to the internal arrangement of the three main apses but otherwise reverted to the Greek Cross plan and other features of Bramante 40 This plan did not go ahead because of various difficulties of both Church and state In 1527 Rome was sacked and plundered by Emperor Charles V Peruzzi died in 1536 without his plan being realized 8 At this point Antonio da Sangallo the Younger submitted a plan which combines features of Peruzzi Raphael and Bramante in its design and extends the building into a short nave with a wide facade and portico of dynamic projection His proposal for the dome was much more elaborate of both structure and decoration than that of Bramante and included ribs on the exterior Like Bramante Sangallo proposed that the dome be surmounted by a lantern which he redesigned to a larger and much more elaborate form 41 Sangallo s main practical contribution was to strengthen Bramante s piers which had begun to crack 25 On 1 January 1547 in the reign of Pope Paul III Michelangelo then in his seventies succeeded Sangallo the Younger as Capomaestro the superintendent of the building program at St Peter s 42 He is to be regarded as the principal designer of a large part of the building as it stands today and as bringing the construction to a point where it could be carried through He did not take on the job with pleasure it was forced upon him by Pope Paul frustrated at the death of his chosen candidate Giulio Romano and the refusal of Jacopo Sansovino to leave Venice Michelangelo wrote I undertake this only for the love of God and in honour of the Apostle He insisted that he should be given a free hand to achieve the ultimate aim by whatever means he saw fit 25 Bramante s plan Raphael s plan Michelangelo s planMichelangelo s contribution Edit Michelangelo took over a building site at which four piers enormous beyond any constructed since ancient Roman times were rising behind the remaining nave of the old basilica He also inherited the numerous schemes designed and redesigned by some of the greatest architectural and engineering minds of the 16th century There were certain common elements in these schemes They all called for a dome to equal that engineered by Brunelleschi a century earlier and which has since dominated the skyline of Renaissance Florence and they all called for a strongly symmetrical plan of either Greek Cross form like the iconic St Mark s Basilica in Venice or of a Latin Cross with the transepts of identical form to the chancel as at Florence Cathedral Even though the work had progressed only a little in 40 years Michelangelo did not simply dismiss the ideas of the previous architects He drew on them in developing a grand vision Above all Michelangelo recognized the essential quality of Bramante s original design He reverted to the Greek Cross and as Helen Gardner expresses it Without destroying the centralising features of Bramante s plan Michelangelo with a few strokes of the pen converted its snowflake complexity into massive cohesive unity 43 As it stands today St Peter s has been extended with a nave by Carlo Maderno It is the chancel end the ecclesiastical Eastern end with its huge centrally placed dome that is the work of Michelangelo Because of its location within the Vatican State and because the projection of the nave screens the dome from sight when the building is approached from the square in front of it the work of Michelangelo is best appreciated from a distance What becomes apparent is that the architect has greatly reduced the clearly defined geometric forms of Bramante s plan of a square with square projections and also of Raphael s plan of a square with semi circular projections 44 Michelangelo has blurred the definition of the geometry by making the external masonry of massive proportions and filling in every corner with a small vestry or stairwell The effect created is of a continuous wall surface that is folded or fractured at different angles but lacks the right angles which usually define change of direction at the corners of a building This exterior is surrounded by a giant order of Corinthian pilasters all set at slightly different angles to each other in keeping with the ever changing angles of the wall s surface Above them the huge cornice ripples in a continuous band giving the appearance of keeping the whole building in a state of compression 45 Dome successive and final designs Edit The dome of St Peter s rises to a total height of 136 57 metres 448 1 ft from the floor of the basilica to the top of the external cross It is the tallest dome in the world note 5 Its internal diameter is 41 47 metres 136 1 ft slightly smaller than two of the three other huge domes that preceded it those of the Pantheon of Ancient Rome 43 3 metres 142 ft and Florence Cathedral of the Early Renaissance 44 metres 144 ft It has a greater diameter by approximately 30 feet 9 1 m than Constantinople s Hagia Sophia church completed in 537 It was to the domes of the Pantheon and Florence duomo that the architects of St Peter s looked for solutions as to how to go about building what was conceived from the outset as the greatest dome of Christendom Bramante and Sangallo 1506 and 1513 Edit 1506 medal by Cristoforo Foppa depicting Bramante s design including the four flanking smaller domes 46 The dome of the Pantheon stands on a circular wall with no entrances or windows except a single door The whole building is as high as it is wide Its dome is constructed in a single shell of concrete made light by the inclusion of a large amount of the volcanic stones tuff and pumice The inner surface of the dome is deeply coffered which has the effect of creating both vertical and horizontal ribs while lightening the overall load At the summit is an ocular opening 8 metres 26 ft across which provides light to the interior 8 Bramante s plan for the dome of St Peter s 1506 follows that of the Pantheon very closely and like that of the Pantheon was designed to be constructed in Tufa Concrete for which he had rediscovered a formula With the exception of the lantern that surmounts it the profile is very similar except that in this case the supporting wall becomes a drum raised high above ground level on four massive piers The solid wall as used at the Pantheon is lightened at St Peter s by Bramante piercing it with windows and encircling it with a peristyle In the case of Florence Cathedral the desired visual appearance of the pointed dome existed for many years before Brunelleschi made its construction feasible note 6 Its double shell construction of bricks locked together in a herringbone pattern re introduced from Byzantine architecture and the gentle upward slope of its eight stone ribs made it possible for the construction to take place without the massive wooden formwork necessary to construct hemispherical arches While its appearance with the exception of the details of the lantern is entirely Gothic its engineering was highly innovative and the product of a mind that had studied the huge vaults and remaining dome of Ancient Rome 36 Sangallo s plan 1513 of which a large wooden model still exists looks to both these predecessors He realized the value of both the coffering at the Pantheon and the outer stone ribs at Florence Cathedral He strengthened and extended the peristyle of Bramante into a series of arched and ordered openings around the base with a second such arcade set back in a tier above the first In his hands the rather delicate form of the lantern based closely on that in Florence became a massive structure surrounded by a projecting base a peristyle and surmounted by a spire of conic form 41 According to James Lees Milne the design was too eclectic too pernickety and too tasteless to have been a success 25 Bramante s dome Sangallo s design The engraving by Stefan du Perac was published in 1569 five years after the death of MichelangeloMichelangelo and Giacomo della Porta 