Tomorrow, Sunday 27 October, the 10:00 am Eucharistic celebration, presided over by Pope Francis at the conclusion of the World Synod of Bishops. It will be the first with the restored Baldachin
VATICAN, OCTOBER 26th
One of the masterpieces of St. Peter’s Basilica shines again in all its magnificence. Bernini’s Baldachin on the high altar is ready to be unveiled, freed from the scaffolding that enveloped it during the restoration. Tomorrow, Sunday 27 October, the 10:00 am Eucharistic celebration, presided over by Pope Francis at the conclusion of the World Synod of Bishops. It will be the first with the restored Baldachin. On an equally special day: the anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Peace that Saint John Paul II held in Assisi in 1986.
At the end of the celebration, the Chair of Saint Peter will also be on display, extracted from its monumental gilded bronze “reliquary”, the Bernini monument, to also allow for restoration in the apse of the Basilica as part of the restoration work undertaken by the Fabbrica di San Pietro in view of the Jubilee.
The 9th-century wooden throne, symbol of the primacy of Peter, will be placed at the Altar of the Confession, until next December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception.
Visible everywhere, the canopy – almost 30 meters high, as high as a ten-story building – is placed on the high altar under which is the tomb of Saint Peter.
Blackened by time, the last and first restoration dates back 250 years ago. Today it reappears in its newfound integrity and splendor. For the altar of the Chair, however, work will continue until the beginning of December.
The interventions were carried out on gilded bronzes, with selective solvents, identified on the basis of a careful analysis of the state of conservation of the work, by master restorers with consolidated and recognized experience, under the technical-scientific direction of the Fabbrica di San Pietro and in synergic collaboration with the Scientific Research Laboratory of the Vatican Museums.
A restoration that has provided new information thanks to the analysis of the materials and techniques used, say engineer Alberto Capitanucci, head of the technical area of the Fabbrica di San Pietro with Pietro Zander, head of the Necropolis and Artistic Heritage Section of the Fabbrica. Each column, for example, is composed of three cast parts, to which the base and the capital are added, and each part features laurel leaves, cherubs and bees, all part of the same cast and not soldered separately. It is an extremely complex process, carried out to perfection, like everything found in San Pietro.
The Order of the Knights of Columbus, which has been collaborating with the Fabbrica di San Pietro for over forty years, is supporting the financial burden, for approximately 700 thousand euros.
“By nature, the baldachin is placed to guard the Eucharist on the altar, the center of the church, for the Eucharistic celebration. And the restored baldachin shows the beauty that the Church should reflect,” says Cardinal Archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, Mauro Gambetti. “Because the Church is beautiful if it is Eucharistic, if it lives that dynamic of the descent of the word onto the altar in the hands of the priest, when it becomes nourishment that is distributed among all and creates communion by nourishing relationships of fraternity,” explains Gambetti. “The unveiling of the baldachin on the closing day of the Synod speaks of a synodal Church that is a Eucharistic Church, which makes communion its beating heart, possible only if everyone lowers themselves, descends, to nourish the others.”
“The grandeur of the work is not intended to enhance its value, but rather to make the Eucharist shine, which, in the extreme simplicity of the material – a little bread and a little wine – on the altar becomes the Body and Blood of Christ given to humanity for the salvation of all. It was therefore necessary to restore the work to its originality and beauty beyond the artistic aspect. Here art is a vehicle of beauty and wonder, it attracts but refers to Something Else,” concludes the Cardinal.
“Important works are always done close to a Jubilee, as has always been the case over the centuries, and the Basilica is made beautiful for the Jubilee of Hope. It is a reflection of light and beauty, an external renewal through a wise and necessary restoration, which becomes an invitation for an internal renewal,” comments Father Enzo Fortunato, director of communications for St. Peter’s Basilica.
THE BALDACCHINO
The baldachin was built between 1624 and 1635 for Pope Urban VIII Barberini by the architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini with Francesco Borromini, his rival. The gilded bronze monument, almost 30 meters high, rises on four slender twisted columns inspired by the marble columns arranged around the tomb of Peter in the ancient basilica and visible today on the Logge delle Reliquie. These magnificent columns, 11.20 meters high, rest on pedestals bearing the papal coats of arms with the symbolic “Barberini bees”. On the canopy’s ceiling is the Dove of the Holy Spirit, while on the pediment, dominated by the cross on the globe, four artistic angels alternate with four pairs of putti bearing the keys and the tiara of Saint Peter and the sword and book of Saint Paul. For the entire work, with precious gold highlights, approximately 68 tons of bronze were used.
