Privileged High Altar where only a pope can officiate, or Cardinal who has received the permission from the pope. The present altar dates from the period of Pope Clement VIII, who consecrated it in June 1594; inside is preserved, as a holy relic, the altar at which St. Silvester (The Pope who consecrated the church in 323) officiated in the time of the Emperor Constantine. Like all the altars of the early Christian churches, it faces the Orient.
After having enjoyed the general view of the basilica we proceed to visit of the aisles, where all around, as a court of honour to the great prince of the Apostles, are the most important monuments of the successors of St. Peter. For the people who have time, the examination of these monuments offers a very interesting study, as they represent the history of sculpture of about four centuries; but in our modest work we can only call the attention of our readers to the most important ones, remarkable for beauty or historical interest.
Official Rome Guide, Rome walking city Tours.
Entering the North branch of the transept we turn to the left and find on our right:
The tomb of Clement XIII in St. Peter’s Basilica – Rome
The tomb of Clement XIII. The most important papal monument in the church and the masterpiece of Canova, which established the fame of the great artist, and placed him at once above all the greatest sculptors of Europe. The work was completed in eight years and inaugurated in 1795. The pope, a very fine and expressive figure represented in devout prayer, is a miracle of the art of portraiture and of intense expression. On each side are the figure of Religion, holding the cross and the genius extinguishing the torch of the pope’s life of the two lions, the one sleeping is considered to be the best lion ever produced by sculpture.
A little further on, is a mosaic of the famous picture of. St. Michael the Archangel (in St. Peter’s Basilica – Rome), crushing the head of the Devil, by Guido Reni.
Near by is another mosaic representing:
The burial of St. Petronilla (in St. Peter’s Basilica – Rome), by Guercino, the original of which is in the Capitol. Proceeding towards the tribune we see the monument of Clement X, by Rossi and Ercole Ferrara who made the statue of the pope . (1670-1676). Opposite, the mosaic of Peter resuscitating Tabitha from an original by Costanzi.
The Tribune (in St. Peter’s Basilica – Rome), is the work of the versatile genius of Bernini, who placed in it the famous bronze chair supported by the four colossal statues, representing the four fathers of the Church: St. Ambrose and Augustine of the Latin Church and St. Athanasius and St. John Crysostom of the Greek. The chair contains the famous “Cathedra Petri”, mentioned by Prudentius who calls it the Apostolic chair, and said to be the Episcopal Chair of St. Peter and his immediate successor.
According to another tradition, it was the Senatorial Chair of Pudens the Roman senator, friend of St. Peter, and is said to have been used as an Episcopal chair, not only by St. Peter, but by all early successors of the Apostle.
On the right there is the: Monument of Urban the VIII.