We saw some unbelieveable artwork...

I’ve said before that I’ve decided that for the most part I agree with Leonardo Da Vinci, in the value of painting versus sculpting because you can do so much more with a painting than a sculpture. However, I am also someone who loves things with deep meaning, especially if that deep meaning is share by millions of people. It is for this reason, I think, that one of the most incredible statues we visited on this trip was the ancient bronze one of St. Peter in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.
The statue is of St. Peter sitting atop a marble see from the early renaissance, a tiara around his head, holding high the keys to the kingdom of Heaven and giving a blessing and preaching to those below. I sits upon an alabaster base that was executed by Carlo Marchionni in 1757. The statue is clothed in amice, alb, stole, red cope and a ring so that it practically seems to come to life. The most amazing thing is how worn down his right foot is from the centuries of pilgrims rubbing them. Pilgrims rubbed and kissed the foot of St. Peter praying that he’d be merciful and open the gates of Heaven to them if they died during the pilgrimage. Today, I’ve noticed the legend is changing as many guided tours come through the museum. People are saying that his right foot is good luck or to rub it for an important prayer. Many people rub his foot and pray that they will get into Heaven but I think that most people no longer consider dying during the pilgrimage as a serious option the way they would’ve during the Middle Ages. I walked up and touched the foot and you could feel its power. The thought of so many people praying and believing in what St. Peter’s statue represents is incredible to me.
Behind it, there is what appears to be a beautiful brocade draping but it is actually a mosaic. Above the mosaic is a portrait of Pope Pius IX, the first Pope in nineteen centuries to hold the throne longer than St. Peter himself. St. Peter held the throne for twenty-five years and Pope Pius IX reined for 31. Tradition holds that the mosaic and the portrait are insuperable from the statue. To me its amazing either of these men could’ve lived long enough for that. However, I never really thought that a Pope reining longer than St. Peter would make him noteworthy enough to get his portrait directly behind St. Peter’s statue. I would imagine that after nineteen centuries people were beginning to think twenty-five years was the Divine limit.
A great mystery also surrounds the statue relating to who created it, as well as the epoch in which it was created. Datings range from as early as the fourth century and as late as the fourteenth century. Tradition has it that the statue was commissioned by St. Leo the Great as a token of gratitude for defeating Attila. This legend also says that the statue was made of the metal from a previous statue made by Giove Capitolino. In reality however, the oldest historical information on the work only dates back to the fifteenth. Currently, it is almost the unanimous opinion of historians that the author of the statue is more likely than not Arnolfo di Cambio(c. 1300) the artist who created the tabernacles of St. Paul and St. Cecilia, and the sacellum of Bonifacius VIII in the Constantinian Basilica. The snail like curls of the hair and beard are found in famous Arnolfian works and match thirteenth century Classicism.
Overall I found the whole of St. Peter’s Basilica to be absolutely incredible. I loved having the opportunity to see the Cathedral that is the most important in all of Catholicism. This statue is, of course, one of the most important works of art in the entire basilica. However, I find it amazing how everything in the Basilica has its own legend and story. Everything from the keys, to the tiara, to the picture behind the statue has its own history and symbolism. The year the statue was made really isn’t that important, it’s the energy behind it that is absolutely incredible.