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The Vatican Palace; the Subject of the Fresco Is Ance

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The Vatican Palace; the Subject of the Fresco Is Ance New Saint Peter's From Nicholas V to Paul III Veronica, as it i~ now called because of the statue by Francesco Mochi that adorns it. Despite all the alter­ By the fifteenth century, Saint Peter's was in precarious ations brought to the project by later architects, the condition. The south wall leaned outward, the north nucleus of today' s basilica retains the essential features wall leaned inward, and the roof was in danger of col­ of Bramante's plan. lapsing under the strain. The eleven-hundred-year-old Bramante quickly demolished most of the west basilica had already undergone several restorations, end of the old basilica, and erected the four piers and but Nicholas V (1447-55) now decided to rebuild it­ the arches that were to support the dome. He died in at least in part-from the ground up. Nicholas,· himself 1514, and Julius II's successor, Leo X (1513-21), placed a humanist, was inspired by the ambitious projects of a triumvirate of architects-Fra Giocondo of Verona the great Florentine humanist- and architect Leon (1433-1515), Giuliano da Sangallo (ca. 1445-1516), Battista Alberti (14Q4-1472). Alberti dreamed of and Raphael (1483-1520)-in charge of Saint Peter's. reconstructing the entire city of Rome, which had not These men decided to alter Bramante's conception rad­ yet wholly recovered from the ravages of the Avignon ically, by changing the plan from a Greek to a Latin Exile and of the Great Schism; his plan is known to us cross-that is, by adding a longitudinal nave to the through a description by his contemporary Giannozzo centrally planned area surrounding the dome. (The Manetti. Saint Peter's, with the tomb of the Apostle, Greek cross was in keeping with the Renaissance love was to be the center of the new city. The Constantinian of symmetry, whereas the Latin cross was more prac­ nave, apparently, was to be left standing, but the apse tical for the purposes of Catholic worship; the con­ and transept were to be replaced by three arms of equal troversy over the two types of plan was to continue length, with a dome over the crossing. Work was until the present nave was constructed, between 1607 actually begun on the western arm, the choir, which and 1610.) The new plan may be seen in a fresco by was designed by Bernardo Rossellino (1409-1464), Raphael's pupil Giulio Romano in the Sala di Costan­ but when the pope died the project was left in abey­ tino in the Vatican Palace; the subject of the fresco is ance. Nicholas's successors hesitated to make radical the approval of the project for the original basilica by changes in the venerable basilica. Under Paul II Sylvester I, but the parchment that Constantine pre­ (1464-71), work on Rossellino's choir was resumed, sents to the pope shows the plan for New Saint Peter's though it never got beyond the foundation level. Nich­ worked out under Leo X. olas also had the roof of the nave repaired, and added Baldassare Peruzzi (1481-1536) and Antonio da a benediction loggia to the Constantinian fa~ade. Sangallo the younger (1483-1546), Giuliano's nephew, Hesitation ceased with the accession of Julius II succeeded Raphael as architects of Saint Peter's. Peruzzi (1503-1513). That impetuous pontiff, inspired by a apparently favored a Greek-cross plan similar to Bra­ humanistic fervor for renewal and aware that the great mante's. But the pontificate of Clement VII (1523-34) architects of the Renaissance had already begun to was marked by a series of religious, political, and mil­ transform Rome and Italy, ordered Donato Bramante itary crises, and work on the basilica was virtually (1444-1514) to proceed with the rebuilding of Saint suspended. After Peruzzi's death, Sangallo alone re­ Peter's. Bramante's project, which is known through mained in charge of Saint Peter's. He was occupied a drawing by Antonio da Sangallo and a commemo­ with other projects, however, and it required the en­ rative medal by Cristoforo Caradosso, embodied the ergetic intervention of Paul III (1534-49) to persuade classical ideal of architecture in its pure, lucid forms. him to complete his wooden model for the basilica. Saint Peter's was to have a central plan, with a hemi­ Sangallo's project was based on a Latin cross, but it spherical dome over the intersection of the arms of a was more intricate than his predecessors', with an abun­ Greek cross and four minor cupolas in the corners. dance of chapels, ambulatories, porticoes, and towers; Sigismondo de' Conti, Julius's privy chamberlain, the exterior was to be articulated by several orders of wrote: "The design promises to surpass every mon­ columns. A dividing wall was erected between the ument of antiquity in beauty and proportion. Above eleventh and twelfth columns of the nave, so that the the basilica will rise a vault higher and more spacious liturgy could be celebrated in what was left of Old than that of the Pantheon." In a solemn ceremony on Saint Peter's while construction of the new basilica April18, 1506, Julius II, surrounded by cardinals and proceeded. Late in 1539, demolition of the western workmen, laid the first foundation stone of one of the parts of the Constantintan building was completed four great piers that support the dome-the Pier of and the foundation of the new apse was laid. Sangallo Plan of Saint Peter's. 62 .
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