Dome of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City | Rome Private Guided Tours
Dome of St. Peter’s Basilica Vatican City | Official Vatican City, Vatican Museum Private Guided Tours. Climb St Peter’s Dome Tours and Tickets. Tour in Rome.
Dome of St. Peter’s Basilica Vatican City | Official Vatican City, Vatican Museum Private Guided Tours. Climb St Peter’s Dome Tours and Tickets. Tour in Rome.
The Dome, the most glorious in the world, is a miracle of art and beauty, on every square inch of which skill and precious material have been lavished. It is the masterpiece in the architecture of Michelangelo (to which he devoted the last sixteen years of his life) and the most audacious architectonical enterprise that has ever been attempted.
The dimensions of the dome are 405 feet (124 mt) from the floor to the base of the lantern and 448 feet (149 mt) to the top of the cross outside; the diameter is 142 feet (44 mt), the same as that of the Pantheon, as when Michelangelo began the dome, he declared he would outrival the ancient artist and suspend in the air what Emperor Hadrian had constructed on the earth, the Pantheon, whose diameter is only two feet larger than the dome of St. Peter.
When Michelangelo died in 1564, he had completed only the drum. After the great artist’s death, the work was suspended for about twenty-four years. It was resumed under Pope Sixtus V, who gave a new impulse to the erection of the church and appointed Giacomo Della Porta to direct the work, which was completed in the short twenty-two months by working night and day. Vatican Private Tours
Around the drim is the inscription : “ Tu es petrus et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam et tibi dabo Claves Regni Caelorum”. Thou art Peter and upon this rock, I build my church, and I will give thee the keys to Heaven’s kingdom.
The dome is decorated with six orders of mosaic pictures representing: Christ, the Virgin, the Apostles, saints, angels, and cherubs; on the very top is a colossal figure of the Almighty.
The cupola is supported by four giant pilasters, used as receptacles for preserving the four most significant relics of the church. The spear with which Longinus pierced the side of our Saviour, a portion of the true Cross, the veil bearing the impression of the Saviour’s face and the head of St. Andrew the Apostle. The relics are preserved high up in the balconies, which ornament the pilasters. Official Rome Guide, Rome Walking City Tours.
The statues in the niches below represent St. Longinus, the soldier who pierced the Saviour’s side and, according to tradition, was afterward converted to Christianity and suffered martyrdom. The statue is the work of Bernini.
St. Helen (The mother of Emperor Constantine) Holding the cross brought by her, to Rome, from Constantinople. By Bolgi.
On the left, towards the tribune, is: St. Veronica wiped the face of the savior, on the way to the Calvary, By Mochi.
St. Andrew the Apostle by Duquesnoy.
St. Andrew the Apostle by Duquesnoy. St. Andrew the Apostle by Duquesnoy.
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