La Mostra    The patriarchal Basilicas    St Peters in the Vatican

Map of ancient Vatican

In Roman times, at the Ager Vaticanus outside the Aurelian walls between the Monti Vaticani and the right bank of the Tiber, Caligula had a large circus built. Nero later improved it by adding marble stepped seating and the large obelisk that today stands in the centre of St Peter’s Square. This was the area where the apostle Peter was buried. Three centuries later, Emperor Constantine commissioned a large Basilica to be built in his honour on this very spot.

Carlo Fontana (draw.), Alessandro Specchi (engr.), Pianta del Vaticano antico, in: Carlo Fontana, Il tempio Vaticano e sua origine con gl'edifitii più cospicui antichi e moderni fatti dentro e fuori di esso..., Roma 1694

View of the Neronian circus

In Roman times, at the Ager Vaticanus outside the Aurelian walls between the Monti Vaticani and the right bank of the Tiber, Caligula had a large circus built. Nero later improved it by adding marble stepped seating and the large obelisk that today stands in the centre of St Peter’s Square. This was the area where the apostle Peter was buried. Three centuries later, Emperor Constantine commissioned a large Basilica to be built in his honour on this very spot.

Carlo Fontana (draw.), Alessandro Specchi (engr.), Veduta del cerchio neroniano che mostra il di dentro el di fuori, in: Carlo Fontana, Il tempio Vaticano e sua origine con gl'edifitii più cospicui antichi e moderni fatti dentro e fuori di esso..., Roma 1694

Views and cutaways of Constantinian basilica of St. Peter's

In order to prepare Vatican area to house the basilica in honour of St. Peter, emperor Constantine got levelled the entire zone and, thanks to demolitions and made ground, realized a big floor, linked up to the original level by 35 steps. The staircase introduced to a quadriporticus, which preceded the real basilica, divided into five naves joined by a transept, within which, where there was the ancient apostle's grave, was placed an altar with a ciborium.

Giovanni Girolamo Frezza, [Basilica costantiniana], in: Filippo Buonanni, Numismata summorum Pontificum templi Vaticani fabricam indicantia, chronologica ejusdem fabricae narratione, ac multiplici eruditione explicata..., Roma 1696

Map of "old" and "new" basilica of St. Peter's

Tiberio Alfarano (draw.), Natale Bonifacio (engr.), Almae Urbis divi Petri veteris novique templi descriptio, Roma 1590

Map of the ancient church of St. Peter's

Pianta della chiesa antica di San Pietro, in: Giovanni Severano, Memorie sacre delle sette chiese di Roma e di altri luoghi, che si trovano per le strade di esse, vol. I (Parte prima in cui si tratta dell'antichità di dette chiese, di quello ch'era già ne i siti loro, delle fabriche...), Roma 1630

Map of Constantinian basilica with the contour of Neronian circus

Carlo Fontana (draw.), Alessandro Specchi (engr.), Pianta della Basilica Costantiniana e situatione del novo tempio con il contorno e loco dove fu il circo di Nerone, in: Carlo Fontana, Il tempio Vaticano e sua origine con gl'edifitii più cospicui antichi e moderni fatti dentro e fuori di esso..., Roma 1694

Description of Vatican temple

In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, given the new importance that the Vatican and St Peter’s Basilica had taken on during the Middle Ages, pontiffs hatched plans to radically change the area so that physically as well as symbolically St Peter’s would become the most important church in Christendom. Over the centuries, the greatest architects of the day were put in charge of the Fabbrica di San Pietro, which was responsible for building work in the Vatican. These architects came up with all manner of designs, which have survived to the present day in drawings, engravings and wooden models, not to mention medals coined by pontiffs during their reign to show how advanced work was on their projects.

