Michelangelo’s Pietà shines again in Saint Peter’s Basilica

Vatican News

As part of the jubilee works undertaken by the Fabbrica di San Pietro, the organization managing St. Peter’s Basilica, the protective glass of the chapel housing Michelangelo’s Pietà was replaced. The old glass installed in 1973 was designed to protect the sculpture, which had been damaged by a man’s hammer blows on May 21, 1972. The new protection, described in a press release from the Fabbrica di San Pietro, includes a system with a high-tech anchoring system consisting of nine shatterproof and bulletproof panes of the highest quality and transparency, designed by a team of Italian experts after an in-depth study.

The replacement took just under six months and aims to provide pilgrims and visitors with the best possible view of the Marian icon, while providing enhanced security. Once the scaffolding is removed, the sculpture is once again fully visible in all its glory. “In today’s very delicate global geopolitical context,” declared Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, Archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica and President of the Fabbrica di San Pietro, “the faithful can once again contemplate the Holy Mother who offers to humanity the Son of God, taken down from the Cross and alive by the power of the Resurrection, the offering of the Virgin Mary opens the way to the reconciliation of hearts and the construction of paths of fraternity and peace.

Upgrades

The replacement of the window, fifty years after its installation, proved necessary both for aesthetic reasons due to the natural opacification of the material and for structural reasons. “The project involved not only the use of more transparent sheets but also mechanically superior sheets,” explained engineer Alberto Capitanucci, head of the technical office of Fabbrica di San Pietro. “The thickness adopted is 24.5 millimeters, compared to the original 19 millimeters (11 millimeters for the upper part). The sheets are not only superimposed but also thermally hardened. They can withstand up to 26 hammer blows/ ax (close to P6B according to EN 356) and offer bullet resistance beyond BR2/S level (EN 1063), meaning they can withstand attacks from caliber pistols 9 mm In total, the stained glass window, including the glass panels and the steel structural elements incorporating them, covers an area of ​​approximately 50 square meters, weighs 3,400 kilograms and is designed to withstand major environmental forces. , such as pressure and vacuum forces acting on the entire surface, seismic activity and crowd pressure on the balustrade, all with significant safety margins. The intervention combines greater visibility with. enhanced security.

Thanks to the benefactors

The project was designed, carried out and financed thanks to donations from a group of entrepreneurs and professionals from the Italian region of Piedmont. Donors included Banca Sella – Sanlorenzo Spa, Brenntag Spa, Inalpi Spa, Costruzioni Generali Gilardi Spa, MdM Srl – Studio Miroglio and Lupica Associati Architects, Romoli Venturi & Partners, in collaboration with Oxlip, Sagep Editori, Magon Sistemi Spa, Mollo Noleggio . , and with the patronage of Confindustria Piemonte.

New lighting

Light is the key element in this valorization work. The Pietà sculpture group and the entire chapel have been equipped with a new modern lighting system, completely renewed with latest generation technologies and components. The Italian company iGuzzini, which initially designed and produced the lighting system in 2017, donated the new luminaires, with a non-invasive design, installed after careful studies on the lighting of spaces and environments.

Continued renovation

Thanks to the scaffolding erected for the installation of the large stained glass window, the Fabbrica di San Pietro also carried out a series of consolidation and restoration works on the frescoed surfaces of the Chapel of the Pietà (one of the few remaining in the Basilica) , created by the painter Giovanni Lanfranco between 1629 and 1632. The safety of the arched stained glass window at the back of the chapel was also ensured.

The Pietà chapel

The central theme of the entire decorative cycle of the Pietà Chapel is the exaltation of the Cross and its saving power. Until the mid-18th century, the chapel was dedicated to the Crucifix, as a wooden crucifix was once housed there, now located in the Chapel of the Most Holy Sacrament. The vault features the only frescoes in St. Peter’s Basilica, executed by Giovanni Lanfranco (1582-1647) between 1629 and 1632. The entire vault is decorated with episodes from the Passion of Christ, the central point being the exaltation of the Holy Cross. , surrounded by a whirlwind of angels. This central representation is complemented by painted panels representing episodes from the Passion of Christ, rendered with striking realism.

Michelangelo’s Pietà

The marble group depicting the Sorrowful Mother, who in her youthful purity tenderly cradles her dead Son, was sculpted by Michelangelo Buonarroti in 1498-99, when he was barely 23 years old, for the tomb of Cardinal John of Bilhères-Lagraulas, which was originally located in the chapel of Santa Petronilla, next to the old basilica. The inscription on the ribbon descending from the shoulder of the Virgin says: “michael āgelvs bonarotvs florent facieba” (made by Michelangelo Bonarroti of Florence), the only work signed by the artist. On December 3, 1749, the statue was placed in front of a marble crucifix on the altar of this chapel, where it remained exposed for the devotion of the faithful, except for a few months in 1964-1965, when it did a unique and unique work. unique journey across the ocean for the New York World’s Fair. On May 21, 1972, following the tragic attack which damaged the left arm and face of the Virgin, the statue, expertly restored, was protected by the large window, now replaced.