| Chair of Saint Peter | |
|---|---|
| Latin:Cathedra Petri | |
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| Artist | Gian Lorenzo Bernini |
| Year | 1657–1666 |
| Catalogue | 61 |
| Type | Sculpture |
| Medium | Giltbronze |
| Location | St. Peter's Basilica,Vatican City |
| Coordinates | 41°54′8″N12°27′12″E / 41.90222°N 12.45333°E /41.90222; 12.45333 |
| Preceded by | Habakkuk and the Angel (Bernini) |
| Followed by | Saints Jerome and Mary Magdalen (Bernini) |
TheChair of Saint Peter (Latin:Cathedra Petri), also known as theThrone of Saint Peter, is arelic conserved inSt. Peter's Basilica inVatican City, the sovereign enclave of thePope inside Rome, Italy. The relic is a woodenthrone that tradition claims belonged to the ApostleSaint Peter, the leader of theEarly Christians in Rome and firstPope, and which he used asBishop of Rome.[1] The relic is enclosed in a sculptedgiltbronze casing designed byGian Lorenzo Bernini and constructed between 1647 and 1653.[1] In 2012,Pope Benedict XVI described the chair as "a symbol of the special mission of Peter and his Successors to tend Christ's flock, keeping it united in faith and in charity."[2]
The wooden throne was a gift fromEmperor of the RomansCharles the Bald toPope John VIII in 875.[1] It has been studied many times over the years, most recently between 1968 and 1974. The study concluded that it was not a double, but a single chair, with a covering, and that the oldest parts are from the 6th century.[3] The Chair of Saint Peter is the second altar within the church, with the first one being the one underSt. Peter's Baldachin. It stands to remind visitors of the Catholic Church's authority.[4]
In January 2024, theVatican Museums,Fabbrica di San Pietro, the Commission for the Protection of Monuments and other Vatican institutions announced a restoration campaign of the baldachin over the high altar and adjacent Altar of the Chair that was expected to cost approximately €700,000 and was funded by a gift from theKnights of Columbus. This was the first major work done in these areas since 1758.[5]
On 27 October 2024, the newly restored chair was shown in public for the first time since 1867, on a decision byPope Francis. After the concluding Mass of theSynod on Synodality, it was centered in front of the baldachin.[6] By 28 October, the chair was in front of the right front pillar. The chair was due to be on display until 8 December 2024 but was returned to the reliquary on 26 November 2024.[7][8]
The relic itself is described as an oaken chair damaged by cuts and worms. The chair has metal rings attached to each side, allowing use as asedia gestatoria. The back and front of the chair are trimmed with carved ivory. This description comes from 1867, when the relic was photographed and displayed for veneration.[9]
Thereliquary, like many of the medieval period, takes the form of the relic it protects, i.e. the form of a chair. Symbolically, the chair Bernini designed had no earthly counterpart in actual contemporary furnishings. It is formed entirely of scrolling members, enclosing a coved panel where the upholstery pattern is rendered as a low relief ofChrist instructing Peter to tend to his sheep.[10] Largeangelic figures flank an openwork panel beneath a highly realistic bronze seat cushion, vividly empty: the relic is encased within.[a]
The cathedra is lofted on splayed scrolling bars that appear to be effortlessly supported by four over-lifesize bronzeDoctors of the Church: Western doctors SaintAmbrose and SaintAugustine of Hippo on the outsides, wearing miters, and Eastern doctors SaintJohn Chrysostom and SaintAthanasius on the insides, both bare-headed. The cathedra appears to hover over the altar in the basilica's apse, lit by a central tinted window through which light streams, illuminating the gilded glory of sunrays and sculpted clouds that surrounds the window. Like Bernini'sEcstasy of Saint Theresa, this is a definitive fusion[11] of theBaroque arts, unifying sculpture and richly polychrome architecture and manipulating effects of light.
Above, on the golden background of the frieze, is the Latin inscription:"O Pastor Ecclesiae, tu omnes Christi pascis agnos et oves" ('O Shepherd of the Church, you feed all Christ's lambs and sheep'). On the right is the same writing in Greek,"ΣΥ ΒΟΣΚΕΙΣ ΤΑ ΑΡΝΙΑ, ΣΥ ΠΟΙΜΑΙΝΕΙΣ ΤΑ ΠΡΟΒΑΤΙΑ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ".[12] Behind the altar is placed Bernini's monument enclosing the wooden chair, both of which are seen as symbolic of the authority of theBishop of Rome asVicar of Christ and successor of Saint Peter.
Earlymartyrologies indicate that two liturgical feasts were celebrated in Rome, centuries before the time of Charles the Bald, in honour of earlier chairs associated with Saint Peter, one of which was kept in the baptismal chapel of Old St. Peter's Basilica, the other at thecatacomb of Priscilla.[9] The dates of these celebrations were January 18 and February 22. No surviving chair has been identified with either of these chairs. The feasts thus became associated with an abstract understanding of the "Chair of Peter", which bysynecdoche signifies theepiscopal office of thePope asBishop of Rome, an office considered to have been first held bySaint Peter, and thus extended to the diocese, theSee of Rome.[13]
According to historianAnton de Waal, although both feasts were originally associated with Saint Peter's stay in Rome, the ninth-century form of theMartyrologium Hieronymianum associated the January 18 feast with his stay in Rome, and the February 22 feast with his stay atAntioch.[9] The two feasts were included in theTridentine calendar with therank of Double, whichPope Clement VIII raised in 1604 to the newly invented rank of Greater Double.
In 1960Pope John XXIII deleted the January 18 feast from theGeneral Roman Calendar, along with seven other feast days that were duplicate feasts of a single saint or mystery. The February 22 celebration became aSecond-Class Feast. This calendar was incorporated in the1962 Roman Missal ofPope John XXIII, whose continued usePope Benedict XVI authorized under the conditions indicated in hismotu proprioSummorum Pontificum.Traditionalist Catholics who use older calendars continue to celebrate both feast days: Saint Peter's Chair at Rome on January 18 and the Chair of Saint Peter at Antioch on February 22.
In the new classification of holy days introduced in 1969, the February 22 celebration has therank of Feast.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Chair of Peter".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
| External videos | |
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 Smarthistory: Bernini's Cathedra Petri (Chair of St. Peter) |
Media related toCathedra Petri at Wikimedia Commons
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