Ercolani Giuseppe Maria, Descrizione del Colosseo romano, del Panteo e del Tempio vaticano, Ancona 1763

Maps of Vatican basilica and its projects (1450-1582; 1506-1694)

Hugo Brandenburg, Antonella Ballardini, Christof Thoenes, San Pietro: storia di un monumento, Città del Vaticano 2015

Building history of St. Peter's in papal medals coined to commemorate constructional instalments of the basilica

Giovanni Girolamo Frezza, Pontificum romanorum numismata templi vaticani fabricam chronologicam indicantia, in: Filippo Buonanni, Numismata summorum Pontificum templi Vaticani fabricam indicantia, chronologica ejusdem fabricae narratione, ac multiplici eruditione explicata..., Roma 1696

The dome of Vatican basilica according to Bramante's project

Alessandro Specchi, Delineatio tholi basilicae vaticanae iuxta typum Bramantis, in: Filippo Buonanni, Numismata summorum Pontificum templi Vaticani fabricam indicantia, chronologica ejusdem fabricae narratione, ac multiplici eruditione explicata..., Roma 1696

Project by Antonio da Sangallo for the new Vatican basilica

Alessandro Specchi, Frons basilicae vaticanae ab Antonio Sangallo delineata, in: Filippo Buonanni, Numismata summorum Pontificum templi Vaticani fabricam indicantia, chronologica ejusdem fabricae narratione, ac multiplici eruditione explicata..., Roma 1696

Project by Michelangelo Buonarroti for the new Vatican basilica

Giovanni Girolamo Frezza, Forma eiusdem novae basilicae Michaele Angelo Bonarota delineata, in: Filippo Buonanni, Numismata summorum Pontificum templi Vaticani fabricam indicantia, chronologica ejusdem fabricae narratione, ac multiplici eruditione explicata..., Roma 1696

Project by Domenico Fontana for the new Vatican basilica

Giovanni Girolamo Frezza, Forma basilicae quam cum porticu itidem aperta excogitavit eques Dominicus Fontana sub Sixto V, in: Filippo Buonanni, Numismata summorum Pontificum templi Vaticani fabricam indicantia, chronologica ejusdem fabricae narratione, ac multiplici eruditione explicata..., Roma 1696

Old and new St. Peter's during the second half of XVI century

For much of the sixteenth century, the “old” and “new” St Peter’s coexisted, divided by the “Farnesian wall” built during Paul III’s papacy to cordon off the building site from the Constantine church, where believers and pilgrims continued to celebrate rites and ceremonies. How this looked is evident in this engraving by Antoine Lafréry, which refers to a Papal blessing in St Peter’s Square during the papacy of Pius V (1566-1572), whose coat of arms may be seen on the façade and trumpeteers’ vexilla.

Antoine Lafréry (engr.), Pietro de' Nobili (ed.), Benedizione del papa in Piazza San Pietro, Roma 1581-1585Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Cicognara.XII.541 f. 111v (©2016 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana)

Old and new St. Peter's during the second half of XVI century

For much of the sixteenth century, the “old” and “new” St Peter’s coexisted, divided by the “Farnesian wall” built during Paul III’s papacy to cordon off the building site from the Constantine church, where believers and pilgrims continued to celebrate rites and ceremonies. The engraving by Natale Bonifacio shows the progress of the works in 1575, during the pontificate of Gregory XIII.

Natale Bonifacio (engr.), D. Petri Basilica in Vaticano Ann. Iubilei 1575, in: Principio Fabrizi, Delle allusioni, imprese, et emblemi del sig. Principio Fabricii da Teramo sopra la vita, opere et attioni di Gregorio XIII..., Roma 1588

Old and new St. Peter's during the second half of XVI century

For much of the sixteenth century, the “old” and “new” St Peter’s coexisted, divided by the “Farnesian wall” built during Paul III’s papacy to cordon off the building site from the Constantine church, where believers and pilgrims continued to celebrate rites and ceremonies. The engraving by Alessandro Specchi shows the progress of the works in 1575, during the pontificate of Sixtus V.

Alessandro Specchi, Frons templi et palatii Vaticani sub Sixto V delineata, in: Filippo Buonanni, Numismata summorum Pontificum templi Vaticani fabricam indicantia, chronologica ejusdem fabricae narratione, ac multiplici eruditione explicata..., Roma 1696

The Vatican obelisk on the side of St. Peter's Basilica before it was moved to the square

Bernardo Gamucci, Le antichità della città di Roma..., 2 ed., Venezia 1580

The Vatican obelisk on the side of St. Peter's Basilica before it was moved to the square

Carlo Fontana (draw.), Alessandro Specchi (engr.), Fianco della basilica vechia [sic] e parte del tempio novo e fabriche [sic] annesse, in: Carlo Fontana, Il tempio Vaticano e sua origine con gl'edifitii più cospicui antichi e moderni fatti dentro e fuori di esso..., Roma 1694

