12 ARCHITECTS OF ST.

PETER’S BASILICA AND THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS

SAINT PETER'S BASILICA IS A LATE-RENAISSANCE CHURCH IN VATICAN CITY. IT'S EUROPE'S

LARGEST CHURCH. IT'S THE SECOND CHURCH BUILT ABOVE SAINT PETER'S TOMB (CRYPT).
ST. PETER'S IS A CROSS-SHAPED BUILDING. SINCE THE 4TH CENTURY, A CHURCH HAS STOOD
HERE. THE CURRENT BASILICA WAS BUILT OVER THE OLD CONSTANTINIAN BASILICA
BETWEEN 1506 AND 1626. IT'S THE MOST ARCHITECTURALLY SIGNIFICANT BUILDING OF ITS
DAY.

1. DONATO BRAMANTE
THE ARCHITECT WHO INTRODUCED THE HIGH RENAISSANCE STYLE IN
ARCHITECTURE. IN ROME, BRAMANTE SERVED AS PRINCIPAL PLANNER OF POPE JULIUS
II’S COMPREHENSIVE PROJECT FOR REBUILDING THE CITY. ST. PETER’S BASILICA, OF
WHICH HE WAS THE CHIEF ARCHITECT, WAS BEGUN IN 1506. HE PROPOSED A GREEK
CROSS PLAN WITH A DOME LARGER THAN THE PANTHEON.

2. GIULIANO DA SANGALLO
WAS AN ARCHITECT, SCULPTOR, AND MILITARY ENGINEER WHOSE MASTERPIECE, A
CHURCH OF GREEK-CROSS PLAN, SANTA MARIA DELLE CARCERI IN PRATO, WAS
STRONGLY INFLUENCED BY FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI. DONATO BRAMANTE SUPERSEDED
GIULIANO IN ROME, WHERE HE DESIGNED ST. PETER'S BASILICA. HE EXTENDED AND
REFINED BRAMANTE'S PERISTYLE, REINFORCING IT AND CREATING ARCHED OPENINGS
AT THE BASE.

3. FRA GIOCONDO
FRA GIOCONDO WORKED ON FORTIFICATIONS AND CIVIC-ENGINEERING PROJECTS IN
VENICE, TREVISO, AND PADUA BEFORE BEING CALLED TO ROME BY POPE LEO X IN 1513
TO HELP GIULIANO DA SANGALLO AND RAPHAEL BUILD ST. PETER'S. THE STRUCTURE'S
FOUNDATION PIERS WERE SHIFTING AND CRACKING, REQUIRING HIS STATICS
EXPERTISE.

4. RAFFAELLO SANZIO
RAPHAEL WAS AN ACCOMPLISHED ARCHITECT AS WELL AS PAINTER. SINCE HE WAS
POPE LEO X’S BEST FRIEND, HE WAS GIVEN THE COMMISSION TO DESIGN ST. PETER’S
CATHEDRAL, BUT IT WAS NEVER CARRIED OUT. HE PROPOSED A ROMAN CROSS LAYOUT
WITH A SHORT PRONAOS AND A FACADE. THE MAJOR CHANGE IN HIS PLAN IS A FIVE-BAY
NAVE WITH APSIDAL CHAPELS ON EACH SIDE.

5. BALDASSARE PERUZZI
SIENESE ARCHITECT AND PAINTER, ONE OF THE EARLIEST ARTISTS TO ATTEMPT
ILLUSIONIST ARCHITECTURAL PAINTING (QUADRATURA), THE EXTENSION OF REAL
ARCHITECTURE INTO IMAGINARY SPACE. PERUZZI BECAME ONE OF ST. PETER'S
ARCHITECTS AFTER RAPHAEL'S DEATH IN 1520. HE KEPT THE INTERIOR LAYOUT OF THE
THREE MAIN APSES AS RAPHAEL HAD PROPOSED, BUT OTHERWISE REVERTED TO THE
GREEK CROSS DESIGN AND OTHER ASPECTS OF BRAMANTE.

