Search this site

Anchor 1

Anchor 1 ▼ ▲ St. Benedict Chapel Artist: Luigi Poletti Date: 1800s • The arch above the altar and ceiling is coffered in white and gold

Anchor 1 ▼ Chapel of St. Ignatius of Loyola Artist: Baciccia Date: 1685 • The vault has St. Ignatius of Loyola in Glory. This was Baciccia's sixth and final work in the church ▶ ◀

Anchor 1 ▶ ◀ Monument to Matilda Artist: Bernini (design); Andrea Bolgi (statues) Date: 1635 • The tomb is Monument to Matilda. Matilda (1046-1115) was countess of Tuscany. She holds the papal tiara because she was a defender of the papacy • Pope Urban VIII (1623-1644) commissioned the tomb and had Matilda's remains moved here from a Benedictine monastery in Polirone in 1635. She was the first woman buried in St. Peter's

Anchor 1 ▶ ◀ Grazioli Lante della Rovere Chapel • This chapel was originally dedicated to St. Sebastian in 1570 by Cardinal Marco Antonio Maffei. It was rededicated to the Most Holy Savior in 1596 by the Dominican Vincenzo da Palestrina who had founded a confraternity by the same name. Finally in the 1800s the chapel was given to the Grazioli Lante della Rovere family • Facing opposite of the chapel, on the interior of the right pillar, is Funeral Monument of Fabio and Ippolito De Amicis (1651) by Pietro Berrettini (Pietro da Cortona) ▼

Anchor 1 ▼ Apse Wall ▲ ◀

Anchor 1 ▼ ◀ Tomb of Pope Clement VIII Artist: Nicolas Cordier Date: 1610-1614 • The statue is St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Anchor 1 ▼ Crypt Artist: Chapel by Giovanni Battista Giovenale; Mosaics by Giuseppe Bravi; Statue of St. Cecilia by Cesare Aureli Date: 1899-1901 Benefactor: Cardinal Rampolla • The window over the alter displays the three sarcophagi of the saints • The altar mosaic is St. Cecilia taken to Heaven by Angels with medallions of St. Tiburtius on the left and St. Valerian on the right • The mosaic to the left of the altar is Angel Appears to Sts. Cecilia and Valerian • The mosaic to the right of the altar is Sts. Cecilia, Valerian, and Tiburtius • There are thirty-five grey granite columns • The floor is contempoary cosmatesque ◀

Anchor 1 ▼ St. Joseph in the Holy Land Chapel ▶

Anchor 1 ▼ Chapel of St. Helen Artist: Melozzo di Forli; Baldassarre Peruzzi; Francesco Zucchi Date: 425-455, 1484 ca, 1593 • Emperor Valentinian III (425-455) was the benefactor for the original mosaic • The center is The Savior. The ovals are the evangelists: from top left, Mark, Luke, Matthew, and John. In between the ovals are Scenes from Finding of the True Cross ▲ ▶ ◀

Anchor 1 ▼ ▶ St. Erasmus

Anchor 1 ▼ ▲ ▶ ◀ Portico Artist: Ferdinando Fuga Date: 1741-1742 • The portico of Fuga replaced that of Pope Eugenius III (1145-1153). The eight granite columns are from the old portico

Anchor 1 ▼ Albani Chapel • The tomb of Orazio Albani (1711 d.), Pope Clement XI's brother, is in an 4th century Christian sarcophagus beneath the chapel • The tomb of Pope Clement XI is in St. Peter's ▲

Anchor 1 ▶ ◀ Caffarelli Chapel • This chapel was dedicated to St. Dominic in 1498 by the Caffarelli family. A descendant of the family, Cardinal Scipione Borghese was the patron for the chapel including a painting of St. Dominic by Cavalier d'Arpino in 1620, now lost. After St. Louis Bertrand was canonized in 1671 the chapel was rededicated to him • The frescoes on the left and right walls of the chapel are by Celio and were uncovered during modern restorations • The Baptismal Font Chapel is to the right ▼

Anchor 1 ▼ Presbytery and Choir • The patron Alessandro de' Medici had the Gothic choir altered in 1536-1540 by Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane to create space for the two tombs of the Medici Popes. In the 1600s the choir was again altered by Giovanni Fontana and then Carlo Maderno. These Baroque additions were later removed in the 1848-1855 with the neo-Gothic renovation

Anchor 1 ▼ ▲ ▶ Holy Family Chapel

Anchor 1 ▼ Second Courtyard • The painting has the Quattro Coronati above, with Augustinian nuns, on the left, and orphan girls, on the right, asking for their prayers • Augustinian nuns were given the church in 1560 by Pope Pius IV and still reside here today. Their original work was to help orphans

Anchor 1 ▼ ▲ ▶ ◀ Colonna Chapel Artist: Lazzaro Baldi Date: 1668 • The painting over the altar is St. Rose of Lima • St. Rose of Lima (1586-1617) is the patron saint of the Americas • During the canonization ceremony of St. Rose of Lima in 1671, this painting was displayed in St. Peter's Basililca ▶

Anchor 1 St. Lawrence Chapel & St. Benedict Chapel ▲ ▶ ◀

Anchor 1 ▼ ◀ ▶ Bust of Innocent XII Artist: Giuseppe Mazzuoli • Innocent XII was Pope from 1676-1689