ROME \u2014 A new exhibition in Rome is spotlighting the pivotal moment Pope Urban VIII entrusted a 25-year-old Gian Lorenzo Bernini with one of the most ambitious artistic commissions in Church history: creating the massive bronze canopy over the tomb of St. Peter in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica.<\/p>\n
The show \u2014 hosted by the Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica at Palazzo Barberini and running through June 14 \u2014 explores the close relationship between Bernini and the pope born Maffeo Barberini, the artist\u2019s first major patron, according to exhibition curator Maurizia Cicconi. The initiative also forms part of celebrations marking the 400th anniversary of the consecration of the new St. Peter\u2019s Basilica in 1626 and is supported by the Fabric of St. Peter.<\/p>\n
Bernini, who would later shape the visual identity of Baroque Rome \u2014 including the sweeping colonnade of St. Peter\u2019s Square \u2014 was still considered too inexperienced for such a monumental undertaking. Cicconi said Urban VIII pushed ahead anyway, despite resistance from the body of cardinals overseeing the basilica\u2019s building works.<\/p>\n Excavations for the canopy\u2019s foundations began in June 1623, only months after Urban VIII\u2019s election and even before the basilica\u2019s solemn consecration in November. At the time, the apostle\u2019s tomb beneath the altar was covered by a modest structure of wood and fabric. Urban VIII, Cicconi noted, wanted a stable, monumental work that would proclaim the grandeur of the new basilica and emphasize the centrality of the site.<\/p>\n The excavation stirred anxiety among cardinals who worried that disturbing the soil could profane relics connected to the tomb of St. Peter. The solution, the curator explained, reflected the era\u2019s intense religious sensibility: Every portion of earth removed was carefully preserved.<\/p>\n The exhibition includes a stone marker documenting that decision, Cicconi said, underscoring how the excavated soil itself came to be treated \u201cin a certain way\u201d as a relic. Urban VIII even donated some of that soil to monastic orders \u2014 including Carmelites \u2014 for the founding of convents in Naples and Rome.<\/p>\n Bernini\u2019s canopy \u2014 formally known as the Baldachin of St. Peter\u2019s \u2014 stands nearly 100 feet (about 92 feet, as the exhibit notes) tall and took a decade to complete, from 1624 to 1633. The exhibition traces the complex process through drawings, coins, printed books, and manuscripts, including studies in red chalk for the crown of the structure.<\/p>\n One major technical issue documented in the show: an early concept featuring arches topped by a triumphant Christ proved structurally unworkable. Cicconi said the final solution likely came from Francesco Borromini, whose system of large volutes now supports the globe crowned by a cross.<\/p>\n Among the most evocative artifacts is a medal discovered last year inside the sarcophagus of Urban VIII\u2019s tomb \u2014 also a Bernini work \u2014 bearing the pope\u2019s portrait on one side and the canopy on the other. Cicconi said evidence suggests it had been worn on a cord around the neck before someone placed it in the tomb in a spontaneous gesture of devotion. While it is tempting to imagine Bernini himself left it there, she cautioned that such a claim goes beyond what the documentation can prove.<\/p>\n The exhibit extends beyond the canopy to show how Urban VIII\u2019s artistic program helped define St. Peter\u2019s during a volatile European moment. Cicconi pointed to the backdrop of the Thirty Years\u2019 War, when religion and dynastic power were intertwined and the papacy faced major monarchies such as France and Spain. In that context, she said, the Church sought to assert its spiritual primacy \u2014 and its temporal influence \u2014 through art.<\/p>\n Visitors will also find materials tied to other Bernini projects in St. Peter\u2019s, including pieces linked to the tomb of Matilda of Canossa, terracotta models for the virtue of charity intended for the pope\u2019s funerary monument, and the valuable sketch connected to St. Longinus, one of the last ideas for the colossal statue that now rises in the basilica\u2019s crossing.<\/p>\n Another section focuses on Bernini\u2019s role in shaping the public identity of the Barberini family, including works associated with the \u201cgallery of ancestors\u201d promoted by Cardinal Francesco Barberini, the pope\u2019s nephew. Among the featured works are some of Bernini\u2019s early pieces, already regarded as true works of art.<\/p>\n Bernini \u201ctruly shaped the official image of the Barberini,\u201d Cicconi said. The show includes extraordinary works such as a bust of Monsignor Francesco Barberini \u2014 on loan from Washington and displayed in Italy for the first time in many years \u2014 set beside busts of Camilla Barbadori, the pope\u2019s mother, and Antonio Barberini Sr., made by Bernini with the help of one of his leading disciples.<\/p>\n\u2018Fear of profaning\u2019 St. Peter\u2019s remains<\/h2>\n
A decade-long construction, and a key design problem<\/h2>\n
More than engineering: Power, politics, and the Barberini image<\/h2>\n