1547 and 1585 Edit St Peter s Basilica from Castel Sant Angelo showing the dome rising behind Maderno s facade The dome was brought to completion by Giacomo della Porta and Fontana Michelangelo redesigned the dome in 1547 taking into account all that had gone before His dome like that of Florence is constructed of two shells of brick the outer one having 16 stone ribs twice the number at Florence but far fewer than in Sangallo s design As with the designs of Bramante and Sangallo the dome is raised from the piers on a drum The encircling peristyle of Bramante and the arcade of Sangallo are reduced to 16 pairs of Corinthian columns each of 15 metres 49 ft high which stand proud of the building connected by an arch Visually they appear to buttress each of the ribs but structurally they are probably quite redundant The reason for this is that the dome is ovoid in shape rising steeply as does the dome of Florence Cathedral and therefore exerting less outward thrust than does a hemispherical dome such as that of the Pantheon which although it is not buttressed is countered by the downward thrust of heavy masonry which extends above the circling wall 8 25 The ovoid profile of the dome has been the subject of much speculation and scholarship over the past century Michelangelo died in 1564 leaving the drum of the dome complete and Bramante s piers much bulkier than originally designed each 18 metres 59 ft across Following his death the work continued under his assistant Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola with Giorgio Vasari appointed by Pope Pius V as a watchdog to make sure that Michelangelo s plans were carried out exactly Despite Vignola s knowledge of Michelangelo s intentions little happened in this period In 1585 the energetic Pope Sixtus V appointed Giacomo della Porta who was to be assisted by Domenico Fontana The five year reign of Sixtus was to see the building advance at a great rate 25 Michelangelo left a few drawings including an early drawing of the dome and some details There were also detailed engravings published in 1569 by Stefan du Perac who claimed that they were the master s final solution Michelangelo like Sangallo before him also left a large wooden model Giacomo della Porta subsequently altered this model in several ways The major change restored an earlier design in which the outer dome appears to rise above rather than rest directly on the base 47 Most of the other changes were of a cosmetic nature such as the adding of lion s masks over the swags on the drum in honour of Pope Sixtus and adding a circlet of finials around the spire at the top of the lantern as proposed by Sangallo 25 A drawing by Michelangelo indicates that his early intentions were towards an ovoid dome rather than a hemispherical one 43 In an engraving in Galasso Alghisi treatise 1563 the dome may be represented as ovoid but the perspective is ambiguous 48 Stefan du Perac s engraving 1569 shows a hemispherical dome but this was perhaps an inaccuracy of the engraver The profile of the wooden model is more ovoid than that of the engravings but less so than the finished product It has been suggested that Michelangelo on his death bed reverted to the more pointed shape However Lees Milne cites Giacomo della Porta as taking full responsibility for the change and as indicating to Pope Sixtus that Michelangelo was lacking in the scientific understanding of which he himself was capable 25 Helen Gardner suggests that Michelangelo made the change to the hemispherical dome of lower profile in order to establish a balance between the dynamic vertical elements of the encircling giant order of pilasters and a more static and reposeful dome Gardner also comments The sculpturing of architecture by Michelangelo here extends itself up from the ground through the attic stories and moves on into the drum and dome the whole building being pulled together into a unity from base to summit 43 It is this sense of the building being sculptured unified and pulled together by the encircling band of the deep cornice that led Eneide Mignacca to conclude that the ovoid profile seen now in the end product was an essential part of Michelangelo s first and last concept The sculptor architect has figuratively speaking taken all the previous designs in hand and compressed their contours as if the building were a lump of clay The dome must appear to thrust upwards because of the apparent pressure created by flattening the building s angles and restraining its projections 45 If this explanation is the correct one then the profile of the dome is not merely a structural solution as perceived by Giacomo della Porta it is part of the integrated design solution that is about visual tension and compression In one sense Michelangelo s dome may appear to look backward to the Gothic profile of Florence Cathedral and ignore the Classicism of the Renaissance but on the other hand perhaps more than any other building of the 16th century it prefigures the architecture of the Baroque 45 Completion Edit Giacomo della Porta and Domenico Fontana brought the dome to completion in 1590 the last year of the reign of Sixtus V His successor Gregory XIV saw Fontana complete the lantern and had an inscription to the honour of Sixtus V placed around its inner opening The next pope Clement VIII had the cross raised into place an event which took all day and was accompanied by the ringing of the bells of all the city s churches In the arms of the cross are set two lead caskets one containing a fragment of the True Cross and a relic of St Andrew and the other containing medallions of the Holy Lamb 25 In the mid 18th century cracks appeared in the dome so four iron chains were installed between the two shells to bind it like the rings that keep a barrel from bursting As many as ten chains have been installed at various times the earliest possibly planned by Michelangelo himself as a precaution as Brunelleschi did at Florence Cathedral Around the inside of the dome is written in letters 1 4 metres 4 6 ft high TV ES PETRVS ET SVPER HANC PETRAM AEDIFICABO ECCLESIAM MEAM ET TIBI DABO CLAVES REGNI CAELORVM you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven Vulgate Matthew 16 18 19 Beneath the lantern is the inscription S PETRI GLORIAE SIXTVS PP V A M D XC PONTIF V To the glory of St Peter Sixtus V pope in the year 1590 the fifth of his pontificate Discovery of Michelangelo draft Edit On 7 December 2007 a fragment of a red chalk drawing of a section of the dome of the basilica almost certainly by the hand of Michelangelo was discovered in the Vatican archives 49 The drawing shows a small precisely drafted section of the plan of the entablature above two of the radial columns of the cupola drum Michelangelo is known to have destroyed thousands of his drawings before his death 50 The rare survival of this example is probably due to its fragmentary state and the fact that detailed mathematical calculations had been made over the top of the drawing 49 Addition of nave and facade Edit Michelangelo s plan extended with Maderno s nave and narthex On 18 February 1606 under Pope Paul V the dismantling of the remaining parts of the Constantinian basilica began 25 The marble cross that had been set at the top of the pediment by Pope Sylvester and Constantine the Great was lowered to the ground The timbers were salvaged for the roof of the Borghese Palace and two rare black marble columns the largest of their kind were carefully stored and later used in the narthex The tombs of various popes were opened treasures removed and plans made for re interment in the new basilica 25 The Pope had appointed Carlo Maderno in 1602 He was a nephew of Domenico Fontana and had demonstrated himself as a dynamic architect Maderno s idea was to ring Michelangelo s building with chapels but the Pope was hesitant about deviating from the master s plan even though he had been dead