The project by Camillo Agrippa for the transportation of the Vatican obelisk

Camillo Agrippa, Trattato di Camillo Agrippa milanese di trasportar la guglia in su la piazza di San Pietro, Roma 1583

About the transportation of the Vatican obelisk by Domenico Fontana

Ever since the 1530s, Fabbrica di San Pietro architects had been mulling over the possibility of moving the large obelisk on the south side of the Basilica to Piazza San Pietro. At one stage or another, Antonio da Sangallo, Camillo Agrippa and even Michelangelo were involved in the project. It was only after Sixtus V’s election to the Papal throne that, between April and September 1586, thanks to the Pope’s insistence and Domenico Fontana’s ingenuity, the project was swiftly implemented. Drawing on Imperial Roman techniques, Fontana took down, moved and re-erected the obelisk in the centre of the square using a complex system of levers and winches, plus a large number of skilled workers (blacksmiths, masons and carpenters). Fontana meticulous described the entire operation in his book Della trasportatione dell’obelisco Vaticano e delle fabriche di nostro signore papa Sisto V, which was published in Rome in 1590 with illustrations by Natale Bonifacio. A century later, with financial support from the Fabbrica di San Pietro, Innocent XI commissioned Carlo Fontana to write a major monograph on the Vatican Basilica, in which he reconstructed the various stages of how the obelisk had been moved in words and pictures (engraved by Alessandro Specchi).

Domenico Fontana, Della trasportatione dell'obelisco vaticano et delle fabriche di nostro signore papa Sisto V fatte dal cavallier Domenico Fontana architetta di sua santità..., Roma 1590 [ma 1604]

The wooden tower used to move the obelisk

Carlo Fontana (draw.), Alessandro Specchi (engr.), Castello composto di legnami che servì per levare d'opera l'obelisco, in: Carlo Fontana, Il tempio Vaticano e sua origine con gl'edifitii più cospicui antichi e moderni fatti dentro e fuori di esso..., Roma 1694

The obelisk bent while it was been lowered

Carlo Fontana (draw.), Alessandro Specchi (engr.), L'obelisco piegato mentre calava, in: Carlo Fontana, Il tempio Vaticano e sua origine con gl'edifitii più cospicui antichi e moderni fatti dentro e fuori di esso..., Roma 1694

View of the tower with the obelisk lying

Carlo Fontana (draw.), Alessandro Specchi (engr.), Scurcio del castello con l'obelisco stratato, in: Carlo Fontana, Il tempio Vaticano e sua origine con gl'edifitii più cospicui antichi e moderni fatti dentro e fuori di esso..., Roma 1694

Hanging street with the obelisk above

Carlo Fontana (draw.), Alessandro Specchi (engr.), Strada pensile con l'obelisco sopra, in: Carlo Fontana, Il tempio Vaticano e sua origine con gl'edifitii più cospicui antichi e moderni fatti dentro e fuori di esso..., Roma 1694

Hanging square with the view of the tower for the putting up of the obelisk

Carlo Fontana (draw.), Alessandro Specchi (engr.), Strada pensile con l'obelisco sopra, in: Carlo Fontana, Il tempio Vaticano e sua origine con gl'edifitii più cospicui antichi e moderni fatti dentro e fuori di esso..., Roma 1694

Lay-out and general view of the machines used to raise the obelisk in the square

Carlo Fontana (draw.), Alessandro Specchi (inc.), Dispositione e veduta generale delle machine che servirono per alzare l’obelisco vaticano, in: Carlo Fontana, Il tempio Vaticano e sua origine con gl'edifitii più cospicui antichi e moderni fatti dentro e fuori di esso..., Roma 1694

Ceremonies of consecration of the Vatican obelisk after its placement in the square

On 26 September 1586, the transportation of the Vatican obelisk to St. Peter's Square ends with the blessing of the obelisk and the consecration of the golden bronze cross put on its top.

Giovanni Guerra (draw.), Natale Bonifacio (engr.), Ordine che si tenne nel far le ceremonie della consecratione della croce e benedittione della guglia, Roma 1587

Discourse about the new ornamentation of the spire of St. Peter's

Ludovico Sergardi, Discorso sopra il nuovo ornato della guglia di S. Pietro..., Roma 1723

View of St. Peter's (about 1600)

An etching made about 1686 by Jacob Enderlin according to Giovanni Maggi's engraving, printed in the work by Domenico Custos, Deliciae Urbis Romae, published in Augsburg in 1600.

