~ standing in a space ~ Saint Peter's Basilica ~ Pieta & Baldachin

~ my personal snips from a 2018 visit ~

... ~ standing in a space ~ ... 

The Pietà 

~ look up ~ 

~ look forward ~ 

~ pause ~ shuffle ~ pass ~

~ surreal ~ yet tactile ~

... ~ standing in a space ~ ... 

Baldacchino di San Pietro, L'Altare di Bernini

~ pause ~ shuffle ~ pass ~

~ surreal ~ yet tactile ~

... ~ standing in a space ~ ... 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet%C3%A0_(Michelangelo)

St. Peter's Pieta

The Pietà (Italian: [pjeˈta]; English: "the Pity"; 1498–1499) is a work of Renaissance sculpture by Michelangelo Buonarroti, housed in St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City. It is the first of a number of works of the same theme by the artist. The statue was commissioned for the French Cardinal Jean de Bilhères, who was the French ambassador in Rome. The sculpture, in Carrara marble, was made for the cardinal's funeral monument, but was moved to its current location, the first chapel on the north side after the entrance of the basilica, in the 18th century.[1] It is the only piece Michelangelo ever signed. It is also the only known sculpture created by a prominent name from the Renaissance era to be installed in St. Peter's Basilica that was accepted by the Chapter of St. Peter. [2]

This famous work of art depicts the body of Jesus on the lap of his mother Mary after the Crucifixion. Michelangelo's interpretation of the Pietà is unprecedented in Italian sculpture.[3] It is an important work as it balances the Renaissance ideals of classical beauty with naturalism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter%27s_Baldachin

St. Peter's Baldachin 

Italian: Baldacchino di San Pietro, L'Altare di Bernini

is a large Baroque sculpted bronze canopy, technically called a ciborium or baldachin, over the high altar of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the city-state and papal enclave surrounded by Rome, Italy. The baldachin is at the center of the crossing, and directly under the dome of the basilica. Designed by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini, it was intended to mark, in a monumental way, the place of Saint Peter's tomb underneath. Under its canopy is the high altar of the basilica. Commissioned by Pope Urban VIII, the work began in 1623 and ended in 1634.[1] The baldachin acts as a visual focus within the basilica; it is itself a very large structure and forms a visual mediation between the enormous scale of the building and the human scale of the people officiating at the religious ceremonies at the papal altar beneath its canopy.