St. Peter's in Vatican

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Pietà

Pietà of Michelangelo BuonarrotiIn the first chapel on the right is Michelangelo's magnificent marble sculpture (1499) of the Virgin Mary holding the dead body of Christ.

Even in her moment of agony, she is the most attractive woman Michelangelo ever created. He was 24.

The sculpture has been violated twice: once by Michelangelo himself who stole in one night and secretly signed it, and most recently in 1972 by a madman who hacked at it with a hammer.

As a result, since its recent restoration, it has been protected by a glass wall.


Statue of St. Peter's

(Statua di S. Pietro). Bronze by Arnolfo di Cambio (13C). Line up to join the millions of pilgrims who for centuries have kissed or touched his toe, leaving it worn but brightly shining.

Notice how stiff and formal this medieval masterpiece is compared to Michelangelo's Renaissance Pietà.


Baldachin of Bernini

Central Nave of the Basilica, engraving
(Baldacchino del Bernini). Bernini’s marble and bronze canopy (1633) over the high altar combines architecture with sculpture.

The curling columns, 66 feet / 29 meters tall (higher than most Roman palaces), are of bronze stolen from the crossbeams of the Pantheon's entrance.

Pope Urban VIII Barberini, who permitted this vandalism, is aptly represented by swarms of bees, his heraldic sign. Borromini collaborated in the heavenly sculptural cover.

Under it is the vast altar used by the Pope for special masses.

In front and below is the balustrade and stairs, groaning with golden lamps, leading down to the crypt and Peter's tomb.


Throne of St. Peter's

(Trono di S. Pietro). Bernini's other imaginative masterpiece (1665), at the very end of the apse, contains the Episcopal chair presumably used by the first Pope.
Its gilded cherubs seem to have flown over from the baldacchino, giving unity to the church's enormous interior.

Light streaming in through the sunburst, with the dove of the Holy Ghost, makes this late work of Bernini unforgettable.


Monument to Queen Christina

(Monumento alla Regina Cristina). At her conversion to Catholicism, Christina abdicated the throne of Sweden and moved to the Eternal City, reportedly with the Cardinal who had moved her.

She died in the Palazzo Corsini, not far from here, in 1689.

This effigy of her is beautiful compared to the contemporary record that she was dumpy and mustachioed. (Also beautiful was Greta Garbo when she played Christina in the fabulous film of the same name…).

The Roof

(Il tetto). Take the elevator up for a splendid view over Bernini's Piazza.


Top of the dome

(Cupola). Not for the faint-hearted: then climb 537 stairs for a breathless but deathless view over the entire Eternal City.


Tomb of St. Peter's

(Tomba di S. Pietro). If you are in Rome long enough, do not miss the Apostle's presumed burial place.

For 16 centuries it lay undiscovered, buried deep under the massive foundations of the churches built on top of it.

Thanks to recent excavations, you can stroll along the ancient Roman street and visit the unadorned tomb of the first Pope.

Piazza San Pietro (Map B 3-4)

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