Jacob Enderlin, Ecclesia S. Petri, 1686 ca

Life of knight Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Gian Lorenzo Bernini had worked for over thirty years in St. Peter's, realizing some sheer masterpieces such as the baldachin and the colonnade and supervising the building.

Filippo Baldinucci, Vita del cavaliere Gio. Lorenzo Bernino scultore, architetto e pittore..., Firenze 1682

The Baldachin of St. Peter's by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

In 1623, newly-elected Pope Urban VIII Barberini commissioned Gian Lorenzo Bernini to make a baldachin under Michelangelo’s majestic dome, marking the spot where Peter was buried. Bernini came up with an imposing architectural work (more than 20 m high, it is taller than a nobleman’s palazzo), executed with a sculptural skill that imbued the materials with a soft, light and dynamic form. The work took almost ten years to complete; Urban VIII inaugurated it in 1633.

Alessandro Specchi, Aenea moles qua d. Petri aram Urbanus VIII exornavit, in: Filippo Buonanni, Numismata summorum Pontificum templi Vaticani fabricam indicantia, chronologica ejusdem fabricae narratione, ac multiplici eruditione explicata..., Roma 1696

The Baldachin of St. Peter's by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

In 1623, newly-elected Pope Urban VIII Barberini commissioned Gian Lorenzo Bernini to make a baldachin under Michelangelo’s majestic dome, marking the spot where Peter was buried. Bernini came up with an imposing architectural work (more than 20 m high, it is taller than a nobleman’s palazzo), executed with a sculptural skill that imbued the materials with a soft, light and dynamic form. The work took almost ten years to complete; Urban VIII inaugurated it in 1633.

Jean Baptiste Nolin, Descriptio historica altarium Basilicae, in: Raphael Sindone, Altarium, et reliquiarum sacrosanctae Basilicae Vaticanae Deo Optimo Maximo in honorem beati Petri principis Apostolorum erectae descriptio historica scriptoribus, & monumentis Archivi Capitularis illustrata, Roma 1744

The Baldachin of St. Peter's by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

In 1623, newly-elected Pope Urban VIII Barberini commissioned Gian Lorenzo Bernini to make a baldachin under Michelangelo’s majestic dome, marking the spot where Peter was buried. Bernini came up with an imposing architectural work (more than 20 m high, it is taller than a nobleman’s palazzo), executed with a sculptural skill that imbued the materials with a soft, light and dynamic form. The work took almost ten years to complete; Urban VIII inaugurated it in 1633.

François Spierre, [Baldacchino di San Pietro opera di Gian Lorenzo Bernini], in: Raphael Sindone, Altarium, et reliquiarum sacrosanctae Basilicae Vaticanae Deo Optimo Maximo in honorem beati Petri principis Apostolorum erectae descriptio historica scriptoribus, & monumentis Archivi Capitularis illustrata, Roma 1744, p. 19

View of the façade of St. Peter's with Bernini's bell tower, then knocked down

.

Carlo Fontana (draw.), Alessandro Specchi (engr.), Prospetto del tempio vaticano con il campanile nel termine che mostrò la rovina e modo del riparo, in: Carlo Fontana, Il tempio Vaticano e sua origine con gl'edifitii più cospicui antichi e moderni fatti dentro e fuori di esso..., Roma 1694

View of the façade of St. Peter's with Bernini's bell tower, then knocked down

Eglise S. Pierre au Vatican, in: François Jacques Deseine, Rome moderne, premiére ville de l’Europe, avec toutes ses magnificences & ses delices..., vol. III, Leiden 1713

St. Peter's square with the third wing of the colonnade projected by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