for forty years The Fabbrica or building committee a group drawn from various nationalities and generally despised by the Curia who viewed the basilica as belonging to Rome rather than Christendom were in a quandary as to how the building should proceed One of the matters that influenced their thinking was the Counter Reformation which increasingly associated a Greek Cross plan with paganism and saw the Latin Cross as truly symbolic of Christianity 25 The central plan also did not have a dominant orientation toward the east 51 Another influence on the thinking of both the Fabbrica and the Curia was a certain guilt at the demolition of the ancient building The ground on which it and its various associated chapels vestries and sacristies had stood for so long was hallowed The only solution was to build a nave that encompassed the whole space In 1607 a committee of ten architects was called together and a decision was made to extend Michelangelo s building into a nave Maderno s plans for both the nave and the facade were accepted The building of the nave began on 7 May 1607 and proceeded at a great rate with an army of 700 labourers being employed The following year the facade was begun in December 1614 the final touches were added to the stucco decoration of the vault and early in 1615 the partition wall between the two sections was pulled down All the rubble was carted away and the nave was ready for use by Palm Sunday 52 Maderno s facade Edit Maderno s facade with the statues of Saint Peter left and Saint Paul right flanking the entrance stairs The facade designed by Maderno is 114 69 metres 376 3 ft wide and 45 55 metres 149 4 ft high and is built of travertine stone with a giant order of Corinthian columns and a central pediment rising in front of a tall attic surmounted by thirteen statues Christ flanked by eleven of the Apostles except Saint Peter whose statue is left of the stairs and John the Baptist note 7 The inscription below the cornice on the 1 metre 3 3 ft tall frieze reads IN HONOREM PRINCIPIS APOST PAVLVS V BVRGHESIVS ROMANVS PONT MAX AN MDCXII PONT VII In honour of the Prince of Apostles Paul V Borghese a Roman Supreme Pontiff in the year 1612 the seventh of his pontificate Paul V Camillo Borghese born in Rome but of a Sienese family liked to emphasize his Romanness The facade is often cited as the least satisfactory part of the design of St Peter s The reasons for this according to James Lees Milne are that it was not given enough consideration by the Pope and committee because of the desire to get the building completed quickly coupled with the fact that Maderno was hesitant to deviate from the pattern set by Michelangelo at the other end of the building Lees Milne describes the problems of the facade as being too broad for its height too cramped in its details and too heavy in the attic story The breadth is caused by modifying the plan to have towers on either side These towers were never executed above the line of the facade because it was discovered that the ground was not sufficiently stable to bear the weight One effect of the facade and lengthened nave is to screen the view of the dome so that the building from the front has no vertical feature except from a distance 25 Bernini s Towers Edit Pope Urban had long been a critic of Bernini s predecessor Carlo Maderno His disapproval of the architect s work stemmed largely from Maderno s design for the longitudinal nave of St Peters which was widely condemned for obscuring Michelangelo s dome When the Pope gave the commission to Bernini he therefore requested that a new design for the facade s bell towers to be submitted for consideration Baldinucci describes Bernini s tower as consisting of two orders of columns and pilasters the first order being Corinthian and a third or attic story formed of pilasters and two columns on either side of the open archway in the center Pope Urban desired the towers to be completed by a very specific date 29 June 1641 the feast day dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul To this end an order was issued which stated that all work should take a second seat to that of the campanile The south tower was completed on time even in spite of these issues but records show that in the wake of the unveiling the Pope was not content with what he saw and he ordered the top level of Bernini s tower removed so that the structure could be made even grander The tower continued to grow and as the construction began to settle the first cracks started to appear followed by Urban s infamous public admonishment of his architect In 1642 all work on both towers came to a halt Bernini had to pay the cost for the demolition eventually the idea of completing the bell towers was abandoned The narthex Narthex and portals Edit Behind the facade of St Peter s stretches a long portico or narthex such as was occasionally found in Italian churches This is the part of Maderno s design with which he was most satisfied Its long barrel vault is decorated with ornate stucco and gilt and successfully illuminated by small windows between pendentives while the ornate marble floor is beamed with light reflected in from the piazza At each end of the narthex is a theatrical space framed by ionic columns and within each is set a statue an equestrian statue of Charlemagne 18th century by Cornacchini in the south end and The Vision of Constantine 1670 by Bernini in the north end Five portals of which three are framed by huge salvaged antique columns lead into the basilica The central portal has a bronze door created by Antonio Averulino c 1440 for the old basilica 53 and somewhat enlarged to fit the new space Maderno s nave Edit Maderno s nave looking towards the chancel as painted by Panini 1731 To the single bay of Michelangelo s Greek Cross Maderno added a further three bays He made the dimensions slightly different from Michelangelo s bay thus defining where the two architectural works meet Maderno also tilted the axis of the nave slightly This was not by accident as suggested by his critics An ancient Egyptian obelisk had been erected in the square outside but had not been quite aligned with Michelangelo s building so Maderno compensated in order that it should at least align with the Basilica s facade 25 The nave has huge paired pilasters in keeping with Michelangelo s work The size of the interior is so stupendously large that it is hard to get a sense of scale within the building 25 note 8 The four cherubs who flutter against the first piers of the nave carrying between them two holy water basins appear of quite normal cherubic size until approached Then it becomes apparent that each one is over 2 metres high and that real children cannot reach the basins unless they scramble up the marble draperies The aisles each have two smaller chapels and a larger rectangular chapel the Chapel of the Sacrament and the Choir Chapel These are lavishly decorated with marble stucco gilt sculpture and mosaic Remarkably all of the large altarpieces with the exception of the Holy Trinity by Pietro da Cortona in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel have been reproduced in mosaic Two precious paintings from the old basilica Our Lady of Perpetual Help and Our Lady of the Column are still being used as altarpieces Maderno s last work at St Peter s was to design a crypt like space or Confessio under the dome where the cardinals and other privileged persons could descend in order to be nearer to the burial place of the apostle Its marble steps are remnants of the old basilica and around its balustrade are 95 bronze lamps Influence on church architecture Edit The design of St Peter s Basilica and in particular its dome has greatly influenced church architecture in Western Christendom Within Rome the huge domed church of Sant Andrea della Valle was designed by Giacomo della Porta before the completion of St Peter s Basilica