Editing St. Peter's Basilica (section)

====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)