Art

The Evolution of a Project

Introduction
Commonly known as St. Peters Basilica, the Papal Basilica of St. Peter is located in Vatican City and is one of the greatest churches of the late Renaissance. St. Peters Basilica is perhaps known for having the largest interior ever in any Christian church across the globe, where it holds about 60,000 people. The artistic and architectural designs of the church are ingenious and creatively adopted, representing the works of countless Renaissance artists the world has ever known. This paper sets out to analyze their work as well as the popes who commissioned them.

Beginnings of St. Peters Basilica
The first Basilica, known as Michelangelos Basilica lasted for a couple of centuries until the early 1500s. Its sorry state of disrepair made Pope Julius II to make a decision upon its replacement with a more novel and largely magnificent structure (Baumgarten, New Advent Website). Started in 1506, the work involved so many of the greatest artists of this time in terms of decoration and construction, such as Michelangelo, Bramante, Raphael, Sangallo, Fontana, Bernini, Della Porta and Maderno. The greatest and notable contributions are nevertheless those of Maderno, Michelangelo and Bernini. As popes ascended the throne of papacy, they came with their own tastes and commissions, where each made use of the best artist of his time (Gardner 102-143).

It is important to note that the present building was an effort of architects and a succession of popes, starting with the schemes of Julius II. From Julius, the succession continued under the reigns of Leo X (15131521), Hadrian VI (15221523), Clement VII (15231534), Paul III (15341549) and Paul III (15341549). The work continued through Julius III (15501555), Marcellus II (1555), and Paul IV (15551559), Pius IV (15591565), Pius V (15651572), Gregory XIII (15721585), Sixtus V (15851590), Urban VII (1590).  Other notable popes include Gregory XIV (15901591), Innocent IX (1591), Innocent VIII (15921605), Leo XI (1605), Pope Paul V (16051621), Gregory XV (16211623) to Urban VIII (16231644) and Innocent X (16441655). All through these popes, the work on the basilica continued all through the renaissance period, each bringing the best artist and architecture of his time into the helm of the construction (Fr. Carolan, saintpetersbasilica.org). In the dynamism and intricacy of designs, both inside and outside the Basilica, different artists with different inspirations are represented as well as different popes with a desire for the best, leading to iconic structures and objects with a divine tinge.

Designs and Artwork
Pope Julius wanted one of the grandest structures in all Christendom, and since it was a competition for the best design, Donato Bramantes was chosen and the foundation stone was laid through his design in 1506. The plan had a characteristic Greek cross, harmonized by a dome that was the inspiration of the Pantheon, the Roman temple that was circular in shape. However, the distinction between the pantheons and Bramantes design is largely on the dome, where the Pantheons was supported by a wall that was continuous, but the Basilicas was designed to be supported by four large piers only. Bramantes dome in the design was to be featured by Florence Cathedrals lantern in the form of the early Renaissance. It was designed for the dome of Brunelleschis by Michelozzo. Bramante envisioned in his work that to surround the central dome, four lower domes would be sufficient along the diagonal axis. For the chancel, transept and nave arms would be made to have two bays that would end in an apse. The corners of the structure would each have a tower to give the overall plan a square shape and the apses would then project from the cardinal points. The apses would have huge radial buttresses each, squaring the shape that was semi-circular.

The death of Pope Julius (1513) saw Bramante being replaced with Raphael, Giuliano da Sangallo and Fra Giocondon. The major change that Raphael brought to the original plan was in the nave, instituted with five bays, made with apsidal chapels in a complex row along the aisles on both sides. The plan by Raphael on the transepts and chancel defined the square shape of the exterior walls through the reduction of the tower size. He also made the apses, semi-circular to wield a well-defined shape through ambulatory encircling.

After some years of inactivity, the Basilicas construction resumed with the younger Antonio da Sangallo, who came up with a plan combining the features of Bramante, Raphael and Peruzzi in the resultant design. This extended the building, in that it had a shorter nave with a rather wide portico and faade, dynamically projected. The proposal he came up with for the dome happened to be quite elaborate in terms of decoration and structure more what Bramante had while including ribs exterior. Similar to Bramante, he proposed the dome to be surmounted through a lantern that he redesigned once again to have a superiorly huge form. The main pragmatic contribution by Sangallo was to strengthen the piers made by Bramante since they had started cracking.