VATICAN, OCTOBER 26th
One of the masterpieces of St. Peter’s Basilica shines again in all its magnificence. Bernini’s Baldachin on the high altar is ready to be unveiled, freed from the scaffolding that enveloped it during the restoration. Tomorrow, Sunday 27 October, the 10:00 am Eucharistic celebration, presided over by Pope Francis at the conclusion of the World Synod of Bishops. It will be the first with the restored Baldachin. On an equally special day: the anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Peace that Saint John Paul II held in Assisi in 1986.
At the end of the celebration, the Chair of Saint Peter will also be on display, extracted from its monumental gilded bronze “reliquary”, the Bernini monument, to also allow for restoration in the apse of the Basilica as part of the restoration work undertaken by the Fabbrica di San Pietro in view of the Jubilee.
The 9th-century wooden throne, symbol of the primacy of Peter, will be placed at the Altar of the Confession, until next December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception.
Visible everywhere, the canopy – almost 30 meters high, as high as a ten-story building – is placed on the high altar under which is the tomb of Saint Peter.
Blackened by time, the last and first restoration dates back 250 years ago. Today it reappears in its newfound integrity and splendor. For the altar of the Chair, however, work will continue until the beginning of December.
The interventions were carried out on gilded bronzes, with selective solvents, identified on the basis of a careful analysis of the state of conservation of the work, by master restorers with consolidated and recognized experience, under the technical-scientific direction of the Fabbrica di San Pietro and in synergic collaboration with the Scientific Research Laboratory of the Vatican Museums.
A restoration that has provided new information thanks to the analysis of the materials and techniques used, say engineer Alberto Capitanucci, head of the technical area of the Fabbrica di San Pietro with Pietro Zander, head of the Necropolis and Artistic Heritage Section of the Fabbrica. Each column, for example, is composed of three cast parts, to which the base and the capital are added, and each part features laurel leaves, cherubs and bees, all part of the same cast and not soldered separately. It is an extremely complex process, carried out to perfection, like everything found in San Pietro.
The Order of the Knights of Columbus, which has been collaborating with the Fabbrica di San Pietro for over forty years, is supporting the financial burden, for approximately 700 thousand euros.
“By nature, the baldachin is placed to guard the Eucharist on the altar, the center of the church, for the Eucharistic celebration. And the restored baldachin shows the beauty that the Church should reflect,” says Cardinal Archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, Mauro Gambetti. “Because the Church is beautiful if it is Eucharistic, if it lives that dynamic of the descent of the word onto the altar in the hands of the priest, when it becomes nourishment that is distributed among all and creates communion by nourishing relationships of fraternity,” explains Gambetti. “The unveiling of the baldachin on the closing day of the Synod speaks of a synodal Church that is a Eucharistic Church, which makes communion its beating heart, possible only if everyone lowers themselves, descends, to nourish the others.”
“The grandeur of the work is not intended to enhance its value, but rather to make the Eucharist shine, which, in the extreme simplicity of the material – a little bread and a little wine – on the altar becomes the Body and Blood of Christ given to humanity for the salvation of all. It was therefore necessary to restore the work to its originality and beauty beyond the artistic aspect. Here art is a vehicle of beauty and wonder, it attracts but refers to Something Else,” concludes the Cardinal.
“Important works are always done close to a Jubilee, as has always been the case over the centuries, and the Basilica is made beautiful for the Jubilee of Hope. It is a reflection of light and beauty, an external renewal through a wise and necessary restoration, which becomes an invitation for an internal renewal,” comments Father Enzo Fortunato, director of communications for St. Peter’s Basilica.
THE BALDACCHINO
The baldachin was built between 1624 and 1635 for Pope Urban VIII Barberini by the architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini with Francesco Borromini, his rival. The gilded bronze monument, almost 30 meters high, rises on four slender twisted columns inspired by the marble columns arranged around the tomb of Peter in the ancient basilica and visible today on the Logge delle Reliquie. These magnificent columns, 11.20 meters high, rest on pedestals bearing the papal coats of arms with the symbolic “Barberini bees”. On the canopy’s ceiling is the Dove of the Holy Spirit, while on the pediment, dominated by the cross on the globe, four artistic angels alternate with four pairs of putti bearing the keys and the tiara of Saint Peter and the sword and book of Saint Paul. For the entire work, with precious gold highlights, approximately 68 tons of bronze were used.