Editing St. Peter's Basilica (section)

====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.<ref name=JL-M/>

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.{{Cn|date=June 2023}}

Around the inside of the dome is written, in letters {{convert|1.4|m|ft}} high:

{{blockquote|TV ES PETRVS ET SVPER HANC PETRAM AEDIFICABO ECCLESIAM MEAM ET TIBI DABO CLAVES REGNI CAELORVM<br />("...&nbsp;you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.&nbsp;... and I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven&nbsp;..." [[Vulgate]], {{bibleverse||Matthew|16:18–19|4}}.)}}

Beneath the lantern is the inscription:

{{blockquote|S. PETRI GLORIAE SIXTVS PP. V. A. M. D. XC. PONTIF. V.<br />(To the glory of St Peter; Sixtus V, pope, in the year 1590, the fifth of his pontificate.)}}