and subsequently worked on by Carlo Maderno This was followed by the domes of San Carlo ai Catinari Sant Agnese in Agone and many others Christopher Wren s dome at St Paul s Cathedral London England the domes of Karlskirche Vienna Austria St Nicholas Church Prague Czech Republic and the Pantheon Paris France all pay homage to St Peter s Basilica The 19th and early 20th century architectural revivals brought about the building of a great number of churches that imitate elements of St Peter s to a greater or lesser degree including St Mary of the Angels in Chicago St Josaphat s Basilica in Milwaukee Immaculate Heart of Mary in Pittsburgh and Mary Queen of the World Cathedral in Montreal which replicates many aspects of St Peter s on a smaller scale Postmodernism has seen free adaptations of St Peter s in the Basilica of Our Lady of Lichen and the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro Bernini s furnishings Edit The apse with St Peter s Cathedra supported by four Doctors of the Church Pope Urban VIII and Bernini Edit As a young boy Gian Lorenzo Bernini 1598 1680 visited St Peter s with the painter Annibale Carracci and stated his wish to build a mighty throne for the apostle His wish came true As a young man in 1626 he received the patronage of Pope Urban VIII and worked on the embellishment of the Basilica for 50 years Appointed as Maderno s successor in 1629 he was to become regarded as the greatest architect and sculptor of the Baroque period Bernini s works at St Peter s include the baldachin baldaquin from Italian baldacchino the Chapel of the Sacrament the plan for the niches and loggias in the piers of the dome and the chair of St Peter 25 43 Baldacchino and niches Edit Main article St Peter s Baldachin Bernini s first work at St Peter s was to design the baldacchino a pavilion like structure 28 74 metres 94 3 ft tall and claimed to be the largest piece of bronze in the world which stands beneath the dome and above the altar Its design is based on the ciborium of which there are many in the churches of Rome serving to create a sort of holy space above and around the table on which the Sacrament is laid for the Eucharist and emphasizing the significance of this ritual These ciboria are generally of white marble with inlaid coloured stone Bernini s concept was for something very different He took his inspiration in part from the baldachin or canopy carried above the head of the pope in processions and in part from eight ancient columns that had formed part of a screen in the old basilica Their twisted barley sugar shape had a special significance as they were modelled on those of the Temple of Jerusalem and donated by the Emperor Constantine Based on these columns Bernini created four huge columns of bronze twisted and decorated with laurel leaves and bees which were the emblem of Pope Urban The altar with Bernini s baldacchino The baldacchino is surmounted not with an architectural pediment like most baldacchini but with curved Baroque brackets supporting a draped canopy like the brocade canopies carried in processions above precious iconic images In this case the draped canopy is of bronze and all the details including the olive leaves bees and the portrait heads of Urban s niece in childbirth and her newborn son are picked out in gold leaf The baldacchino stands as a vast free standing sculptural object central to and framed by the largest space within the building It is so large that the visual effect is to create a link between the enormous dome which appears to float above it and the congregation at floor level of the basilica It is penetrated visually from every direction and is visually linked to the Cathedra Petri in the apse behind it and to the four piers containing large statues that are at each diagonal 25 43 As part of the scheme for the central space of the church Bernini had the huge piers begun by Bramante and completed by Michelangelo hollowed out into niches and had staircases made inside them leading to four balconies There was much dismay from those who thought that the dome might fall but it did not On the balconies Bernini created showcases framed by the eight ancient twisted columns to display the four most precious relics of the basilica the spear of Longinus said to have pierced the side of Christ the veil of Veronica with the miraculous image of the face of Christ a fragment of the True Cross discovered in Jerusalem by Constantine s mother Helena and a relic of Saint Andrew the brother of Saint Peter In each of the niches that surround the central space of the basilica was placed a huge statue of the saint associated with the relic above Only Saint Longinus is the work of Bernini 25 See below Cathedra Petri and Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament Edit Main article Chair of Saint Peter Bernini s Cathedra Petri and Gloria Bernini then turned his attention to another precious relic the so called Cathedra Petri or throne of St Peter a chair which was often claimed to have been used by the apostle but appears to date from the 12th century As the chair itself was fast deteriorating and was no longer serviceable Pope Alexander VII determined to enshrine it in suitable splendor as the object upon which the line of successors to Peter was based Bernini created a large bronze throne in which it was housed raised high on four looping supports held effortlessly by massive bronze statues of four Doctors of the Church Saints Ambrose and Augustine representing the Latin Church and Athanasius and John Chrysostom the Greek Church The four figures are dynamic with sweeping robes and expressions of adoration and ecstasy Behind and above the cathedra a blaze of light comes in through a window of yellow alabaster illuminating at its centre the Dove of the Holy Spirit The elderly painter Andrea Sacchi had urged Bernini to make the figures large so that they would be seen well from the central portal of the nave The chair was enshrined in its new home with great celebration of 16 January 1666 25 43 Bernini s final work for St Peter s undertaken in 1676 was the decoration of the Chapel of the Sacrament 54 To hold the sacramental Host he designed a miniature version in gilt bronze of Bramante s Tempietto the little chapel that marks the place of the death of St Peter On either side is an angel one gazing in rapt adoration and the other looking towards the viewer in welcome Bernini died in 1680 in his 82nd year 25 St Peter s Piazza EditMain article St Peter s Square St Peter s Basilica and the piazza at night To the east of the basilica is the Piazza di San Pietro St Peter s Square The present arrangement constructed between 1656 and 1667 is the Baroque inspiration of Bernini who inherited a location already occupied by an Egyptian obelisk which was centrally placed with some contrivance to Maderno s facade note 9 The obelisk known as The Witness at 25 31 metres 83 0 ft and a total height including base and the cross on top of 40 metres 130 ft is the second largest standing obelisk and the only one to remain standing since its removal from Egypt and re erection at the Circus of Nero in 37 AD where it is thought to have stood witness to the crucifixion of Saint Peter 55 Its removal to its present location by order of Pope Sixtus V and engineered by Domenico Fontana on 28 September 1586 was an operation fraught with difficulties and nearly ending in disaster when the ropes holding the obelisk began to smoke from the friction Fortunately this problem was noticed by Benedetto Bresca a sailor of Sanremo and for his swift intervention his town was granted the privilege of providing the palms that are used at the basilica each Palm Sunday 25 One of the two fountains which form the axis of the piazza The other object in the old square with which Bernini had to contend was a large fountain designed by Maderno in 1613 and set to one side of the obelisk making a