Detail View: Archivision Base to Module 9: Saint Peter's Basilica

Preferred Title: 
Saint Peter's Basilica
Alternate Title: 
St. Peter's Basilica
Image View: 
Distant scenic view over Citescape, with dome of Sant'Andrea della Valle at right (second largest in Rome after St. Peter's)
Creator: 
Carlo Maderno (Italian architect, ca. 1556 - 1629); Donato Bramante (Italian architect, 1444-1514); Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italian architect, 1475-1564); Pirro Ligorio (Italian architect, ca.1500-1583) and others
Location: 
site: Rome (Vatican City), Santa Sede (Holy See), Italy
Location Note: 
Piazza San Pietro
Date: 
ca. 1506-1616 (creation)
Cultural Context: 
Italian
Style Period: 
Renaissance
Work Type 1: 
basilica
Work Type 2: 
cathedral
Classification: 
architecture
Material: 
marble
Technique: 
construction (assembling)
Subjects: 
architectural exteriors; rulers and leaders; Julius II, Pope, 1443-1513; Peter, the Apostle, Saint; dome
Description: 
Bramante was hired by Julius II to begin a radical reconstruction, to replace Old Saint Peter's, and intensive planning by Bramante, Giuliano da Sangallo and Fra Giovanni Giocondo preceded the laying of the foundation stone on 18 April 1506. Since Bramante's first designs of 1506, half a dozen architects had worked under five successive popes, all bringing their own revisions with them. In the 18 remaining years of his life Michelangelo succeeded in 'uniting into a whole the great body of that machine' (Vasari), ensuring that the crossing and dome would follow his overall design, even though the façade and nave remained unresolved. His new design, as presented in the engravings (1569) by Etienne Dupérac, took the form of a centralized building over a Greek cross. The façade was built between 1607 and 1625, and the nave was finally consecrated in 1626; the confessio was built to Maderno's design in 1615-1616. Restoration of the façade (1996-1999) has restated the discreet colour which Maderno used to enhance t
Collection: 
Archivision Base Collection
Identifier: 
1A2-I-R-SPI-C1
Rights: 
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.