RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Vatican
Crucifixion of St. Peter and Conversion of St. Paul —and serving as the parish church for the 2,000 or more persons lodged in the Vatican. Through the Sala Ducale and Sala Regia the pope and cardinals pass to St. Peter’s, a staircase behind the Sistine Chapel leading from the palace to the church, while off the Sala Regia (so named because the pope there received ambassadors from foreign princes) opens a gallery containing the Leonine Chapel, with windows opening on the right into St. Peter’s and on the left into the piazza of the same church. Here the newly chosen pontiff gives his first papal blessing not only to the faithful, but to all the world; and in this same chapel (hence called also Capella della Beatificazione) are announced beatifications and canonizations. ’
To the right of the group of buildings thus far considered, and enclosing the Cortile Belvedere as far as the magnificent Sala Sistina (the great hall of the famous Vatican library), are the gallery of inscriptions on the one hand, and the Sala delle Nozze Aldobrandini (with a fine collection of Roman frescoes), the Hall of Papyri (mostly from Ravenna, from the sixth to the eighth centuries), the terra-cotta room, the Christian Museum (with valuable relics from the catacombs), the Hall of Aristides, the Hall of the Obelisk, and the Hall of the Bonaventura. The Sala Sistina, cutting off the Cortile del Belvedere to the right, and with the Hall
of Manuscripts at one end, opposite 3. Libraries the entrance, is the great repository of and the famous collection of manuscripts;
Museums. and on the floor beneath, in the Leo-
nine Library, is the papal collection of printed books. This world-renowned library owes its inception mainly to Nicholas V. (1447-55), while Sixtus V. (1585-90) gave it a permanent endowment, after Sixtus VI. (1471-84) had already still further increased its store of treasures. In the course of its history the library, the manuscripts alone of which number over 35,000, bas absorbed many other collections, among them the Palatine library (presented by Maximilian of Bavaria in 1621), the Bibliotheca Ottoboniana (added in 1746, and including the collection which had heen bequeathed to the Ottoboni collection in 1690 by the convert Queen Christina of Sweden, who thus restored to the Roman Church the treasures taken by her father, Gustavus Adolphus), the library of Cardinal Mai (given by Pius IX. in 1856), and the Barberini library (purchased by Leo XIII. in 1902). Beyond these accessory libraries, which have rooms of their own, is the Museum of Pagan Antiquities (Museo Profano), established by Pius VI. (1775-99)
to counterbalance the Christian Museum, already |
mentioned, which was established by Benedict XIV. (1740-58). The entire opposite wing, separated from the rooms just enumerated by the Giardino della Pigna (the pigna, or bronze cone from the atrium of Old St. Peter’s, occupying a position at its extreme right), is devoted to the Museo Chiaramonti, which consists of a magnificent collection of sculpture gathered by Pius VII. (1800-23), who also gave the Vatican not only the Gallery of Inscriptions (Galleria Lapidaria) and the Braecio Nuovo, forming the left boundary of the Giardino
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della Pigna and containing another rich collection of sculpture, but also the Egyptian Museum, at the extreme right of the same Giardino, above which is the valuable collection of the Etruscan Museum. In this same portion of the Vatican are located, among others, the Gallery of Statues, the Cabinet of Masks, the Hall of Busts, and the Galleries of Tapestries, Candelabras, and Maps.
In addition mention should be made of the archives (now in a room facing the Vatican gardens), of the Vatican press (occupying a position between
the Sala Sistina and the Braccio Nu-
4. Minor ovo), of the workshops of mosaics and Portions tapestries, and of the treasury of the
and Sistine Chapel, situated just behind Gardens. that chapel, and filled with interesting
personal mementos of pontiffs, the collection still valuable, even though Napoleon, one of the many who have tried to carry off the richest treasures of the popes, robbed it of all its gems and gold. One part properly within the Vatican precincts no longer belongs to the pope—the mint, which was seized by the Italian kingdom. And allusion should also be made to the gardens of the Vatican, only a few acres in area, and somewhat frigidly classic, although the effect is relieved by the fine Casino of Pius IV. (also called the Casino Borromeo), built by Pirro Ligorio in 1560.
Within the precincts of the Vatican is the famous Church of St. Peter (officially known as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano), the largest church in the world. The ground plan is that of a Latin cross, 6134 feet long and 4464 feet wide, with a nave 1524 feet high and 873 feet wide, while the height to the
top of the cross on the dome is 448 5. Church of feet. The style of architecture is St. Peter. pseudo-Roman, and the effect of the interior is unfortunately marred by strong contrasts of light and shadow, and the true proportions are somewhat dwarfed; but notwithstanding these defects the church remains one of the noblest in Christendom. The approach is through the Piazza di San Pietro, enclosed by neoclassic colonnades, and with a famous Egyptian obelisk in the center; still the best view of the church is not obtained here, but from the Vatican gardens. In its present form the Church of St. Peter owes its origin chiefly to Nicholas V., but the first pope really to start the new structure was Julius II., his architect being ‘Bramante, who was succeeded by Raffael; he was followed, in 1546, by Michelangelo, who was in charge until his death in 1564. The cupola was completed about 1590, and the church was dedicated in 1626, after Carlo Maderna had made the final changes involved in transforming the ground plan from a Greek to a Latin cross soon after 1605, his work being marred by the unfortunate front on the Piazza di San Pietro. The interior of the church contains, besides the high altar, with a fine bronze baldachino ninety-five feet high, a large number of altars, shrines, tombs, statues, fonts, ete.
Beneath the present church are the remains of old St. Peter’s—the old and new crypts (Grotte Vecchie and Grotte Nuove). The former contains, as already noted, portions of the basilica erected by
Vatican Vatican Council