line parallel with the facade Bernini s plan uses this horizontal axis as a major feature of his unique spatially dynamic and highly symbolic design The most obvious solutions were either a rectangular piazza of vast proportions so that the obelisk stood centrally and the fountain and a matching companion could be included or a trapezoid piazza which fanned out from the facade of the basilica like that in front of the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena The problems of the square plan are that the necessary width to include the fountain would entail the demolition of numerous buildings including some of the Vatican and would minimize the effect of the facade The trapezoid plan on the other hand would maximize the apparent width of the facade which was already perceived as a fault of the design 43 Evening aerial view of the piazza and facade Bernini s ingenious solution was to create a piazza in two sections That part which is nearest the basilica is trapezoid but rather than fanning out from the facade it narrows This gives the effect of countering the visual perspective It means that from the second part of the piazza the building looks nearer than it is the breadth of the facade is minimized and its height appears greater in proportion to its width The second section of the piazza is a huge elliptical circus which gently slopes downwards to the obelisk at its centre The two distinct areas are framed by a colonnade formed by doubled pairs of columns supporting an entablature of the simple Tuscan Order The part of the colonnade that is around the ellipse does not entirely encircle it but reaches out in two arcs symbolic of the arms of the Catholic Church reaching out to welcome its communicants 43 The obelisk and Maderno s fountain mark the widest axis of the ellipse Bernini balanced the scheme with another fountain in 1675 The approach to the square used to be through a jumble of old buildings which added an element of surprise to the vista that opened up upon passing through the colonnade Nowadays a long wide street the Via della Conciliazione built by Mussolini after the conclusion of the Lateran Treaties leads from the River Tiber to the piazza and gives distant views of St Peter s as the visitor approaches with the basilica acting as a terminating vista 25 Bernini s transformation of the site is entirely Baroque in concept Where Bramante and Michelangelo conceived a building that stood in self sufficient isolation Bernini made the whole complex expansively relate to its environment 43 Banister Fletcher says No other city has afforded such a wide swept approach to its cathedral church no other architect could have conceived a design of greater nobility it is the greatest of all atriums before the greatest of all churches of Christendom 8 View of Rome from the Dome of St Peter s BasilicaClocks EditThe top of the facade of St Peter s Basilica has two clocks and several sculptures The clocks were created to replace Bernini s bell towers which had to be torn down due to insufficient support The left clock shows Rome time the one of the right shows European mean time The statues are Christ the Redeemer St John the Baptist and 11 Apostles From the left St Thadeus St Matthew St Philip St Thomas St James the Greater St John the Baptist The Redeemer St Andrew St John the Evangelist St James the Lesser St Bartholomew St Simeon and St Matthias Above the Roman clock is the coat of arms for the city state of Vatican City since 1931 held by two angels citation needed Bells EditThe Basilica has 6 bells placed in the room under the Roman clock only 3 of them are visible from ground level while the rest are hidden behind the bourdon They range from the smallest which is 260 kg to the massive bourdon that approximately weighs 9 tonnes From 1931 the bells are operated electrically thus permitting even the largest bell to be tolled from a distance The oldest bell Rota dates from 1288 and the bourdon called Campanone is rung at Christmas and Easter on the Solemnity of Sts Peter and Paul and every time the Pope imparts the Urbi et Orbi blessing to the city and to the world Campanone also announces the election of a new pope Bell Name Mass Date cast1 Campanella 260 kg 18252 Ave Maria 280 kg 19323 Predica 850 kg 18934 Rota 2 t 12885 Campanoncino Mezzana Benedittina 4 t 17256 Campanone 9 t 1785Treasures EditTombs and relics Edit For a more comprehensive list see List of papal tombs Air vents for the crypt in St Peter s Basilica There are over 100 tombs within St Peter s Basilica extant to various extents many located beneath the Basilica These include 91 popes Saint Ignatius of Antioch Holy Roman Emperor Otto II and the composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Exiled Catholic British royalty James Francis Edward Stuart and his two sons Charles Edward Stuart and Henry Benedict Stuart Cardinal Bishop of Frascati are buried here having been granted asylum by Pope Clement XI Also buried here are Maria Clementina Sobieska wife of James Francis Edward Stuart Queen Christina of Sweden who abdicated her throne in order to convert to Catholicism and Countess Matilda of Tuscany supporter of the Papacy during the Investiture Controversy The most recent interment was Pope Benedict XVI on 5 January 2023 Beneath near the crypt is the recently discovered vaulted fourth century Tomb of the Julii See below for some descriptions of tombs Artworks Edit Towers and narthex Edit In the towers to either side of the facade are two clocks The clock on the left has been operated electrically since 1931 Its oldest bell dates from 1288 One of the most important treasures of the basilica is a mosaic set above the central external door Called the Navicella it is based on a design by Giotto early 14th century and represents a ship symbolizing the Christian Church 10 The mosaic is mostly a 17th century copy of Giotto s original At each end of the narthex is an equestrian figure to the north Constantine the Great by Bernini 1670 and to the south Charlemagne by Cornacchini 18th century 10 Of the five portals from the narthex to the interior three contain notable doors The central portal has the Renaissance bronze door by Antonio Averulino called Filarete 1455 enlarged to fit the new space The southern door the Door of the Dead was designed by 20th century sculptor Giacomo Manzu and includes a portrait of Pope John XXIII kneeling before the crucified figure of Saint Peter The northernmost door is the Holy Door which by tradition is walled up with bricks and opened only for holy years such as the Jubilee year by the Pope The present door is bronze and was designed by Vico Consorti in 1950 and cast in Florence by the Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry Above it are inscriptions commemorating the opening of the door PAVLVS V PONT MAX ANNO XIII and GREGORIVS XIII PONT MAX Recently installed commemorative plaques read above the door as follows PAVLVS VI PONT MAX HVIVS PATRIARCALIS VATICANAE BASILICAE PORTAM SANCTAM APERVIT ET CLAVSIT ANNO IVBILAEI MCMLXXV Paul VI Pontifex Maximus opened and closed the holy door of this patriarchal Vatican basilica in the jubilee year of 1975 IOANNES PAVLVS II P M PORTAM SANCTAM ANNO IVBILAEI MCMLXXVI A PAVLO PP VI RESERVATAM ET CLAVSAM APERVIT ET CLAVSIT ANNO IVB HVMANE REDEMP MCMLXXXIII MCMLXXXIV John Paul II Pontifex Maximus opened and closed again the holy door closed and set apart by Pope Paul VI in 1976 in the jubilee year of human redemption 1983 1984 IOANNES PAVLVS II P M ITERVM PORTAM SANCTAM APERVIT ET CLAVSIT ANNO MAGNI IVBILAEI AB INCARNATIONE DOMINI MM MMI John Paul II Pontifex Maximus again opened and closed the holy door in the year of the great jubilee from the incarnation of the Lord 2000 2001 FRANCISCVS PP PORTAM SANCTAM ANNO MAGNI IVB MM MMI A IOANNE PAVLO PP II RESERVATAM ET CLAVSAM APERVIT ET CLAVSIT ANNO IVB MISERICORDIAE MMXV MMXVI Pope Francis