Editing St. Peter's Basilica (section)

====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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