Editing St. Peter's Basilica (section)

==Bernini's furnishings==
[[File:The Chair of Saint Peter adjusted.JPG|thumb|The apse with St. Peter's Cathedral supported by four Doctors of the Church|alt=Pews before the ornate, gold-leafed throne of St. Peter]]

===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 [[loggia]]s in the piers of the dome and the [[Chair of Saint Peter|chair of St. Peter]].<ref name=JL-M/><ref name=Gardner/>

====Baldacchino and niches====
{{Main|St. Peter's Baldachin}}

Bernini's first work at St. Peter's was to design the [[St. Peter's Baldachin|baldacchino]], a pavilion-like structure {{convert|28.74|m|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 (architecture)|''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]]<!-- -Caps needed in this sense- --> 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 [[Solomonic columns|barley-sugar shape]] had a special significance as they were modelled on those of the [[Temple in Jerusalem|Temple of Jerusalem]] and donated by the [[Constantine the Great|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.

[[File:2025-03-10 St. Peter's Basilica baldacchino.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The altar with Bernini's baldacchino|alt= Photo shows the baldachin standing in the centre of the church, viewed looking towards the nave. There is an altar beneath it which has a red and gold frontal cloth decorated with large crosses.]]

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 ''[[Chair of Saint Peter|Cathedra Petri]]'' in the apse behind it and to the four piers containing large statues that are at each diagonal.<ref name=JL-M/><ref name=Gardner/>

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 [[Balcony|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 [[Holy Lance|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 (empress)|Helena]], and a relic of [[Andrew the Apostle|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.<ref name=JL-M/> (See below)

====Cathedra Petri and Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament====
{{Main|Chair of Saint Peter}}
[[File:Cathedrapetri+gloria.jpg|thumb|Bernini's Cathedra Petri and ''Gloria''|alt=The chair-shaped bronze reliquary which holds the throne of St Peter is much larger than a normal chair, is ornate in shape and decorated with relief sculpture and gold leaf. The "Gloria" which surrounds a round window is a sculpture of clouds and sun-rays, surrounded by angels, the whole lot being covered in gleaming gold leaf.]]
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.<ref name="JL-M" /><ref name="Gardner" />

Bernini's final work for St. Peter's, undertaken in 1676, was the decoration of the Chapel of the Sacrament.<ref name="Basilica Info">{{cite web |last=Kilby |first=Peter |title=St Peter's Basilica (Basilica di San Pietro) |url=http://www.rome.info/vatican/st-peters-basilica/ |access-date=27 July 2011 |archive-date=11 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511140900/https://www.rome.info/vatican/st-peters-basilica/ |url-status=live }}</ref> To hold the sacramental Host, he designed a miniature version in gilt bronze of Bramante's [[San Pietro in Montorio#The Tempietto|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.<ref name=JL-M/>
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