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Bernini models a chair for St Peter’s
Bernini’s working materials connect small models with a large basilica commission.
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Heads before bronze
The Vatican collection's preparatory models include heads of Athanasius and John Chrysostom, two early Christian theologians, and figures of angels. Their materials belong to the work of shaping figures before the final bronze. A model preserves a stage in a commission rather than the material appearance of the finished monument.
A project with assistants
Bernini and his assistants made the chair monument for the apse of St Peter's Basilica in 1658–1666, under Pope Alexander VII. Sculpture and architectural setting came together in the final project. The models let the museum's collection connect with the process behind that separate basilica setting.
Follow the connection
Keep the working models and the finished St Peter's Chair distinct. The basilica has its own visiting arrangements. Bernini's story here concerns how a large commission passed through smaller material studies and the work of several hands.
Photo gallery 1
Image credits
- Fabrizio Garrisi · Statua di Nettuno, tipo Laterano. Museo Gregoriano Profano -FG2.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Miguel Hermoso Cuesta · Museo Pio-Cristiano sarcófago. 01.JPG · CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Miguel Hermoso Cuesta · Bernini cabeza para la Cathedra Petri. 02.JPG · CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Livioandronico2013 · Apollo del Belvedere.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0 · WebP / AVIF
- xiquinhosilva · 11859 - Vatican - Pius-Clementine Museum (3482088081).jpg · CC BY 2.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Sailko · Vincent van gogh, pietà, 1890 ca..JPG (detail) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Deb Nystrom · Courtyard, Vatican Museum (45510285915).jpg · CC BY 2.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Fabrizio Garrisi · 015- Galleria degli arazzi, Musei Vaticani -FG.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Alvesgaspar · Galleria delle carte geografiche (Vatican Museums) September 2015-5.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Gracchus Tiberius · Hall of Constantine Raphael rooms Vatican Museums.jpg · CC BY 4.0 · WebP / AVIF
- 0ro1 · 8 Estancia de Heliodoro (Vista general I).jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- sailko · Appartamento borgia, 02.JPG · CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Poiesia · Gold cross with geometric decoration, 7th–8th century. Christian Museum, Vatican Museums.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Deb Nystrom · Courtyard, Vatican Museum (45510285915).jpg (detail) · CC BY 2.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Miguel Hermoso Cuesta · Museo Pio-Cristiano sarcófago. 01.JPG (detail) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Miguel Hermoso Cuesta · Museo Pio-Cristiano sarcófago. 01.JPG (detail) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Diliff · Vatican Museum Queue - April 2007.jpg (detail) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Diliff · Vatican Museum Queue - April 2007.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Peter H. Feist · ROM - VATICAN - Giardino Quadrato - 89 - 063.24.jpg (detail) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Diego Delso · Museos Vaticanos, Ciudad del Vaticano, 2022-09-14, DD 50-52 HDR.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Joseolgon · Sarcophagus of Helena.jpg · CC BY 4.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Sailko · Gold pectoral, Regolini-Galassi Tomb. Resized photograph. · CC BY 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Diego Delso · Ceiling of the Room of the Liberal Arts, Borgia Apartment. Resized and recompressed. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Sailko · Disputation of Saint Catherine and ceiling decoration, Room of the Saints, Borgia Apartment. Resized and recompressed. · CC BY 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Sailko · Resurrection with Alexander VI, Room of Mysteries, Borgia Apartment. Resized and recompressed. · CC BY 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Sailko · Vincent van gogh, pietà, 1890 ca..JPG (detail) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Sailko · Vincent van gogh, pietà, 1890 ca..JPG (detail) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / AVIF