Anchor 1 ▼ Portico • At the center are the words: "Lamb of God" which refer to Jesus' sacrifice on the cross • On the left and right, the Latin reads: "Hail Mary." These are the first words of the angel Gabriel to Mary when she is told she is going to bear Jesus ▶ ◀

Anchor 1 ▼ ◀ ▶ St. Mary Magdalene Altar Artist: Attributed to Giovanni Baglione • Altar painting is of St. Mary Magdalene

Anchor 1 ▼ ▲ ▶ Tomb of Gregory XIV Artist: Prospero Bresciano • The statue on the left is Religion

Anchor 1 ▼ St. Bruno • St. Bruno lived from 1030 ca -1101

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Anchor 1 ▼ ◀ Tomb of Pope Paul V Artist: Nicolas Cordier Date: 1610-1615 • The statue is David

Anchor 1 ▼ ▲ ◀ Apse Mosaic Artist: Iacopo Torriti Date: 1295 • At the sides of the inner arch, from Revelation, there are 24 elders, 7 candlesticks, and also the 4 gospel writers. They worship the lamb at the top center of the inner arch • At the base of the inner arch is St. Matthew Preaches to the Hebrews. The relics of St. Matthew were brought to this church from the East and placed in the main altar • At the base of the apse mosaic is the Presentation • This part of the mosaic was covered in 1593 for a renovation but restored in 1933 by Pope Pius XI based on sketches

Anchor 1 ▼ Right Aisle Date: 1300s • These are what is left of old wall paintings ◀

Anchor 1 ▼ ▲ Elijah • Elijah the prophet lived in the 800s BC. He is mainly written about in the Old Testament Book of Kings • Below the statue is an inscription with the names of those clergy present during the proclamation of the Immaculate Conception of Mary by Pope Pius IX (1792-1878) on December 8, 1854. There are two other inscriptions which also contain names with the final one recording the event itself

Anchor 1 ▼ ▲ ▶ ◀ Portico Artist: Gregorio Zappala Date: 1800s • This is a statue of St. Paul

Anchor 1 ▼ Tomb of Cardinal Gerardo Bianchi Date: 1302 ca • The monument is Tomb of Cardinal Gerardo Bianchi of Parma. Cardinal Bianchi (1302 d) was St. John Lateran's first archpriest • Originally the title of archpriest included a level of authority over other priests but this survives today as a merely honorary title. The office of archpriest was instituted around 1299 by Pope Boniface VIII (1294-1303) ▶ ◀

Anchor 1 ▼ Chapel of Pius IX ▲ ◀

Anchor 1 ▼ ◀ St. Agnes Aedicule Artist: Vincenzo Felici Date: • The statue is St. Agnes

Anchor 1 ▼ Blessed Sacrament Chapel Artist: Pietro da Cortona; Raffaele Vanni • The cupola is the Mystery of the Eucharist • The pendentives, from top left clockwise, are a high priest giving the bread of proposition, Aaron, Elijah, and Melchizedek ▶ ◀

Anchor 1 ▼ Atrium • The columns on the east side are of Montofarno granite. There are 150 total columns throughout the atrium ▶ ◀

Anchor 1 ▼ ▶ ◀ Chapel of Mary Immaculate and Saints

Anchor 1 ▼ Chapel of St. Sebastian Artist: Ciro Ferri Date: 1672 • The benefactor for this chapel was Cardinal Francesco Barberini (1597-1679) • This altar contains the relics of St. Sebastian and was built directly above the catacombs where he had been buried

Anchor 1 ▼ Conversion of St. Paul Altar Artist: Unknown Date: 1800s • After the fire, Tsar Nicholas I of Russia (1796-1855) donated the malachite and lapis lazuli to assist with the rebuilding • The malachite is the green stone and the lapis lazuli is the blue stone ▲

Anchor 1 ▼ ▶ Annunciation Chapel

Anchor 1 ▲ ◀ Longinus Relic Artist: Bernini Date: 1627 ca. • Each of the four piers are dedicated to an important relic that is housed in the balcony area above each statue. The decorations were designed by Bernini for Pope Urban VIII (1623-1644). Thus Urban's VIII's coat of arms is at the base. The spiral columns are from the altar of old St. Peter's • The relic for this pier is the lance of Longinus. Sultan Bajazet II gave the lance to Pope Innocent VIII (1484-1492) in 1489. The Tomb of Innocent VIII in the left aisle also records the gift. According to the story, Longinus is the later name given to the solider who pierced Jesus with a lance (Jn 19:34) and the centurion who said "Truly, this man was the Son of God (Mk 15:39) ▼