opened and closed again the holy door closed and set apart by Pope John Paul II in the year of the great jubilee 2000 2001 in the jubilee year of Mercy 2015 2016 Older commemorative plaques are removed to make way for the new plaque when the holy door is opened and sealed Nave Edit On the first piers of the nave are two Holy Water basins held by pairs of cherubs each 2 metres high commissioned by Pope Benedict XIII from designer Agostino Cornacchini and sculptor Francesco Moderati 1720s Along the floor of the nave are markers showing the comparative lengths of other churches starting from the entrance On the decorative pilasters of the piers of the nave are medallions with relief depicting 56 of the first popes In niches between the pilasters of the nave are statues depicting 39 founders of religious orders Set against the north east pier of the dome is a statue of Saint Peter Enthroned sometimes attributed to late 13th century sculptor Arnolfo di Cambio with some scholars dating it to the fifth century One foot of the statue is largely worn away by pilgrims kissing it for centuries The sunken Confessio leading to the Vatican Grottoes see above contained a large kneeling statue by Canova of Pope Pius VI who was captured and mistreated by Napoleon Bonaparte s army This has now been moved to the back eastern end of the grottoes In the Confessio is the Niche of the Pallium Niche of Stoles which contains a bronze urn donated by Pope Benedict XIV to contain white stoles embroidered with black crosses and woven with the wool of lambs blessed on St Agnes day The High Altar is surmounted by Bernini s baldachin See above Set in niches within the four piers supporting the dome are the larger than life statues associated with the basilica s primary holy relics Saint Helena holding the True Cross and the Holy Nails by Andrea Bolgi Saint Longinus holding the spear that pierced the side of Jesus by Bernini 1639 Saint Andrew with the St Andrew s Cross by Francois Duquesnoy and Saint Veronica holding her veil with the image of Jesus face by Francesco Mochi Saint Helenaby Andrea Bolgi Saint Longinusby Bernini Saint Andrewby Francois Duquesnoy Saint Veronicaby Francesco MochiNorth aisle Edit In the first chapel of the north aisle is Michelangelo s Pieta note 10 On the first pier in the right aisle is the monument of Queen Christina of Sweden who abdicated in 1654 in order to convert to Catholicism The second chapel dedicated to Saint Sebastian contains the statues of popes Pius XI and Pius XII The space below the altar used to be the resting place of Pope Innocent XI but his remains were moved to the Altar of the Transfiguration on 8 April 2011 This was done to make way for the body of Pope John Paul II His remains were placed beneath the altar on 2 May 2011 The large chapel on the right aisle is the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament which contains the tabernacle by Bernini 1664 resembling Bramante s Tempietto at San Pietro in Montorio supported by two kneeling angels and with behind it a painting of the Holy Trinity by Pietro da Cortona Near the altar of Our Lady of Succour are the monuments of popes Gregory XIII by Camillo Rusconi 1723 and Gregory XIV At the end of the aisle is an altar containing the relics of Saint Petronilla and with an altarpiece The Burial of St Petronilla by Guercino Giovanni Francesco Barbieri 1623 South aisle Edit The first chapel in the south aisle is the baptistry commissioned by Pope Innocent XII and designed by Carlo Fontana great nephew of Domenico Fontana The font was carved from the lid of the purple porphyry sarcophagus which had once held the remains of the Emperor Hadrian and is surmounted with a gilt bronze figure of the Lamb of God Fontana s reworked porphyry sarcophagus lid font replaced an earlier font which was re purposed from the sarcophagus of Probus the fourth century Prefect of Rome and which was used for baptisms from the 15th century until the late 17th century when Fontana s work was completed Against the first pier of the aisle is the Monument to the Royal Stuarts James Stuart known as the Old Pretender and his sons Charles Edward known as Bonnie Prince Charlie and Henry a cardinal The tomb is a Neo Classical design by Canova unveiled in 1819 Opposite it is the memorial of James Francis Edward Stuart s wife Maria Clementina Sobieska The second chapel is that of the Presentation of the Virgin and contains the memorials of Pope Benedict XV and Pope John XXIII Against the piers are the tombs of Pope Pius X and Pope Innocent VIII The large chapel off the south aisle is the Choir Chapel which contains the altar of the Immaculate Conception At the entrance to the Sacristy is the tomb of Pope Pius VIII The south transept contains the altars of Saint Thomas Saint Joseph and the Crucifixion of Saint Peter The tomb of Fabio Chigi Pope Alexander VII towards the end of the aisle is the work of Bernini and called by Lees Milne one of the greatest tombs of the Baroque Age It occupies an awkward position being set in a niche above a doorway into a small vestry but Bernini has utilized the doorway in a symbolic manner Pope Alexander kneels upon his tomb facing outward The tomb is supported on a large draped shroud in patterned red marble and is supported by four female figures of whom only the two at the front are fully visible They represent Charity and Truth The foot of Truth rests upon a globe of the world her toe being pierced symbolically by the thorn of Protestant England Coming forth seemingly from the doorway as if it were the entrance to a tomb is the skeletal winged figure of Death its head hidden beneath the shroud but its right hand carrying an hourglass stretched upward towards the kneeling figure of the pope 25 The Holy Door is opened only for great celebrations The tomb of Alexander VII by Gian Lorenzo Bernini 1671 1678 56 The bronze statue of Saint Peter holding the keys of heaven attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio The Pieta by Michelangelo 1498 1499 is in the north aisle Archpriests since 1053 Edit Cardinals at Mass in Saint Peter s Basilica two days before a papal conclave 16 April 2005 List of archpriests of the Vatican Basilica 57 The inauguration of Pope Francis in 2013 Giovanni 1053 Deusdedit 1092 Azzo 1103 1104 Rustico de Rustici ca 1128 1131 Griffone 1138 1139 Pietro ca 1140 1144 Bernard 1145 1176 Giovanni da Sutri 1176 78 1180 Ugolino di Segni ca 1191 1200 1206 Guido Pierleoni 1206 7 1228 Stefano Conti 1229 1254 Riccardo Annibaldi 1254 1276 Giovanni Gaetano Orsini 1276 1277 Matteo Orsini Rosso 1278 1305 Napoleone Orsini Frangipani 1306 1342 Annibaldo di Ceccano 1342 1350 Guillaume de La Jugie 1362 1365 Rinaldo Orsini 1366 1374 Hugues de Saint Martial 1374 1378 Philippe d Alencon 1378 1397 Cristoforo Maroni 1397 1404 Angelo Acciaioli 1404 1408 Antonio Calvi 1408 1411 Pedro Fernandez de Frias 1412 1420 Antonio Correr 1420 1429 Lucido Conti 1429 1434 Giordano Orsini 1434 1438 Giuliano Cesarini 1439 1444 Pietro Barbo 1445 1464 Richard Olivier 1464 1470 Giovanni Battista Zeno 1470 1501 Juan Lopez 1501 Ippolito d Este 1501 1520 Marco Cornaro 1520 Franciotto Orsini 1520 1530 Francesco Cornaro 1530 1543 Alessandro Farnese 1543 1589 Giovanni Evangelista Palotta 1589 1620 Scipione Caffarelli Borghese 1620 1633 Francesco Barberini 1633 1667 Carlo Barberini 1667 1704 Francesco Nerli iuniore 1704 1708 Annibale Albani 1712 1751 Henry Benedict Stuart 1751 1807 Romualdo Braschi Onesti 1807 1817 Alessandro Mattei 1817 1820 Pietro Francesco Galleffi 6 May 1820 18 June 1837 Giacomo Giustiniani 1 July 1837 24 February 1843 Mario Mattei 11 March 1843 7 October 1870 Niccola Paracciani Clarelli 8 October 1870 7 July 1872 Edoardo Borromeo 10 July 1872 30 November 1881 Edward Henry Howard 12 December 1881 16 September 1892 Francesco Ricci Paracciani 6 October 1892 9 March 1894 Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro 