Bernini’s work at St. Peter’s began long before his triumph in Piazza Navona
under the patronage of Pope Urban VIII Barberini (1623–1644), and it
continued until his death. The crossing or transept of St. Peter’s had evolved
to become an impressive ceremonial space when Bramante and, later,
Michelangelo were re¿ ning the design of the new St. Peter’s. They intended
it, as did Pope Julius II, to be a Greek cross in shape, without the long nave
of the old basilica, and thus, a centrally planned church.
Eventually, the conservative ideology of the Counter-Reformation, which
stressed ritual processions, forced the nave to be built in the traditional Latin
cross design. Our example is Bernini’s Baldacchino, which is over the papal
altar; the tomb of St. Peter is below in the crypt. Note the twisted columns,
called Solomonic columns, of Baldacchino. They originated in columns from
the old St. Peter’s Basilica. Bernini retained the columns and put them in the
upper balconies of the piers of the crossing. These columns À ank reliquaries.
The four main relics of the Church are protected there, and below them, in
each niche, is a statue of the saint associated with each relic. For example,
the statue of St. Helen with the True Cross goes with the relic that is a piece
of the True Cross. On another pier is the statue of St. Longinus. The relic
associated with this is a piece of Longinus’s spear, which he used to lance
Christ’s side before his conversion. Note that the composition of the ¿ gure is
an inverted triangle.
Another view of the Baldacchino shows the Cathedra Petri (Throne of St.
Peter) in the apse of the church. This is a huge structural group with the
¿ gures of four Fathers of the Church holding a sculptural structure that
supposedly contains the papal throne of St. Peter, the ¿ rst pope. Bernini also
designed the Piazza of St. Peter’s, with its elliptical shape symbolizing the
arms of the church embracing those in the piazza. Originally the piazza was
partially closed with a “hyphen,” which was later removed by Mussolini
to create a long triumphal avenue. Another view shows the piazza during
the funeral of John Paul II, ¿ lled with people, as Bernini intended it to be.
Bernini died in 1680, not long after a stroke had cost him the use of his right
arm. He remarked that it had earned the right to early rest. Ŷ