Search this site

Anchor 1 ▼ ▲ Sacristy and Treasury Date: 1500s • The statue is St. Andrew • Pope Pius VI (1775-1799) built the sacristy in 1776-1784. It is a separate building that is attached to St. Peter's by walkways. The sacristy proper, where vesting for Mass occurs, is not open to visitors. The treasury, similar to a museum, has various artwork and can be visited

Anchor 1 ▼ ▶ ◀ Chapel of Christ's Passion

Anchor 1 ▼ ▲ ▶ ◀ Portico Artist: Antonio Maraini Date: 1929-1931 • The door is bronze with inlaid silver in the form of a cross. The horizontal bars have the symbols for the gospel writers. The vertical bars have symbols of the Apostles. The panel scenes of Peter and Paul were chosen by abbot Ildefonso Schuster • The original main door which was damaged in the fire was moved to the interior of the Church as the other side of the Holy Door

Anchor 1 ▼ Central Bronze Doors Artist: Filarate (Antonio Arevulino) Date: 1433-1445 • The panel is Life and Martyrdom of St. Paul. Filarate's signature can be seen above this left panel • These doors were originally used at old St. Peter's by the gift of Pope Eugenius IV (1431-1447). They were cast in Florence ▲ ▶

Anchor 1 ▼ ▲ ▶ ◀ Bronze Doors Date: Around 29 BC • These doors come from the Roman Forum and were originally of the Curia building which housed the Roman senate. Pope Alexander VII (1655-1667) moved them here in 1660. He added the bronze strips on which his heraldic device, a star, can be seen

Anchor 1 ▼ ▶ Gregorian Portico • As part of the rebuilding project after the fire, Pope Gregory XVI (1831-1846) asked the main architect Luigi Poletti to make a portico. It was thus named after Pope Gregory • The 12 columns used in the design were part of the original basilica before the fire. One of the columns has an inscription from the original consecration in 390 by Pope Siricius

Anchor 1 ▼ Baptistry Artist: Giuseppe Spagna Date: 1825 ca. • The porphyry font was donated by Pope Leo XII (1823-1829) and moved here in 1825 ▲

Anchor 1 ▼ ▶ St. Lawrence Chapel Artist: Arturo Viligiardi Date: 1900s • The lunettes on the side walls are from the life of St. Lawrence Artist: Guglielmo Calderini; Monteneri of Perugia Date: 1928 • Calderini designed and Monteneri executed the inlaid choir stalls. The Benedictine monks use this space to celebrate Mass

Anchor 1 ▼ Chapel of Pius IX ▲ ▶

Anchor 1 ▲ ▶ ◀ Main Altar • ▼

Anchor 1 ▼ ▶ ◀ Capranica Chapel Artist: Marcello Venusti Date: 1573-1579 • In the panels are Mysteries of the Rosary • After the historical Battle of Lepanto in 1571, Angelo Capranica, a descendant of the family and member of the Confraternity of the Rosary, had Marcello Venusti decorate the ceiling with the Mysteries of the Rosary in 1573 • This idea of taking your subject from a major historical event marked the beginning of a new style of painting. This style was later mentioned by the Council of Trent

Anchor 1 ▼ ▲ Door of the Sacraments Artist: Venanzo Crocetti Date: 1965 • The top panel is the Sacrament of Confirmation • The bottom panel is the Sacrament of Penance

Anchor 1 ▼ ◀ ▶ Right Aisle

Anchor 1 Sacristy Artist: Andrea Sacchi Date: 1640 • The painting is Christ Crucified and Four Saints • This was the site of two Papal conclaves. Cardinals elected Pope Eugenius IV on March 3, 1431 and Pope Nicholas V on March 6, 1447 • Around 1630, Cardinal Antonio Barberini (1569-1646) had Andrea Sacchi renovate this space. This also involved moving here the room where St. Catherine of Siena died (April 29, 1380) from nearby Via. S. Chiara 14 • The walnut wardrobes are from the 1600s. Bees from the Barberini insignia are carved into them ▲ ▼

Anchor 1 ▼ ▶ ◀ Chapel of Our Lady of the Annunciation • This chapel was originally dedicated to St. James the Apostle. It was rededicated to Our Lady of the Annunciation in 1460 by Dominican Cardinal Juan de Torquemada who founded a Confraternity of the same name. Around 1600 the area was renovated by Carlo Maderno • The founder of the Confraternity of Our Lady of the Annunciation, Cardinal Juan de Torquemada, and benefactors of the Confraternity, Cardinal Benedetto Giustiniani and Pope Urban VII, are all buried here

Anchor 1 ▼ Main Altar Artist: Fuga Date: 1747 • The relics of St. Matthew and other martyrs are in the altar • Four bronze angels hold up the main altar

Anchor 1 ▼ Sacristy Artist: Giovanni Battista Speranza Date: Early 1600s • The painting is Conclave for the Election of Eugene IV . This Sacristy was the site of two Papal conclaves. Cardinals elected Pope Eugenius IV on March 3, 1431 and Pope Nicholas V on March 6, 1447 • The lunette is St. Paul the Martyr Attacked by the Manicheans (Early 1600s) by Roman school ▲

Anchor 1 ▼ ▲ St. Philip Neri

Anchor 1 ▼ ▲ ▶ ◀ Back Wall

Anchor 1 Baldachin Artist: Bernini Date: 1624-1633 • It was Pope Urban VIII (1623-1644) who asked Bernini to create this baldachin over the papal altar of Clement VIII. To get enough bronze, Urban VIII used the trusses and beams from the Pantheon porch. It was thus said at the time: "What the barbarians did not do, the Barberini did." Pope Urban VIII was of the Barberini family • At the top, two putti hold a papal tiara. Four angels stand at the top of each column. The spiral columns are intended to match the old columns that were on the altar in old St. Peter's. These old columns have been reused on the four piers in the balcony areas. Note also the bees which are the heraldic device of Urban VIII • In each of the eight coat of arms of Urban VIII at the base of the pillars is found a sequence of a woman going through the stages of labor. At the final stage, replacing the woman, is a baby putti! ▲ ▼