For many years, Innocent X favoured Francesco Borromini’s design. After he died, Alexander VII was elected Pope. In 1656, Alexander VII commissioned Bernini to remodel St Peter’s Square. This was no easy task, given that he had to juggle making access to the Basilica spectacular, solemn and elegant, while keeping to a minimum the work to be carried out on existing buildings, and ensuring sufficient visibility for Michelangelo’s dome, the apostolic palaces and the Loggia of the Blessings, while at the same time toning down the excessive width of Maderno’s façade. At the same time, Bernini had to conceive a solution that would have sufficient capacity to hold large numbers of believers, and whose safety had to be ensured before, during and after functions. Bernini produced a masterpiece: a square unique anywhere in the world, which was to become the very symbol of the Italian baroque. Two rectilinear arcades extend from the church’s façade, diverging to open out into two hemicycles which, with their phalanx of columns, embrace the vast piazza, encircling believers the same way that the arms of the church embrace all of humanity. A “third arm”, represented in Giovanni Battista Falda’s engraving but never built owing to the death of Alexander VII, would have continued the twin hemicycles’ curve along the side of the spina di borgo, anchoring the new piazza to the previously-existing urban landscape.

Giovanni Battista Falda, Piazza e portici della Basilica Vaticana fatti da n.s. papa Alesandro settimo, in: Id., Il nuovo teatro delle fabriche et edificii in prospettiva di Roma moderna..., vol. I, Roma 1665

Longitudinal section of the Basilica of St. Peter's

Vue du dedans de la grande Basilique de S. Pierre au Vatican, in: François Jacques Deseine, Rome moderne, premiére ville de l’Europe, avec toutes ses magnificences & ses delices..., vol. IV, Leiden 1713

Privileges of the Building of St. Peter's

The long series of works which Vatican basilica incurred during modern age was executed under the leadership of the Building of St. Peter's. The corporate body, established in sixteenth century to supervise the work in the basilica and turned into a Holy Congregation at the beginning of seventeenth century, had financial and managerial autonomy, legislative power and a structured administrative organization. It had privileges, rights and duties, gathered and published by the Vatican cameral printing house in specific official collections.

Giovanni Carlo Vespignani, Compendium privilegiorum rev. Fabricae S. Petri, iunctis declarationibus eorundem, ac decretis super frequentioribus dubii per Sac. Congregationem factis pro faciliori illorum notitia, & usu industria & labore, Roma 1676

Orders and provisions for the commissioners of the building of St. Peter's

Ordini e provisioni da osservarsi dalli Commissarj della Rev. Fabbrica nello Stato Ecclesiastico, Roma 1735

Edict which forbids to dump rubble, dirt, rubbish and other stuff around the Basilica of St. Peter's

Editto che non si scarichino calcinacci, terra, immondezze ne altre materie attorno la Chiesa di S. Pietro, e suoi siti adiacenti, piazza e portici, ne si atturino ferrate ò chiaviche vicino alle fontane, ne si facciano fosse ò cava alcuna per fermare l'acqua di quelle per lavarvi robba ò altro, ne si tiri con archibugi, balestre ò sassi verso la medesima chiesa... Dato in Roma il dì 27 giugno 1709, Roma 1709

St. Peter's dome

Thomas Le Seur, François Jacquier, Ruggero Giuseppe Boscovich, Parere di tre mattematici sopra i danni che si sono trovati nella cupola di S. Pietro sul fine dell'anno MDCCXLII. Dato per ordine di nostro signore papa Benedetto XIV, Roma 1742

The eighteen-century operations of consolidation of St. Peter's dome

Cupola di S. Pietro, in: Thomas Le Seur, François Jacquier, Ruggero Giuseppe Boscovich, Parere di tre mattematici sopra i danni che si sono trovati nella cupola di S. Pietro sul fine dell'anno MDCCXLII. Dato per ordine di nostro signore papa Benedetto XIV, Roma 1742

The eighteen-century operations of consolidation of St. Peter's dome

Lelio Cosatti, Riflessioni di Lelio Cosatti, patrizio sanese, sopra il sistema dei tre RR. PP. mattematici e suo parere circa il patimento, e risarcimento della gran cupola di S. Pietro, Roma 1743

The eighteen-century operations of consolidation of St. Peter's dome

Breve discorso in difesa della cupola di S. Pietro di N. N. capomastro muratore, regolato circa i danni secondo la prima scrittura de’ rr. pp. mattematici, Roma 1744

St. Peter's dome

Figure della scrittura de mattematici, in: Breve discorso in difesa della cupola di S. Pietro di N. N. capomastro muratore, regolato circa i danni secondo la prima scrittura de’ rr. pp. mattematici, Roma 1744

