R. A. Scotti (30 page)

Innocent XI commissioned Carlo Fontana to produce an illustrated account of the construction story. In his book, Fontana noted the cost. Worried that the mention of such a huge price tag would provoke more criticism from the Protestants, the pope suspended publication. The book was issued in 1694 by Innocent XII.

Borromini, a lifelong rival, claimed that the Baldacchino was actually a Maderno design ordered by Paul V. He wrote: “It was the idea of Paul V to cover the high altar of St. Peter's with a baldachin with ornament proportional to the opening made for the Confessio and tomb of Peter.” He also claimed that the design of a fountain representing the four rivers was his and was
aggiustata—
“adapted”—by Bernini in Piazza Navona.

Centuries later, Mussolini built such an avenue, Via della Conciliazione.

A marble disk on the side of each fountain indicates the focus of the ellipse. If you stand on either disk, the colonnades appear to be one row of columns, not four.

Ninety statues are from Bernini's workshop. In 1703, more than twenty years after Bernini's death, Pope Clement XI ordered fifty more statues.

The life of Christ is often called “the greatest story ever told.”

As he lay dying, Nicholas V explained his building philosophy to his cardinals: “A popular faith, sustained only on doctrines, will never be anything but feeble and vacillating. But if the authority of the Holy See were visibly displayed in majestic buildings, imperishable memorials, and witnesses seemingly planted by the Hand of God Himself, belief would grow and strengthen like a tradition from one generation to another, and all the world would accept and revere it. Noble edifices, combining taste and beauty with imposing proportions, would immediately conduce to the exaltation of the Chair of St. Peter….”

Originally built as a mausoleum for the emperor Hadrian, the cylinder of rock was christened the Castle of the Angel and turned into a fortress by a succession of beleaguered popes.
Il passetto,
a passageway, links the papal palace to the fortress so that a pope under siege could escape capture by retreating to Castel Sant'Angelo.

Because they stir feelings of
pietà,
or pity, images of Mary holding the body of her crucified son are called pietàs.

The popes issued three types of missives: encyclicals, pastoral letters on a serious topic of concern;
brevi,
informal, “brief” announcements; and bulls, formal proclamations stamped with the official papal bull, or seal.

The money covered new windows, supplies of timber and beaten gold, and wages.

There is some indication that Julius also consulted Fra Giovanni Giocondo da Verona, reputedly the finest architectural engineer of the day, who was working in Paris in 1505. A sketch in the Uffizi is annotated “Fra Giocondo's opinion.”