21 March 1894 16 December 1913 Rafael Merry del Val 12 January 1914 26 February 1930 Eugenio Pacelli 25 March 1930 2 March 1939 Federico Tedeschini 14 March 1939 2 November 1959 Domenico Tardini 14 November 1959 30 July 1961 Paolo Marella 14 August 1961 8 February 1983 Aurelio Sabattani 8 February 1983 1 July 1991 58 Virgilio Noe 1 July 1991 58 24 April 2002 59 Francesco Marchisano 24 April 2002 59 31 October 2006 60 Angelo Comastri 31 October 2006 60 20 February 2021 61 Comastri was named Coadjutor Archpriest on 5 February 2005 62 Mauro Gambetti 20 February 2021 61 present Specifications Edit Crepuscular rays are seen in St Peter s Basilica at certain times each day Cost of construction of the basilica more than 46 800 052 ducats 63 Geographic orientation chancel west nave east Total length 730 feet 220 m Total width 500 feet 150 m Interior length including vestibule 693 8 feet 211 5 m 2 more than 1 8 mile Length of the transepts in interior 451 feet 137 m 2 Width of nave 90 2 feet 27 5 m 2 Width at the tribune 78 7 feet 24 0 m 2 Internal width at transepts 451 feet 137 m 2 Internal height of nave 151 5 feet 46 2 m high 2 Total area 227 070 square feet 21 095 m2 more than 5 acres 20 000 m2 Internal area 163 182 2 square feet 3 75 acres 15 160 12 m2 2 Height from pavement to top of cross 448 1 feet 136 6 m 1 Facade 167 feet 51 m high by 375 feet 114 m wide Vestibule 232 9 feet 71 0 m wide 44 2 feet 13 5 m deep and 91 8 feet 28 0 m high 2 The internal columns and pilasters 92 feet 28 m tall The circumference of the central piers 240 feet 73 m Outer diameter of dome 137 7 feet 42 0 m 2 The drum of the dome 630 feet 190 m in circumference and 65 6 feet 20 0 m high rising to 240 feet 73 m from the ground The lantern 63 feet 19 m high The ball and cross 8 and 16 feet 2 4 and 4 9 m respectively St Peter s Square 1 115 feet 340 m long 787 3 feet 240 0 m wide 2 Each arm of the colonnade 306 feet 93 m long and 64 feet 20 m high The colonnades have 284 columns 88 pilasters and 140 statues 2 Obelisk 83 6 feet 25 5 m Total height with base and cross 132 feet 40 m Weight of obelisk 360 2 short tons 326 800 kg 720 400 lb 2 See also Edit Silhouette of St Peter s Basilica at sundown view from Castel Sant Angelo Architecture of cathedrals and great churches Architecture of Rome History of early modern period domes List of tallest domes Index of Vatican City related articles List of basilicas in Italy List of oldest church buildings List of Roman Catholic basilicas List of tallest buildings in RomeNotes Edit a b Claims made that the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro in Cote d Ivoire is larger appear to be spurious as the measurements include a rectorate a villa and probably the forecourt Its dome based on that of St Peter s Basilica is lower but carries a taller cross and thus claims to be the tallest domed church citation needed Benedict XVI s theological act of renouncing the title of Patriarch of the West had as a consequence that Catholic Roman Rite patriarchal basilicas are today officially known as Papal basilicas Quarrying of stone for the Colosseum had in turn been paid for with treasure looted at the Siege of Jerusalem and destruction of the temple by the emperor Vespasian s general and the future emperor Titus in 70 AD 32 Julius II s tomb was left incomplete and was eventually erected in the Church of St Peter ad Vincola This claim has recently been made for Yamoussoukro Basilica the dome of which modelled on St Peter s is lower but has a taller cross citation needed The dome of Florence Cathedral is depicted in a fresco at Santa Maria Novella that pre dates its building by about 100 years Another view of the facade statues From left to right Thaddeus Matthew Philip Thomas James the Elder John the Baptist technically a precursor and not an apostle Christ centre the only one with a halo Andrew John the Apostle James the Younger Bartholomew Simon and Matthias Unofficial architecture site saintpetersbasilica org Retrieved 1 June 2011 The word stupendous is used by a number of writers trying to adequately describe the enormity of the interior These include James Lees Milne and Banister Fletcher The obelisk was originally erected at Heliopolis by an unknown pharaoh of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt c 2494 BC 2345 BC The statue was damaged in 1972 by Lazlo Toft a Hungarian Australian who considered that the veneration shown to the statue was idolatrous The damage was repaired and the statue subsequently placed behind glass References Edit a b St Peter s Basilica Dome in Italian Vatican City State Retrieved 12 July 2020 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Baumgarten 1913 a b Banister Fletcher the renowned architectural historian calls it the greatest creation of the Renaissance and the greatest of all churches of Christendom in Fletcher 1996 p 719harvnb error no target CITEREFFletcher1996 help clarification needed James Lees Milne describes St Peter s Basilica as a church with a unique position in the Christian world in Lees Milne 1967 p 12 St Peter s Basilica Basilica di San Pietro in Rome Italy reidsitaly com Giuliani G Guide to Saint Peter s Basilica Altar of the Confession published 1995 accessed 17 August 2021 Papal Mass accessed 28 February 2012 a b c d e f g h Fletcher 1975 Noreen 19 November 2012 St Peter s Basilica in Vatican Is Not The Official Church Of The Pope Today I Found Out Retrieved 14 February 2019 a b c d e Pio V Pinto pp 48 59 St Peter s Square Statue of St Paul saintpetersbasilica org Retrieved 22 December 2010 Masson Georgina 2001 The Companion Guide to Rome Companion Guides pp 615 6 Helen F North quoted in Secrets of Rome Robert Kahn 1999 pp 79 80 Ralph Waldo Emerson 7 April 1833 Williamson Benedict 1929 The Treaty of the Lateran London England Burns Oates and Washbourne Limited pp 42 66 St Peter s Basilica Interior of the Basilica Internet Portal of the Vatican City State p 2 Archived from the original on 26 February 2009 Retrieved 2 January 2009 Centre UNESCO World Heritage Vatican City whc unesco org Retrieved 9 August 2016 St Peter s The Nave Saintpetersbasilica org Archived from the original on 16 July 2012 Retrieved 9 August 2016 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link Herbermann Charles ed 1913 Basilica of St Peter Catholic Encyclopedia New York Robert Appleton Company Ellis Edward Robb 21 December 2004 The Epic of New York City A Narrative History Basic Books p 413 ISBN 978 0 7867 1436 0 Fodor s Travel Guides 2014 Fodor s Italy 2015 Travel Distribution ISBN 978 0 8041 4291 5 via Google Books Rasch 1985 p 118harvnb error no target CITEREFRasch1985 help Based on Outline of St Peter s Old St Peter s and Circus of Nero Jerome De Viris Illustribus On Illustrious Men New Advent Retrieved 27 May 2021 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Lees Milne 1967 Frank J Korn Hidden Rome Paulist Press 2002 Hijmans Steven University of Alberta Express News In search of St Peter s Tomb Archived from the original on 25 January 2006 Retrieved 25 December 2006 Cunningham Lawrence 2010 Cultures and Values USA Clark Baxter 671 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help Peter Partner 1972 The Lands of St Peter The Papal State in the Middle Ages and the Early Renaissance Volume 10 University of California Press p 57 ISBN 9780520021815 Retrieved 6 April 2019 excavation has revealed that the tomb of the apostle was wantonly smashed Dietz Helen 2005 The Eschatological Dimension of Church Architecture Sacred Architecture Journal 10 Boorsch Suzanne Winter 1982 1983 The Building of the Vatican The Papacy and Architecture The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 40 3 4 8 Claridge Amanda 1998 Rome An Oxford Archaeological Guide First ed Oxford UK Oxford University Press 1998 pp 276 282 ISBN 0 19 288003 9 Betts 1993 pp 6 7 Johann Tetzel Encyclopaedia Britannica 2007 Tetzel s