| Basilica of Saint Peter in Chains | |
|---|---|
 Façade of the Basilica | |
 Click on the map for a fullscreen view | |
| 41°53′38″N12°29′35″E / 41.89389°N 12.49306°E /41.89389; 12.49306 | |
| Location | Piazza di San Pietro in Vincoli 4a,Rome,Italy |
| Country | Italy |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Tradition | Roman Rite |
| Website | Official website |
| History | |
| Status | Titular church,minor basilica |
| Dedication | Saint Peter |
| Consecrated | 439 CE |
| Architecture | |
| Architect | Giuliano da Sangallo |
| Architectural type | Renaissance,Baroque |
| Groundbreaking | 5th century |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 70 metres (230 ft) |
| Width | 40 metres (130 ft) |
San Pietro in Vincoli ([samˈpjɛːtroiɱˈviŋkoli]; Saint Peter in Chains) is aRoman Catholictitular church andminor basilica inRome, Italy. The church is on theOppian Hill nearCavour metro station, a short distance from theColosseum. The name alludes to the Biblical story of theLiberation of Peter.
This church is best known for housingMichelangelo'sstatue of Moses, part of thetomb ofPope Julius II. |Following the death ofPio Laghi,Donald Wuerl became theCardinal-Priest[1] in 2010.[2]
Housed in the adjacent building, formerly a convent associated with the church, is the Faculty of Engineering ofLa Sapienza University. Confusingly, this academic institution also carries the epithet "San Pietro in Vincoli".
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Also known as theBasilica Eudoxiana (Italian:Basilica Eudossiana, it was first rebuilt on older foundations[3] in 432–440 to house therelic of the chains that boundSaint Peter when he was imprisoned inJerusalem, the episode called "Liberation of Saint Peter". The EmpressEudoxia (wife of EmperorValentinian III), who received them as a gift from her mother,Aelia Eudocia, presented the chains toPope Leo I. It was probably during a pilgrimage in 438-439 that Aelia Eudocia had received the chains as a gift fromJuvenal, bishop of Jerusalem.
The chain is now kept in areliquary under the main altar in the basilica.[4] Since 1894, a link of the chain has been housed inSt Peter's Church,[5]Rutland, Vermont.[6] Around the world, numerous churches to St Peter bear theAd Vincula suffix, relating to the basilica and relic.
Of interest in this context are St Peter'stwo imprisonments. According to legend, when Leo compared the Jerusalem chain to that of St Peter's final imprisonment in theMamertine Prison, in Rome, the two chains miraculously fused together.
The basilica, consecrated in 439 bySixtus III, has undergone several reconstructions, among them a restoration byPope Adrian I, and further work in the eleventh century. From 1471 to 1503, when he was electedPope Julius II, Cardinal Della Rovere, the nephew ofPope Sixtus IV, achieved notable rebuilding. The frontportico, attributed toBaccio Pontelli, was added in 1475. Thecloister (1493–1503) has been attributed toGiuliano da Sangallo. The vault was lowered in 1705 under the architectFrancesco Fontana, and there was another renovation in 1875.
The interior has anave and two aisles, with threeapses divided by antiqueDoric columns. The aisles are surmounted by cross-vaults, while the nave has an 18th-centurycofferedceiling, frescoed in the centre byGiovanni Battista Parodi, portraying theMiracle of the Chains (1706). In this scene, based purely on a fable, Pope Alexander heals the neck goiter of the mythicalSaint Balbina by touching her with the chains that had once bound St Peter.
Michelangelo'sMoses (completed in 1515), while originally intended as part of a massive 47-statue, free-standing funeral monument forPope Julius II, became the centerpiece of the Pope's funeral monument and tomb in this, the church ofdella Rovere family. Moses isdepicted with horns, connoting "the radiance of the Lord", due to the similarity in the Hebrew words for "beams of light" and "horns". This kind of iconographic symbolism was common in early sacred art, and for an artist horns are easier to sculpt than rays of light.[citation needed]
Other works of art include two canvases ofSaint Augustine andSt Margaret byGuercino, the monument ofCardinalGirolamo Agucchi designed byDomenichino, who is also the painter of a sacristy fresco depicting theLiberation of St Peter (1604). Thealtarpiece on the first chapel to the left is aDeposition byCristoforo Roncalli. The tomb of CardinalNicholas of Kues (d 1464), with itsrelief,Cardinal Nicholas before St Peter, is byAndrea Bregno. Painter and sculptorAntonio del Pollaiuolo is buried at the left side of the entrance. He is the Florentine sculptor who added the figures ofRomulus and Remus to the sculpture of theCapitoline Wolf on the Capitol.[7] Inside a portico at the entrance is the original sculptureWhen I was Naked, created by Canadian artistTimothy Schmalz as part of the Matthew 25 collection installed throughout Rome on the occasion of theExtraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.[8]
The tomb monument of CardinalCinzio Aldobrandini was erected 1705–07 by princeGiovanni Battista Pamphili Aldobrandini to a design by his architectCarlo Francesco Bizzaccheri and with the sculptures ofputti and a winged skeleton byPierre Le Gros the Younger.[9]
In 1876 archeologists discovered the tombs of those once believed to be theseven Maccabean martyrs depicted in 2 Maccabees 7–41.[10] They are remembered each year on 1 August, the same day as the miracle of the fusing of the two chains.
The third altar in the left aisle holds a mosaic ofSaint Sebastian from the seventh century. This mosaic is related to an outbreak of plague inPavia, in northern Italy. The relics of Sebastian were taken there in order to stop a 680 outbreak of plague, since Sebastian was believed to have been born in Lombardy, and an altar was constructed for his relics at a San Pietro in Vincoli in Pavia. As a symbol of the subsequently reinforced relationship between Pavia and Rome, an identical altar to Sebastian was built at the Roman church of the same name, resulting in a parallel cult for the saint in both regions.[11]
List of the cardinals titular of the church[12][13]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Zenker, pp. 118–123.
| Preceded by San Pancrazio | Landmarks of Rome San Pietro in Vincoli | Succeeded by Santa Prassede |
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