During the reign of Pope Paul II, an aging Michelangelo was brought again to succeed the younger Sangallo. Michelangelo appeared when the building had four piers that were enormously huge beyond anything ever constructed since the Ancient Rome, rising at the rear of the old basilicas remaining nave. At his disposal was also an inheritance of some of the most numerous schemes created and redesigned by the greatest engineers and architectures ever to grace the 16th Century. What Michelangelo did was reduce the geometry defined in Bramantes forms (projections of a square shape) as well as Raphaels plan of a semi-circular projection with an overall square shape. He blurred the geometric definition through creations of massive masonry proportions by filling the corners with a stairwell or small vestry. The created effect was of a wall surface that was continuous, fractured or folded at distinct angles and insufficient right angles, something that defines directional change at a structures or buildings corners. The exterior was again surrounded by Corinthian Pilasters (Gianorder), set at different angles slightly from one another so that it could keep up with the wall surfaces changing angles. The huge cornice above was made to give an impression of ripples in continuous bands. This gave it an appearance of a compression state in the entire building.

If there was a structure in the basilica that required ingenuity and artistry in its construction, it was the dome, made through a number of successful designs before the final solution was adopted. The St. Peters Basilicas dome rises to a height of 136.57 meters or 448.1 feet in total, if measured from the Basilicas floor up to the external cross at the top. This makes it the worlds tallest dome. It has a diameter (external) of 41.47 meters or 136.1 feet. Its great diameter is about 30 feet or 9.1 meters.

The plan of St. Peters dome by Bramante (1506) took the shape of older Pantheon closely, constructed using tufa concrete. Apart from the lantern surmounting it, both profiles are alike except the supporting wall which in this case ended up as a drum raised so high beyond the ground supported by four piers which are massive and grand. The solid wall was then lightened by Bramante by piercing it using windows with peristyle encircling it. When Sangallo took the helm in 1513, he made sure he had extended and strengthened Bramantes peristyle into ordered openings, arched and in series across the base. He also came up with another arcade that was set back in the form of a tier over the first. Through his work, the delicate lantern form became a huge structure that was surrounded in the form of a projected base, a surmounted spire and peristyle.

After taking the helm in 1547, Michelangelo made adjustments, where he redesigned the dome by encircling the Bramante peristyle as well as Sangallos arcade, reducing it to 16 Corinthian column pairs. Each pair was 15 meters or 49 feet in height and was connected through an arch. Structurally, the pier seems redundant, mostly because the shape of the dome is ovoid and it rises steeply. After his death in 1564, Michelangelo left the domes drum entirely complete and the piers designed by Bramante bulkier, each 59 feet or 18 meters across. Pope Pius V hired Giorgio Vasari as a watchdog to make sure Michelangelos assistant, Vignola, was following his masters plans to the letter, although little happened at this time.  In 1585, after the ascendancy of Pope Sixtus, Giacomo della Porta was appointed and assisted by the artistic Domenico Fontana. The completion of the dome was attributed to Fontana and Giacomo della Porta in 1590 during the last year of Pope Sixtus V. The successor, Gregory XIV, allowed Fontana to complete fully the lantern, where he inscribed around the inner opening some inscriptions in Sixtus Vs honor (Gardner 102-143).

In 1607, there was a change of plan that saw an extension of Michelangelos building. After a committee of about ten architects, the decision to build an encompassing nave was reached. This saw Maderno enter the picture after his plans for both the facade and nave had been accepted. This building was commissioned in May 7, 1607 and since the progress was very fast, using more than 700 employed laborers, the faade was started immediately in the next year. After the final touches have been added in December 1614, with stucco vault decorations, the partitioning walls separating the two sections were pulled down and the nave was ready for use.

Madernos Faade Design
Madernos faade, his own design, is 376.3 feet or 114.69 meters in width and 149.4 feet or 45.55 meters in height. It is built using travertine stone, while giant Corinthian columns together with central pediments rise at a high attics front and surmounted with Christ statues, the eleven apostles and John the Baptist.

