Restoration of Bernini’s Baldacchino in St. Peter's Basilica

The baldacchino must be “returned to the faithful in its restored integrity and its original splendor on the occasion of the start of the next Holy Year which Pope Francis will launch in December 2024,” specified Pietro Zander, head of the artistic and archeological patrimony of the Fabric of St. Peter.

This immense piece of gilded bronze, which surmounts the main altar of St. Peter's Basilica, stretches 29 meters [92 feet] and weighs nearly 70 tons. A careful inspection of the edifice revealed damage, most of which was located in its upper part. Heavy dark patinas made up of greasy substances and atmospheric particles have become encrusted in certain spaces.

Some wooden structures are also being detached. The restoration work, which began in February,  is planned to take over ten months and requires the installation of scaffolding which will envelop the baldacchino, while preserving access to the main altar.

The purpose of the baldacchino is to underline “the presence of the apostle St. Peter in the Vatican Confession,” this sacred space is where, below the altar, the tomb of the first pope is located, explained Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, and president of the Fabric of St. Peter, in charge of the maintenance and restoration of the building.

St. Peter’s Tomb

St. Peter’s tomb is located under the high altar of the Vatican Basilica. It is a grave dug into the southern slope of the Vatican Hill, just in front of the circus which was the scene of persecutions against Christians during the time of Emperor Nero (54-68).

A century after the Apostle's martyrdom, a small funerary shrine was built on this modest tomb, attested by the presbyter Gaius at the end of the second century, as reported by the historian Eusebius of Caesarea: “I can show you the memorials of the apostles. Because if you want to go to the Vatican or to the road to Ostia, you will find there the memorials of those who founded this Church” (Ecclesiastical History, 2, 25, 6-7).

The presence of St. Peter’s tomb, discovered during archaeological explorations between 1939 and 1949, determined the location of the first basilica of St. Peter, built over the tomb in the fourth century by Pope Sylvester and Emperor Constantine. The later Renaissance basilica was built over the same place.

The altar of Gregory the Great (590-604), the altar of Callistus II (1123) and, in 1594, the altar of Clement VIII, covered by Bernini's baldacchino under Michelangelo's dome, were built on the sepulcher monument of Constantine.

Bernini's Baldachino

Pope Urban VIII (1623-1644), succeeding Gregory XV, entrusted the creation of the work to the young architect and sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini, known as Bernini. The work began 400 years ago, in 1624, and was completed in 1635. Bernini worked alongside his father Pietro and his brother Luigi, assisted by Francesco Borromini, and many talented sculptors, smiths, carpenters and workers supported him.

The artist chose to combine baroque elements to highlight the solemnity of the room which rises in the heart of the basilica, above the tomb of the prince of the apostles. The bronze columns, decorated with branches and olive trees, rise in a spiral, giving an impression of lightness when numerous pictorial elements, linked to the pope's family, add to the grandiose character of the work. The exuberance of the baldacchino gives it a larger than life movement, revealing the grandeur of the place.

The columns are placed on high pedestals (8.5 feet) on which appear the papal coat of arms and the Barberini bees. The four bronze columns, decorated with laurel branches and cherubim, are topped with Corinthian capitals; the frieze features the Barberini sun symbol, as well as grotesque faces and laurel leaves.

The slightly concave frame bears on its four sides a large drapery composed of six gilded brass lambrequins, decorated on the outside with cherubim and bees, and on the inside with pontifical symbols and bees. The artist wanted to make it look like a large processional canopy.

Baldacchinos began to appear around the fourth century in churches where the altar seemed small compared to the size of the building. They enhance the most important space of the sanctuary while making it more human-sized in overly large spaces such as St. Peter’s.

In the past, curtains were fixed between the columns as a reminder of the Holy Temple in Jewish times. During the liturgical celebration, they were sometimes closed and sometimes open. Evocation of the New Covenant established by the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, when “the curtain of the Sanctuary was torn in two” (Mt. 27:51).