Under the Tuscan Spell
Part 26: St. Peter’s BasilicaSt. Peter’s Basilica, the most sacred site in all Christendom, took 18 centuries to build and is built over the tomb of St. Peter who was crucified in 64 AD. It contains many great sculptures, paintings, relics, and frescoes.
  The Tomb of St. Peter lies beneath this brass plaque in the floor. It contains the Vatican seal.
 The nave of St. Peter’s is 200 yards long, 60 yards wide, and 50 yards high. Each of the huge fluted pilasters contains niches with 39 statues of saints.
 The Papal Altar in the middle of the church contains the famous gilded bronze baldachin designed by Bernini between 1624 and 1632. It is 90 feet high and was made with bronze taken from the Pantheon. A closeup of the famous gilded Papal Altar Pope Pius VII (Barnaba Chiaramonti) was born in 1740, elected at Venice in 1800, and died in 1823. The Pieta, was created by Michelangelo in 1499 when he was 24 years old. The Madonna cradles the dead Jesus’s limp body. The sculptors signature is on the band across the Madonna’s left shoulder. This crucifixion scene is a bronze bas relief panel on a door to St. Peter’s. This is the tomb of Pope Benedicto XV of Genoa, Italy, who served from 1914 to 1922. |
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