Anchor 1 ▶ ◀ Nave

Anchor 1 ▼ Life of St. Paul From left to right: Artist: Filippo Baldi Date: 1857-1860 • Peter and Paul Say Farewell • Martyrdom of St. Paul • These chronologically ordered scenes from the life of St. Paul were intended by Pope Pius IX to replace the Cavallini works destroyed by the fire • This is the end of the sequence of the Life of St. Paul ▶ ◀

Anchor 1 ▶ ◀ Nave

Anchor 1 ▼ ▲ ▶ Chapel of the Holy Founders Artist: Ludovico David Date: 18th • This painting is Adoration of the Magi • After Jesus is born, pagan magi from the East come searching for Jesus having seen and followed his star. After learning that the messiah is to be born in Bethlehem from the Jewish king Herod, they hasten there and find Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. The magi present Jesus with the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Tradionally, these gifts symbolize Jesus' kingship, divinity, and humanity

Anchor 1 ▼ Nave ▶ ◀

Anchor 1 ▼ Ponziani Chapel • The alter face is cosmatesque • The floor is contemporary

Anchor 1 ▼ Gregorian Chapel • The coat of arms of Pope Gregory XIII (1572-1585) who was of the Buoncompagni family. The winged dragon can also be found on his tomb which is at the end of the right aisle

Anchor 1 ▼ ▶ ◀ Chair of Peter Artist: Bernini Date: 875 ca. (throne); 1656-1666 (art) • The work is Chair of Peter. A bishop's chair (i.e. the Pope as bishop of Rome) is a symbol of their teaching authority • Pope Alexander VII commissioned Bernini to make a fitting place for what was thought to be the chair of St. Peter himself. His creation has a bronze chair with four doctors of the church beneath. The two in the back, from the Eastern Church, are St. Athanasius and St. John Chrysostom. The two in the front, from the Western Church, are St. Ambrose and St. Augustine. They each point towards the chair rather than carry it. Above the chair, two putti each have a key and support the papal tiara together. On the chair is a relief, carved by Bernini himself, of the gospel story in which Jesus tells St. Peter to "feed my lambs" (Jn 21:15). In the background, there is Glory. Starting with the Holy Spirit in the center, in the image of a dove, the glory of God, through the holy angels, illuminates the chair of Peter • In recent times, the chair of Peter was determined to be the chair of Pope John VIII (782-882). The chair was a gift from Charles the Bald probably in 875 on his coronation as king

Anchor 1 ▼ ▶ ◀ Chapel of Our Lady of the Column • The name of the chapel comes from a painting of Mary that was on a column in old St. Peter's nave. The painting was moved here in 1607. The chapel is also sometimes called Mater Ecclesiae or "Mother of the Church" which was the title the Second Vatican Council gave to Mary • During the reign of Pope Paschal II (1099-1118), the relics of St. Leo II (682-683), St. Leo III (795-816), and St. Leo IV (847-855) were placed in one urn. This urn is under the altar • In the floor, just outside the chapel, is the tomb of Pope Leo XII (1823-1829). On it he calls himself, "least among the heirs of so great a name." His monument is in the right aisle near the Pieta

Anchor 1 ▼ ◀ Aisle

Anchor 1 ▼ Life of St. Paul From left to right: Artist: Giovan Battista Pianello Date: 1857-1860 • Paul on the Areopagus at Athens Artist: Domenico Tojetti Date: 1857-1860 • Paul in Corinth Artist: Casimiro De Rossi Date: 1857-1860 • Ephesians Burning their Magic Scrolls • These chronologically ordered scenes from the life of St. Paul were intended by Pope Pius IX to replace the Cavallini works destroyed by the fire ▶ ◀

Anchor 1 ▼ ▲ ▶ ◀ St. Francis Xavier Chapel Artist: Baciccia Date: 1676 • The painting on the main altar is the Death of St. Francis Xavier • St. Francis Xavier died on an island a short ways off from the Chinese shore on December 3, 1552

Anchor 1 ▼ ▶ ◀ Adoration of the Shepherds Altar • The altarpiece is Adoration of the Shepherds

Anchor 1 ▼ ▲ ◀ Blessed Sacrament Chapel

▼ Anchor 1 Pavement • This mosaic-marble design is the burial place of Cardinal Giulio Spinola and his nephew Cardinal Giovanni Battista Spinola who died in 1691 and 1719 respectively • The hourglass is a classic image of the limited human span of life ▲

Anchor 1 ▼ Chapel of St. Barbara

Anchor 1 ▼ Chapel of Pius IX ▶ ◀

Anchor 1 ▼ ◀ ▶ Chapel of Sts. Peter and Paul • This passage leads to the crypt under the main alter

Anchor 1 ▼ Chapel of St. Dominic Artist: Carol Roncalli Date: 1725 • The vault for the inner room is Angels and Putti ▲ ▶ ◀

Anchor 1 ▼ Patrizi Chapel • The inscription from 1610-1611 notes that this is where the Patrizi family are buried. They are supposed descendants of the patrician Giovanni. In 352, Mary was said to have appeared to Giovanni in a dream to indicate a miraculous snowfall on a hill where he was to build a church. He went to tell Pope Liberius of his dream but Mary had also appeared to him and said to look for snow on the Esquiline hill. After finding snow there they built the Basilica Liberiana. This is where S. Maria Maggiore now stands. Although, this story is not documented until medieval times, there is mention of a Basilica Liberiana at the time of Pope Damasus I (366-384) ▲