SAINT PETER
372
SAINT PETER
German emperors were form(Tly crowned. The
magnificent holy water basins to the right and to
the left, well known from numerous illustrations, are
supported by gigantic putti. The barrel vaulting
reposes in a beautiful curve upon the pillars and the
arches connecting them. Proceeding forwards we
also perceive the marble reliefs of many popes on the
piers while many of the pier niches contain heroic
statues of the founders of the orders, a decoration
which extends also over the transepts and the nave of
the tribune. At the fourth pier to the right is a very
important sitting statue of St. Peter, which has been
erroneously ascribed to the thirteenth centur}', but in
truth dates from the fourth or fifth. This is no adap-
tation of another statue, but was intended to be a
statue of the Prince of the Apostles. In the left
transept the confessionals of the penitentiaries of St.
Peter's reveal in the most beautiful manner the unity
of the Faith, by offering the opportunity for confes-
sion in the most important civilized tongues of the
world. Facing the Confes-
sion there stand obliquely be-
fore the dome piers the colos-
sal marble statues of Sts.
Longinus, Helena, Veronica,
and Andrew. From the gal-
lery above the statue of St.
Helena the so-called great
relics are disjilayed se\eral
times during the year. The
most important of these is a
large fragment of the True
Cross. Above the four gal-
leries of the dome the four
Evangelists are depicted in
magnificent mosaics after the
designs of Cavaliere d'Arpino.
In the frieze above stands the
proud Latin inscription, the
letters of which are six feet
high: "Thou art Peter, and
upon this rock I will build
Mj' Church, and I will give
thee the keys of Heaven".
In the tribune of the left transept are three altars of which the middle one is par- ticularly noteworthy, because, in the first place, the tomb of the immortal composer Pier- luigi da Palestrina lies before it ; secondly, because the bodies of the two Apo.stles Simeon and Judas Thaddeus re- po.se m a stone sarcophagus beneath the altar; and thirdly, becau.se, as the altar-piece of Guido Reni re- cords, the altar marks the spot in the circus of Nero where the cross stood upon which St. Peter breathed his last. The right transept has attained a special im- portance m most recent ecclesiastical history because in 1870 the Vatican Council held its sessions here until dispensed by the mar(;h of the crowned revolution upon Rome. Returning to the entrance we find in the first lateral chapel of the right aisle the place made famous by Michelangelo's "Piet^" (1498). Besideit in the chapel of St. Nicholas is the treasury of the relics of St. Peter,
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The Dome ok St. Peter's,
FROM THE Vatican Observatory
the Gregorian chapel, because it was decorated under
Gregory XIII after the designs of Michelangelo.
Next to the monument of Gregory XVI is the altar
of the Madonna dell Soccorso, whose picture is from
the ancient church of St. Peter. Under the altar-
piece reposes the body of St. Gregory of Nazianzus
and adjoining it is the colossal tomb of Benedict XIV.
In the opposite passage of the dome pier are
Canova's masterpiece, the monument of Clement
XIII, and the altar-piece after Guido Reni, repre-
senting the Archangel Michael. In the same divi-
sion on the left side of the church, the monument
of Alexander VIII gleams in the distance, and under
the altar of the Madonna della Colonna, in an early
Christian sarcophagus the mortal remains of Sts.
Leo II, Leo III, and Leo IV repose. The altar of
St. Leo I is surmounted by the colossal marble re-
lief by Algardi, the "Retreat of Attila from Rome",
the proportions of which seem too large, even for the
Basilica of Saint Peter. Farther on is the monu-
ment of Alexander VII, and
opposite this is the onlj' oil-
painted altar-piece — one by
Vareni — of St. Peter's. All
the remaining altar-pieces
within the church are of mo-
saic. Passing through the left
transept we ajiproach the pas-
sage around the fourth dome
pier, where on the right, under
the monument of Pius VIII,
is the entrance to the sacristy,
and directly in front, under the
monument of Pius VII by
Thorwaldsen, is the stairway
to the gallery of the singers in
the choir chapel. Here the
left transept begins, the first
lateral chapel of which is used
for the prayers of the canons,
while the last serves as a bap-
tistery. Adjoining the choir
chapel, beyond the entrance,
at a height of fifteen feet
above the pavement, is an en-
closed niche in which each de-
ceased pope is interred until
his body can be taken to the
sepulchre definitively assigned
for it. At the present time
the body of Leo Xlll still re-
poses here, although his sepul-
chre in the Lateran has long been finished. The un-
certainty of conditions at Rome has rendered it inad-
visable as yet to undertake the removal of the body.
On the tomb of Leo XI our attention is attracted by
an excellent marble relief representing King Henry
IV of France abjuring Protestantism. Of similar im-
portance is another relief here upon the monument of
Innocent XI, relating to the raising of the Turkish
siege of Vienna by .lolin Sohieski, King of Poland.
Among the most beautiful funeral monuments of the
ent ire basilica is that of Innocent VIU by Antonio and
Pietro Pollajuolo. Adjoining these are the two im-
. , portant tombs of Urban VIII by Bernini and Paul III
then follows the chapel of St. Seba.stian, and finally by (juglielmo della Porta.
the roomy chapel of the Sacrament. Among the art
treasures here is the tomb of Sixtus IV, a thoroughly
simple and impressive bronze monument by Antonio
Pollajuolo. From the multitude of sepulchral monu-
ments which adorn the right transept, those of Leo XII,
of Omntess Matilda of Tuscany, the powerful friend
of Gregory VII, and of Gregory XIII, the reformer
of the calendar, df^erve special ment ion. Against t he
dome pier, directly in front of us, stands an altar with
the "Communion of St. .leromc" after Doinenifhino.
The passage around the dome to the right iu called
Sagre Grolle Vaticane is the name applied to the ex-
tended chambers under the pavement of St. Peter's.
They are distinguished as the old and new crypts.
The former lie princif)ally undvT the nave, and are 59
feet wide and 1470 feet long. They represent the
pavement of the old Basilica of St. Peter. Numerous
graves of popes and emperors, which were in the
Basilica of Constantine, are here, so that, the low and
extended place, 11-4 feet in height, is of the greatest
historic interest. Among many others are the graves
of the popes: Nicholas I, Gregory V, a German,
