The church was rebuilt on older foundations between 432 and 440, and the article says Sixtus III consecrated it in 439. It was built to house the chains that bound St Peter in Jerusalem, now kept in a reliquary under the main altar. Cardinal Giuliano Della Rovere, later Pope Julius II, carried out major rebuilding from 1471 to 1503.
The infobox names Giuliano da Sangallo as architect, but the text credits him only with the cloister, built from 1493 to 1503. The front portico, added in 1475, is attributed to Baccio Pontelli. The church measures 230 by 130 feet (70 by 40 m). A nave and two aisles end in three apses and are divided by antique Doric columns.
Michelangelo's Moses, completed in 1515, was meant for a much larger funeral monument with 47 statues and became the centerpiece of Julius II's tomb here.
Comments