Continuing our conversation on Italian Baroque art, we spent a large portion of today’s class discussing the works of Bernini. Bernini is most famous for his sculptures, but he was also an architect, painter, playwright, and stage designer, and elements from all these fields are seen in his art. Bernini worked for several popes, cardinals, and bishops, but his most important papal project was aiding in the finishing of St. Peters Basilica, a construction project that had been going on since the Renaissance.
The Baldacchino is a structure built at the central point of the cross plan of the basilica. The structure serves as a decorative canopy over the altar where mass would be performed, but the structure not only serves as decoration but is also a grave marker. Undernether where this structure sits is where St. Peter was buried, so this structure serves to also honor the memory of St. Peter, to whom the church is dedicated. The previous monument to mark St. Peter’s tomb included twisted columns, so Bernini chose to include those in his new design as well. On the upper ledge of the canopy are two putti, one holding the papal tiara and the other holding a set of keys. The papal tiara is the symbol of the pope and the keys represent St. Peter, who is said to have been given the keys to heaven, so both these symbols reinforce the authority of the pope. Throughout the structure are images of bees which reference the coat of arms of the Barberini family which Pope Urban VIII, who commissioned this work, is from.