Bronze statue of St. Peter
The bronze statue of St. Petrus is a bronze statue created around 1300 by Arnolfo di Cambio , which shows the seated Simon Petrus . For centuries it has been one of the most visited and best-known works of art in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome .
Site and presentation
The figure is located on the side facing the central nave on the right side of St. Peter's Basilica on the northeastern crossing pillar . It was not always there; it was only installed there in 1605. In the same year, Pope Paul V had the figure placed on a marble plinth for the first time, which was later modified again in the 18th century, also based on designs by Luigi Vanvitelli , but ultimately executed by Carlo Marchionni in 1757; Today's marble throne in which the saint is depicted also dates from this period.
St. Peter is shown in a sitting position, he is dressed in a tunic and over it with an antique cloak and sandals, but not with a toga . Peter gives a sign of blessing with his right hand and holds the keys to heaven in front of his heart with his left hand, cf. on this Matthew chap. 16, verses 18-19: But I say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the powers of the underworld will not overwhelm it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; What you will bind on earth will also be bound in heaven, and what you will loosen on earth will also be loosened in heaven. The right leg is slightly in front of the left.
A possible model for this antiquing depiction could be an ancient marble sculpture that was created around the 3rd century. It depicts a rhetorician or an ancient philosopher and was only later reworked into a representation of Peter , possibly also by Arnolfo di Cambio himself. This sculpture is now in the center aisle of the Vecchie grotto in the Vatican grottoes below St. Peter's Basilica.
According to legend, the bronze for the statue was cast around by the Capitoline Jupiter , i.e. the figure of Jupiter in the Capitoline Temple . Newer material investigations rule that out.
Of particular importance, also for the attribution to Arnolfo di Cambio, is the shape of the head and face of Peter. The main hair and the whiskers are shown twisted in a helix. The eyes and ears are clearly accentuated.
The figure enjoys particular admiration because touching the right foot is said to bring luck. Accordingly, over the centuries, pilgrims have shrunk the foot so much that it has become almost unrecognizable. A report from 1450 by Maffeo Vegio already reports on this custom, as well as the fact that the figure of Peter was the most visited after the Confessio of St. Peter's Basilica.
At high church festivals, the statue is wrapped in papal robes and crowned with a tiara .
Pillar wall and accompanying structure
The pillar wall behind the figure is adorned with ornamentation made from brocade fabrics based on models . It is not a fabric covering, but a mosaic , created by Virginio Vespignani in 1871. Above the canopy , also created that year, a memorial inscription under a medallion held by putti reminds of Pope Pius IX. He had the longest documented pontificate in church history and in 1871 wanted to remind people that the duration of his pontificate had reached the one that Peter had accepted.
Previous dating and attribution
The older literature, especially of the 18th century, believed to recognize a work of late antiquity in the figure , for example from the 4th or 5th century. This approach referred primarily to the antiquated depiction and iconography of the work, but also to documents whose content has since turned out to be incorrect.
The more recent approach, advocated since the mid-19th century, is based on comparisons of other works by Arnolfo di Cambio. He has always known that his works of art were influenced by the emerging Gothic , but also lastingly by antiquity. For comparison, three works that were certainly by Arnolfo di Cambio were used, which showed that the stylistic similarities, in particular the striking and unusual design of the hair on the head and beard, left almost no doubt as to his authorship.
Modern thermoluminescence dating on the bronze has shown that it was processed around 1300. Another objection to di Cambio's authorship could be refuted by another explanation: The bronzes by Arnolfo di Cambio usually have a slightly roughened surface, which creates a kind of "vibrating effect". In the figure of St. Peter lacks this surface effect. The reason for this is that the figure was cleaned of previously applied layers of paint and smoothed in the process. There are therefore no longer any doubts about the attribution to Arnolfo di Cambio.
literature
- Wolfgang Braunfels : Small Italian Art History . DuMont Buchverlag, Cologne 1984, ISBN 3-7701-1509-0 .
- Walter Buchowiecki: Handbook of the Churches of Rome , 1st volume, Brothers Hollinek publishing house, Vienna 1967.
- Virginia Leonardis: The sculpture from late antiquity to the end of the 14th century, in: Marco Bussagli (Hrsg.): Rome - art & architecture . Könemann, Cologne 1999, pp. 248–297, ISBN 3-8290-2258-1 .
- Ursula Verena Fischer Pace: Art Monuments in Rome . 2nd volume. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1988.
- Benjamin Fourlas: The statuette of Peter in the museum of the Westphalian Wilhelms-Universität Münster and its relation to the bronze statue of Peter in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. In: Boreas 28/29, 2005/2006, pp. 141-168.
- Manfred Wundram (Ed.): Reclams Art Guide, Italy . Volume V. Rome and Latium . Reclam, Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-15-008679-5 .
- Patrick Cassitti / Daniel Berger / Benjamin Fourlas, St Peter in Volders and related base metal figurines resembling the famous statue in the Vatican Basilica , Post-Medieval Archeology 47/2, 2013, 323–358.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Buchowiecki: Handbook of the Churches of Rome , p. 152.
- ↑ a b Leonardis: The sculpture from late antiquity to the end of the 14th century , p. 282.
- ↑ a b c d e Buchowiecki: Handbook of the Churches of Rome , p. 195.
- ^ A b c d e f g Leonardis: The sculpture from late antiquity to the end of the 14th century , p. 283.
- ↑ Ursula Verena Fischer Pace: Kunstdenkmäler in Rom , p. 408.
- ^ Wolfgang Braunfels: Small Italian art history. P. 107.