experiences as a preacher of indulgences especially between 1503 and 1510 led to his appointment as general commissioner by Albrecht archbishop of Mainz who deeply in debt to pay for a large accumulation of benefices had to contribute a considerable sum toward the rebuilding of St Peter s Basilica in Rome Albrecht obtained permission from Pope Leo X to conduct the sale of a special plenary indulgence i e remission of the temporal punishment of sin half of the proceeds of which Albrecht was to claim to pay the fees of his benefices In effect Tetzel became a salesman whose product was to cause a scandal in Germany that evolved into the greatest crisis the Reformation in the history of the Western church Hillerbrand Hans J Martin Luther Indulgences and salvation Encyclopaedia Britannica 2007 a b Hartt 2006 Bramante s plan Gardner Kleiner amp Mamiya 2005 p 458 Golzio Vincenzo 1969 The Complete Work of Raphael New York Reynal and Co William Morrow and Company pp 593 94 Raphael s plan Fletcher 1996 p 722harvnb error no target CITEREFFletcher1996 help clarification needed Peruzzi s plan Fletcher 1996 p 722harvnb error no target CITEREFFletcher1996 help clarification needed a b Sangallo s plan Fletcher 1996 p 722harvnb error no target CITEREFFletcher1996 help clarification needed Goldscheider 1996 a b c d e f g h i Gardner Kleiner amp Mamiya 2005 Michelangelo s plan Gardner Kleiner amp Mamiya 2005 p 458 a b c Eneide Mignacca Michelangelo and the architecture of St Peter s Basilica lecture Sydney University 1982 De la Croix Horst Tansey Richard G Kirkpatrick Diane 1991 Gardner s Art Through the Ages 9th ed Thomson Wadsworth p 641 ISBN 0 15 503769 2 De la Croix Horst Tansey Richard G Kirkpatrick Diane 1991 Gardner s Art Through the Ages 9th ed Thomson Wadsworth p 663 ISBN 0 15 503769 2 Galassi Alghisii Carpens apud Alphonsum II Ferrariae Ducem architecti opus by Galasso Alghisi Dominicus Thebaldius 1563 page 44 147 of Google PDF download a b Michelangelo last sketch found BBC News 7 December 2007 Retrieved 8 December 2007 BBC Rare Michelangelo sketch for sale Friday 14 October 2005 1 accessed 9 February 2008 Pile 2005 p 131 Lees Milne 1967 Maderno s Nave Decker Heinrich 1969 1967 The Renaissance in Italy Architecture Sculpture Frescoes New York The Viking Press p 279 Kilby Peter St Peter s Basilica Basilica di San Pietro Retrieved 27 July 2011 St Peter s the Obelisk saintpetersbasilica org Retrieved 22 December 2010 The Seminarian GuidesNorth American College Rome saintpetersbasilica org Retrieved 29 July 2009 Source the respective biographical entries on Essay of a General List of Cardinals by Salvador Miranda with corrections provided by Werner Maleczek Papst und Kardinalskolleg von 1191 bis 1216 Wien 1984 for the period before 1190 until 1254 a b Acta Apostolicae Sedis PDF Vol LXXXIII 1991 p 631 a b Rinunce e Nomine 24 04 2002 Press release in Italian Holy See Press Office 24 April 2002 Retrieved 30 June 2020 a b Rinunce e Nomine 31 October 2006 Press release in Italian Holy See Press Office 31 October 2006 Retrieved 30 June 2020 a b Resignations and Appointments 20 02 2021 Press release Holy See Press Office 20 February 2021 Retrieved 20 February 2021 Rinunce e Nomine 05 02 2005 Press release in Italian Holy See Press Office 5 February 2005 Retrieved 30 June 2020 Since Nicholas V twenty seven popes over a span of 178 years had imagined this day They had already spent 46 800 052 ducats And still the building was not done The basic construction was complete but the last genius Bernini to put his signature on the Basilica was just beginning his work in Scotti 2007 p 241 Bibliography EditBannister Turpin 1968 The Constantinian Basilica of Saint Peter at Rome Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 27 1 3 32 doi 10 2307 988425 JSTOR 988425 OCLC 19640446 subscription required Baumgarten Paul Maria 1913 Basilica of St Peter In Herbermann Charles ed Catholic Encyclopedia New York Robert Appleton Company Betts Richard J 1993 Structural Innovation and Structural Design in Renaissance Architecture Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 52 1 5 25 doi 10 2307 990755 JSTOR 990755 Boorsch Suzanne 1982 The Building of the Vatican The Papacy and Architecture The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin New York XL 3 4 64 doi 10 2307 3258914 JSTOR 3258914 OCLC 39642638 Dzyubanskyy Taras 2010 The Development of the Cult of St Peter in the Vatican from the poor man s grave to the largest basilica in the world Lviv Finch Margaret 1991 The Cantharus and Pigna at Old Saint Peter s Gesta 30 1 16 26 doi 10 2307 767006 JSTOR 767006 S2CID 155861160 subscription required Fletcher Banister 1975 History of Architecture on the Comparative Method for the student craftsman and amateur New York Macmillan Pub Company ISBN 978 99974 605 5 4 clarification needed 2001 First published 1896 Sir Banister Fletcher s a History of Architecture 20th ed London Architectural Press ISBN 978 0 7506 2267 7 clarification needed Frommel Christoph 1986 Papal Policy The Planning of Rome during the Renaissance in The Evidence of Art Images and Meaning in History PDF Journal of Interdisciplinary History Cambridge 17 1 39 65 doi 10 2307 204124 ISSN 0022 1953 JSTOR 204124 subscription required Gardner Helen Kleiner Fred S Mamiya Christin J 2005 Gardner s Art through the Ages The Western Perspective Vol 2 12th ed Belmont Wadsworth pp 499 500 571 575 ISBN 978 0 495 00479 0 Goldscheider Ludwig 1996 Michelangelo 6th ed Oxford Phaidon ISBN 978 0 7148 3296 8 Hartt Frederick 2006 History of Italian Renaissance Art 6th ed Englewood Cliffs Prentice Hall ISBN 978 0 13 188247 8 Hintzen Bohlen Brigitte Sorges Jurgen 2001 Rome and the Vatican City Koln Konemann ISBN 978 3 8290 3109 7 Korn Frank J 2002 Hidden Rome New York Paulist Press ISBN 978 0 8091 4109 8 Lanciani Rodolfo 1892 Chapter III Christian Churches Pagan and Christian Rome Boston and New York Houghton Mifflin and Company Lees Milne James 1967 Saint Peter s the story of Saint Peter s Basilica in Rome London Hamish Hamilton OCLC 1393052 McClendon Charles 1989 The History of the Site of St Peter s Basilica Rome Perspecta The Yale Architectural Journal 25 32 65 doi 10 2307 1567138 ISSN 0079 0958 JSTOR 1567138 Pevsner Nikolaus 1963 An Outline of European Architecture 7th ed Baltimore Penguin Books ISBN 978 0 14 020109 3 OCLC 2208913 Pile John F 2005 A History of Interior Design second ed London Laurence King Publishing ISBN 978 1 856 69418 6 Pinto Pio 1975 The Pilgrim s Guide to Rome San Francisco Harper amp Row ISBN 978 0 06 013388 7 Scotti R A 2007 Basilica the Splendor and the Scandal Building of St Peter s New York Plume ISBN 978 0 452 28860 7 Inside the Vatican National Geographic News National Geographic Society 28 October 2010 2004 Retrieved 30 December 2008 Saint Peter s Truth Unveiled Bernini s Bell Towers and the Allegory of Truth Urban VIII s Bell Towers Archived from the original on 10 June 2014 External links EditVaticanstate va Archived 22 February 2019 at the Wayback Machine official website with images and information about the Basilica Virtual Reality Tour of the Basilica of Saint Peter St Peter s Basilica info unofficial website on the basilica with images and text from different books 360 Degree Photographs Inside Saint Peter s Basilica Google Maps Vatican Satellite image of the BasilicaRecordsPreceded byUnknown Tallest building in Rome1626 2012136 6 metres 448 ft Succeeded byTorre EuroskyPreceded byUnknown Tallest dome1626 present136 6 metres 448 ft Current holder Portals Catholicism Vatican City Architecture ItalySt Peter s Basilica at Wikipedia s sister projects Media from Commons Texts from Wikisource Travel guides from Wikivoyage Data from Wikidata Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title St Peter 27s Basilica amp oldid 1133523211, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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