Saint Peter's Basilica is Consecrated on November 18, 1626
Saint Peter's Basilica is Consecrated: Saint Peter’s Basilica, also called New Saint Peter’s Basilica, The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican, built in Vatican City during the Renaissance.
Begun by Pope Julius II in 1506 and completed in 1615 under Paul V. It is designed as a three-aisled Latin cross with a dome at the crossing, directly above the high altar, which covers the shrine of Saint Peter the Apostle. The edifice - the church of the popes - is a major pilgrimage site. Italy's largest Church, consecrated after more than a century of work.
Saint Peter's Basilica was chiefly designed by Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Michelangelo's contribution to the basilica was the greatest of them. He was the only architect who worked on it whose plans were continued without significant changes after his death.
In the Catholic Tradition, the Basilica is believed to have been built upon the burial site of Christ’s Apostle Saint Peter. Pope’s have been interned in the Basilica since the early Christian era and a church has existed on the site since the 4th century. It is one of the four Major Basilicas, all of which are in Rome. Built between 1506 and 1626, Saint Peter’s Basilica stands as one of the largest churches in the world and one of the holiest shrines and greatest churches in Christendom.
The Old and the New
In ancient Roman times one of the 12 Apostles, Saint Peter, was crucified in Rome by the order of Emperor Nero in 64 AD. Some years after his death a shrine was built upon his burial site which was outside the Roman Circus on what is now called Vatican Hill. Several centuries later in 318 AD, the Emperor Constantine I ordered the construction of a Church on the site. Now known as the Old Saint Peter’s Basilica this church stood from the 4th until the 16th century before the New Saint Peter’s Basilica was built on the same site to replace it.
The Old Saint Peter's Basilica stood for many centuries and was an important Christian holy site. By the 15th century, the old basilica was in a state of disrepair. Plans for changes to the old basilica were made during the reign of Pope Nicholas V. Substantial materials had been transported for this purpose including stone taken from the ancient Roman Colosseum. However, Nicholas V died while little had been done and the reconstruction did not go ahead as intended.
Around 50 years later in 1505, Pope Julius II made the decision to tear down the old basilica and erect a completely new one upon the same site. Julius II had commissioned Michelangelo to design and sculpt his own tomb, which would reside in Saint Peter’s Basilica. Including Pope Julius II, the construction of the new basilica would occur over the course of the reign of 21 Pope’s in total.
Architecture For the New Saint Peter’s Basilicas
For such a prestigious project many architects sought the honor and put forward plans for a new basilica. Several of these designs can still be found today at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. The design settled upon was that of Donato Bramante. Known for Renaissance architecture in Milan and Rome, his design would become the basis for the later work on the basilica by Michelangelo.
The dome became one of the most important aspects of the design for the basilica. Every architect that worked on the new basilica called for a dome to rival that of the ancient Roman Pantheon and the Cathedral of Florence. The design of the dome that would top the basilica called for it to be supported by four large pillars, whereas that of the Pantheon is supported by a continuous wall.
Pope Julius II died in 1513, Giuliano da Sangallo, Fra Giocondo, and Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (Raphael) replaced Donato Bramante. By 1515 Sangallo, Giocondo, and Bramante had died, leaving Raphael to continue the work. Raphael’s design called for a great extension of five bays added to the nave compared to Bramante’s original plan. The basilica would have been significantly longer had this been carried out. While Raphael died in 1520 his plans were maintained by his successor Baldassare Peruzzi. Complications such as the sack of Rome in 1527, meant that by the time of his death in 1536 this plan had not been implemented.
Antonio da Sangallo the Younger proceeded to take over the work at this point. His primary effort was to strength the constructions of Bramante as they had begun to weaken over time. Combining aspects of the previous plans, Sangallo fashioned his own more elegant design. Shortening the nave, thereby adapting Raphael's plan, was a large part of his own design. 10 years after the death of Raphael, in 1546, Sangallo the Younger also died. Leaving his designs unfulfilled but having carried out important maintenance of the work done by his predecessors.
Michelangelo’s Work on the Basilica
After the passing of yet another architect, Michelangelo was not the first choice of the reigning Pope Paul III, whose preferred architect Giulio Romano had died in late 1546. Jacopo Sansovino was also asked, but he refused to leave Venice to work In Rome. Following these complications, Michelangelo was pressured to take on the job. It was later found in his writings that he said: “I undertake this only for the love of God and in honor of the Apostle.”
Michelangelo took over the construction conditionally, desiring the freedom to accomplish the project as he thought necessary. With this artistic freedom, his designs and their implementation went on to make him the primary designer of the basilica as it exists to this day. In taking up the role of superintendent (Capomaestro) of the construction, Michelangelo had access to all of the previous design plans for the new basilica. All of the previous designers had called for a large dome adorned with a Greek or Latin cross.
The desire for a large dome could draw inspiration from both ancient Rome and Renaissance Italy. Far more recent than the Pantheon of antiquity, in 1436 Filippo Brunelleschi had built the powerful dome of Florence Cathedral. Brunelleschi was one of the founders of the Renaissance. Matching the splendor of Brunelleschi's dome had been envisioned by every architect who worked on the new basilica.
Using the ideas of the previous architects and his own coalesced into a visionary design that brought together the distinctiveness of Bramante’s original design and all of the later plans. The eastern end of the New Saint Peter’s Basilica with its monumental dome was the centrifugal point of Michelangelo’s work and his most distinct contribution. The dome remains the tallest of its kind in the world today. While he lived Michelangelo only saw to the construction of the base of the dome called the Tamburo.