Madernos Nave
The nave by Maderno peered towards the elaborate chancel. Maderno also added three more bays to Michelangelos single bay Greek cross. The dimensions are slightly distinct from what Michelangelo used on the bay, which defines where the splendid architectural designs and work make a connection. Maderno tilted the axis nave slightly, not by accident, as critics have it but because a very ancient obelisk from Egypt had been erected along the outside square and was hardly aligned in tandem with Michelangelos building. To compensate it, Maderno aligned it with the faade. To keep it in tandem with Michelangelos work, the nave was hugely paired with pilasters.

Bernini and Urban VIII
Among the greatest architectures and artists who worked in St. Peters Basilica, Gianlorenzo Bernini is perhaps the greatest Baroque periods sculptor and architect. In 1626, he was given patronage by Pope Urban VIII who gave him the task of succeeding Maderno in 1629 and embellished the basilica for the next half century. The works by Bernini in the basilica included the Chapel of the Sacrament, Baldacchino, and the Chair of St. Peter as well as loggias and niches plans in the domes pier. He started with the design of Baldacchino, which is a 30 meter or 90 foot structure that looks like a pavilion. It is claimed to be perhaps the largest of all bronze pieces across the globe, standing below the dome and just above the basilicas altar. The structure is ciborium-based, with white marbles having colored stones inlaid. Basing his designs on these types of columns, Bernini went ahead to create four big bronze columns that were decorated and twisted with the use of bees and olive leaves, the emblem of Pope Urban VIII at that time.

After completing the gigantic Baldacchino, Bernini turned his due attention to a very precious church relic, the throne of St. Peter or the Cathedra Petri. This is generally a chair claimed to have been the same used by Peter the Apostle, although it seemed to appear from around the 12th Century. Since the chair was deteriorating quite fast and no longer reparable, Pope Alexander VII was determined to make it enshrined in respectable splendor as an object signifying the line of Peters succession. To do this, Bernini made a huge bronze throne that housed the chair. It was raised very high using supports with four looping ones and was held quite effortlessly by bronze statues which were massively erected. The statues were of four church doctors, Greek Churchs John Chrysostom and Athanasius as well as Augustine and Ambrose who represented the Latin Church. With sweeping robes and adorable ecstatic expressions, the dynamic figures represent the hands of a great sculptor. Above the cathedra and behind it, there is a light blaze coming via a yellow alabaster window that illuminates the center. Bernini had been urged by Andrea Sacchi, an elderly painter, to make the statues large to be seen impeccably from the naves central portal.

St. Peters Square
The eastern part of the basilica has St. Peters Square or Piazza di San Pietro. The modern and present arrangement was constructed from 1656 to 1667, which was Berninis baroque inspiration. Bernini ingeniously created the square or piazza in two amicable sections. The part nearer the basilica is shaped in the form of a trapezoid, although it narrows towards the faade rather than fans out. This makes the building look closer than it is, as if peered from the second part of the square. This is because the faades breadth is minimized while the height does appear huger in terms of proportion to the width (National Geographic 2004). On the second part and section of the Piazza di San Pietro, there is a big elliptical circus, designed to slope gently downwards towards the centers obelisk. The two different areas are again colonnade-framed, created by double column pairs that support an entablature.  The St. Peters Basilica represents the best of the renaissance art, architecture and masonry, plus the inspiration of different people across centuries of ingenious creativity. The fact that the whole Basilica was not constructed or designed by one artist means genius artistic minds of the best of the renaissance period were involved to bring one of the greatest epitomes of its age into life.

Conclusion
The scheme by Pope Julius to create one of the most massive and grandest of buildings in Christendom was finally realized, but not within a decade or two. It was realized after hundreds of years, bringing the character of its current artistry and architectural superiority of the day. Each of the many artists who worked on the Basilica improved on the designs of the predecessor, making it an icon of art in the high renaissance period to date. The interior represents the holiness of the church, through the hands of genius artists who made it a reality. Its an emblem of a period of artistic reawakening represented by the work of each artist who toiled for the basilica.