St. Peter's dome

Pianta del vivo dell'ordine attico e piantato de' costoloni sopra de' pilastri del med.mo e vanno à formare l'occhio della gran Cupola, ò sia collo della lanterna, in: Breve discorso in difesa della cupola di S. Pietro di N. N. capomastro muratore, regolato circa i danni secondo la prima scrittura de’ rr. pp. mattematici, Roma 1744

The eighteen-century operations of consolidation of St. Peter's dome

Alessandro Francesco Rostagni (draw.), Paolo Pilaia (engr.), [Ponti per accomodare gli ornati della gran cupola di San Pietro e la croce in cima all'obelisco Vaticano], in: Nicola Zabaglia, Castelli e ponti di maestro Niccola Zabaglia con alcune ingegnose pratiche...,Roma 1744

St. Peter's dome

Between 1743 and 1748, Vanvitelli and Poleni worked to strengthen the dome by inserting six iron rings into the tambour and calotta, the largest of which measured 60 m in diameter. Nicola Zabaglia, a simple illiterate man whose extraordinary empirical knowledge of mechanics enabled him to build the scaffolding necessary to put the circles in place, also made a major contribution to these improvements. Around that time, Clement XI commissioned the publication of a magnificent and richly-illustrated work (ultimately completed under Benedict XIV and funded by the Fabbrica di San Pietro, with words by Lelio Cosatti and sumptuous artwork). The book paid rightful homage to Nicola Zabaglia, the humble carpenter so instrumental to the construction of the world’s biggest church.

Nicola Zabaglia, Castelli e ponti di maestro Niccola Zabaglia con alcune ingegnose pratiche...,Roma 1744

St. Peter's dome

Between 1743 and 1748, Vanvitelli and Poleni worked to strengthen the dome by inserting six iron rings into the tambour and calotta, the largest of which measured 60 m in diameter. Nicola Zabaglia, a simple illiterate man whose extraordinary empirical knowledge of mechanics enabled him to build the scaffolding necessary to put the circles in place, also made a major contribution to these improvements. Around that time, Clement XI commissioned the publication of a magnificent and richly-illustrated work (ultimately completed under Benedict XIV and funded by the Fabbrica di San Pietro, with words by Lelio Cosatti and sumptuous artwork). The book paid rightful homage to Nicola Zabaglia, the humble carpenter so instrumental to the construction of the world’s biggest church.

Alessandro Francesco Rostagni (draw.), Francesco Mazzoni (engr.), [Ponti per accomodare gli angoli della gran cupola di San Pietro], in: Nicola Zabaglia, Castelli e ponti di maestro Niccola Zabaglia con alcune ingegnose pratiche...,Roma 1744

St. Peter's dome

Between 1743 and 1748, Vanvitelli and Poleni worked to strengthen the dome by inserting six iron rings into the tambour and calotta, the largest of which measured 60 m in diameter. Nicola Zabaglia, a simple illiterate man whose extraordinary empirical knowledge of mechanics enabled him to build the scaffolding necessary to put the circles in place, also made a major contribution to these improvements. Around that time, Clement XI commissioned the publication of a magnificent and richly-illustrated work (ultimately completed under Benedict XIV and funded by the Fabbrica di San Pietro, with words by Lelio Cosatti and sumptuous artwork). The book paid rightful homage to Nicola Zabaglia, the humble carpenter so instrumental to the construction of the world’s biggest church.

Nicola Zabaglia, Castelli e ponti di maestro Niccola Zabaglia con alcune ingegnose pratiche...,Roma 1744

St. Peter's dome

Between 1743 and 1748, Vanvitelli and Poleni procedeed to strenghten the dome by inserting in the drum and in the calotta six big iron rings, the largest of which measured 60 metres in diameter. The various instalments of dome reinforcement works were described by Poleni himself in his Memorie istoriche della Gran Cupola del Tempio Vaticano, illustrated with some engraved plates by Antonio Visentini.

Giovanni Poleni, Memorie istoriche della gran cupola del tempio vaticano, e de’ danni di essa, e de’ ristoramenti loro, divise in libri cinque. Alla santità di nostro signore papa Benedetto XIV, Padova 1748

View of the dome with the six big rings fixed between 1743 and 1748 by Giovanni Poleni

Between 1743 and 1748, Vanvitelli and Poleni worked to strengthen the dome by inserting six iron rings into the tambour and calotta, the largest of which measured 60 m in diameter. Poleni described the various stages of consolidating the dome in his “Memorie istoriche della Gran Cupola del Tempio Vaticano”, illustrated in part with engravings by Antonio Visentini.