At the age of 88 years old, Michelangelo died in 1564. Unlike the previous architects that worked upon the new basilica, Michelangelo’s work was intended to continue unchanged. His assistant Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola was left to carry on the work in his stead and the reigning Pope, Pius V, assigned Giorgio Vasari to ensure that the work was carried out in accordance with the plans of Michelangelo.
However, work progressed slowly and Pope Sixtus decided to commission Giacomo Della Porta to oversee the completion of the work in 1585. The speed of construction increased greatly although Sixtus was Pope only for a short time. A number deal of sketches of both general and minute detail had been left by Michelangelo. Porta largely adhered to what had been laid out by Michelangelo, mostly making alterations of a more cosmetic nature. The one major change that Porta oversaw was the raising of the outer dome higher over the inner one.
It is unknown if the hemispherical shape of the dome was Michelangelo’s original intention or if it was changed from an ovoid dome at the behest of Porta. Sketches and models from the time of the construction present mixed representations of the dome. The dome was completed in 1590, it would still be several years before the basilica reached completion. After more than a century, construction ended in the 1600s and the New Saint Peter’s Basilica was consecrated in 1626.
Michelangelo's Legacy
Michelangelo is perhaps the most famous artist of the late Renaissance, responsible for many works of art featured in the Sistine Chapel, Laurentian Library, and Saint Peter’s Basilica. Michelangelo completed two famous works on the Sistine Chapel early in his life, the Sistine Chapel ceiling and The Last Judgement, a fresco.
Prior to his work on the New Saint Peter’s Basilica, the Pope Julius II commissioned him to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The ceiling depicts scenes from the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament. In order to paint the high ceiling, Michelangelo had to devise his own scaffolding and work under difficult conditions standing upright for his work. A fresco painting is painted upon fresh or damp plaster, the plaster dries and sets the paint upon the wall.
Also in the Sistine Chapel is The Last Judgement, it covers the altar wall and like the ceiling, it is a fresco. Michelangelo painted The Last Judgement 25 years after he had painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. It took four years of work for the piece to be finished. Michelangelo’s extensive work for the Vatican prior to his commencement of work on the Saint Peter’s Basilica highly commended him to that design and his creation was one of the most brilliant works of the Renaissance.
Michelangelo’s most famous sculptures are Pietà and David. Pietà depicts Jesus after his crucifixion, with the Virgin Mary. Pietà was installed in the Saint Peter’s Basilica and remains there to this day. It is the only work of his art that Michelangelo personally signed. David, named for the biblical David, resides in the Florence Cathedral.
Where the New Saint Peter’s Basilica is concerned, Michelangelo’s legacy is the dome at the chancel end of the basilica, it is the tallest in of its kind in the world. He did not live to see its completion, which was overseen by Giacomo Della Porta and Domenico Fontana by 1590. But during his life, his plans for the basilica became so advanced and were respected enough that major changes were not made while efforts to stick to his designs were.
The work of Michelangelo influenced art and architecture for centuries after his death. The Saint Peter’s basilica inspired the domes of the Capitol building in Washinton D.C and Saint Paul’s in London. He was one of the longest-lived artists of the late Renaissance, so much so that his assistant Giorgio Vasari published a biography of Michelangelo while he still lived. His work has remained a great influence upon artists and architects for more than five centuries now and will be revered as long as his works still stand.
Michelangelo / Wikipedia / Encyclopedia Britannica /
Vatican Museums and Saint Peter’s Basilica.va / Italia.it / Society of Architectural Historians.org /
Saint Peter's Basilica is Consecrated on November 18, 1626 (YouTube) 
This Day in History November 11
• 326 Old Saint Peter's Basilica is consecrated by Pope Sylvester I
• 401 Visigoths led by king Alaric I cross the Alps and invade northern Italy.
• 1095 Council of Clermont: begins: called by Pope Urban II led to the First Crusade to the Holy Land.
• 1105 Maginulfo is elected the Antipope as Sylvester IV.
• 1210 Pope Innocent III excommunicates Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV.
• 1282 Pope Martin IV excommunicates Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV.
• 1210 Pope Innocent III excommunicates King Peter III of Aragon.
• 1302 Pope Boniface VIII issues the Papal bull Unam sanctam, claiming spiritual supremacy for the papacy.
• 1421 A seawall at the Zuiderzee dike in the Netherlands breaks, flooding 72 villages and killing about 10,000 people - will be known as Saint Elizabeth's flood.
• 1493 Christopher Columbus first sights the island now known as Puerto Rico.
• 1803 Haitian Revolution: Battle of Vertières: Leads to the establishment of the Republic of Haiti, the first black republic in the Western Hemisphere.
• 1805 Napoleonic Wars: Action of 18 November 1809: French frigates defeat British East Indiamen in the Bay of Bengal.
• 1872 Susan B. Anthony and 14 other women are arrested for voting illegally in the United States presidential election of 1872.
• 1940 World War II: Adolf Hitler and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano meet to discuss Benito Mussolini's disastrous Italian invasion of Greece.
• 1943 World War II: Battle of Berlin: Four hundred and forty Royal Air Force planes bomb Berlin.
• 1963 First push-button telephone goes into service.
• 1978 Jonestown, Guyana: Jim Jones led his Peoples Temple to a mass murder–suicide that claimed 918 lives.
• 1988 War on Drugs: U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill into law allowing the death penalty for drug traffickers.