Antonio Visentini, [La cupola con i sei cerchioni fissati fra il 1743 ed il 1748], in: Giovanni Poleni, Memorie istoriche della gran cupola del tempio vaticano, e de’ danni di essa, e de’ ristoramenti loro, divise in libri cinque. Alla santità di nostro signore papa Benedetto XIV,Padova 1748

View of the basilica and the square of St. Peter's in 1773

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Veduta dell'insigne basilica vaticana coll'ampio portico e piazza adjacente,in: Id., Vedute di Roma disegnate ed incise da Giambattista Piranesi Architetto veneziano, vol. I, Paris 1836

Side view of the basilica of St. Peter's in Vatican (1748)

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Veduta dell'esterno della gran basilica di S. Pietro in Vaticano, in: Id., Vedute di Roma disegnate ed incise da Giambattista Piranesi Architetto veneziano, vol. II, Paris 1836

Interior view of the Basilica of St. Peter's in 1748

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Veduta interna della basilica di S. Pietro in Vaticano,in: Id., Vedute di Roma disegnate ed incise da Giambattista Piranesi Architetto veneziano, vol. II, Paris 1836

Dimensions of the Basilica of St. Peter's

Giuseppe Valadier, Misure del tempio Vaticano, sue parti ed annessi, nuovamente prese dal signor Giuseppe Valadier, architetto della fabbrica di S. Pietro in Vaticano l’anno 1812,tratto da: Martino Ferraboschi, Filippo Gilii, Architettura della basilica di S. Pietro in Vaticano opera di Bramante Lazzari, Michel Angelo Bonaroti ed altri celebri architetti espressa in 32 tavole da Martino Ferraboschi con una succinta dichiarazione compilata da monsignor Filippo Gilii beneficiato della stessa basilica, Roma 1812

St. Peter's Square, albumen photo, about 1870

Piazza di S. Pietro, fotografia all'albumina, 1870 ca

Inside of St. Peter's, albumen photo (about 1870)

Interno di S. Pietro, fotografia all'albumina, 1870 ca

View of St. Peter's from Castel Sant'Angelo with the Spina di Borgo

Félix Benoist (draw.), Eugène Cicéri (lith.), Basilique de St. Pierre et palais du Vatican, avec quartier du Borgo: vue prise du Château Saint-Ange. Basilica di S. Pietro, Palazzo del Vaticano e Rione del Borgo: veduta presa dal Castello Sant'Angelo, tratta da: Rome dans sa grandeur. Vues, monuments anciens et modernes: description, histoire, institutions, dessins d'après nature par Philippe Benoist et Felix Benoist...,Paris 1870

History of Vatican grottoes

In the late 1500s, as part of construction work on the new St Peter’s, a vast underground hall was built between the floor of the Constantine basilica and the new construction, which was raised by around 2 metres. Sepulchral monuments, sculptures and mosaics from the old basilica were moved to this vast Vatican grotto area. In the 1940s, Pope Pius XII ordered excavations in the grotto to find the tomb of Peter. A small ossuary was unearthed that archaeological examination deemed to be consistent with his burial. In the Holy Year of 1950, the Pope announced the discovery on the radio.

Francesco Maria Torrigio, Le sacre grotte vaticane, cioè narratione delle cose più notabili, che sono sotto il pavimento della basilica di S. Pietro in Vaticano in Roma, come corpi santi, sepolcri de' sommi pontefici... a consolatione de' pellegrini e forestieri, Viterbo 1618

The rediscovery of Vatican grottoes

Una sorpresa per i pellegrini dell'anno santo: le basiliche di San Pietro sono due, in: La Domenica del Corriere, a. LI, n. 50, 11 December 1949

View of the Square from the entry to Vatican near the Arco delle campane

Arturo Faccioli (photog.), Ingressi: all'arco delle campane, in: Pio XI: monumenti e opere, Città del Vaticano 1936

Aerial view of St. Peter's

Hugo Brandenburg, Antonella Ballardini, Christof Thoenes, San Pietro: storia di un monumento, Città del Vaticano 2015