6. ANTONIO DA SANGALLO THE YOUNGER

WAS THE MOST INFLUENTIAL ARCHITECT OF HIS TIME. ANTONIO WORKED ON ST.
PETER’S, FIRST AS BRAMANTE’S ASSISTANT AND IN 1520 AS CHIEF ARCHITECT. MAIN
PRACTICAL CONTRIBUTION WAS TO STRENGTHEN BRAMANTE'S PIERS WHICH HAD
BEGUN TO CRACK.
7. MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI
ITALIAN RENAISSANCE SCULPTOR, PAINTER, ARCHITECT, AND POET WHO SHAPED
WESTERN ART. MICHELANGELO WORKED ON MANY PROJECTS STARTED BY OTHERS,
INCLUDING ST. PETER'S BASILICA IN ROME. HE WENT BACK TO BRAMANTE'S ORIGINAL
PLAN AND TRANSFORMED ITS INTRICATE DETAILS INTO A MASSIVE, UNIFIED WHOLE. HE
ALSO DESIGNED THE DOME, AMONG OTHER THINGS.

8. GIACOMO DELLA PORTA

ITALIAN ARCHITECT WHOSE WORK TRANSITIONS FROM MANNERISM TO BAROQUE. HE
WAS THE PROMINENT ROMAN ARCHITECT IN THE 16TH CENTURY AND CONTRIBUTED TO
SEVERAL NOTABLE PROJECTS. DELLA PORTA GAVE THE DOME OF ST. PETER'S A TALLER,
MORE POINTED PROFILE THAN MICHELANGELO PLANNED; IT BECAME THE PROTOTYPE
OF THE BAROQUE DOME.

9. DOMENICO FONTANA
ITALIAN ARCHITECT WHO WORKED ON ST. PETER’S BASILICA AND OTHER FAMOUS
BUILDINGS OF ROME AND NAPLES. HE FINISHED ST. PETER'S DOME FROM
MICHELANGELO'S MODEL ALONGSIDE GIACOMO DELLA PORTA.

10. JACOPO BAROZZI DA VIGNOLA

ARCHITECT WHO DOMINATED ITALIAN MANNERIST ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND
STYLISTICALLY ANTICIPATED THE BAROQUE. A WATCHDOG APPOINTED BY POPE PIUS V
TO SEE THAT MICHELANGELO'S IDEAS WERE FOLLOWED OUT EXACTLY. HE ADDED SIDE
CUPOLA.

11. CARLO MADERNO

EARLY 17TH-CENTURY ROMAN ARCHITECT WHO SET THE STYLE FOR BAROQUE. HIS
FIRST IMPORTANT ROMAN WORK, SANTA SUSANNA, THAT LED TO HIS APPOINTMENT AS
SAINT PETER'S ARCHITECT IN 1603. HE CREATED THE NAVE AND A NEW FACADE FOR
SAINT PETER'S IN 1607 AND BECAME POPE PAUL V'S ARCHITECT. HE MADE THE MOST
SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION SINCE MICHELANGELO, BECAUSE HE PULLED DOWN THE REMAINING
PARTS OF OLD ST. PETER'S AND PROCEEDED TO TRANSFORM MICHELANGELO'S CENTRALIZED
GREEK-CROSS DESIGN INTO A LATIN CROSS WITH A LONG NAVE.

12. GIAN LORENZO BERNINI

WAS AN ITALIAN SCULPTOR AND ARCHITECT. HE WAS REGARDED AS THE BEST
SCULPTOR AND ARCHITECT OF THE BAROQUE ERA. THE BALDACCHINO, THE CHAPEL OF
THE SACRAMENT, THE PLAN FOR THE NICHES AND LOGGIAS IN THE PILLARS OF THE
DOME, THE CHAIR OF ST. PETER, AND THE MAGNIFICENT COLONNADE OUTSIDE THE
BASILICA ARE AMONG BERNINI'S ACHIEVEMENTS AT ST. PETER'S.
 BRAMANTE’S PLAN
MICHELANGELO’S PLAN

RAPHAEL’S PLAN
MADERNO’S PLAN

Https://www.slideshare.net/khushboosood/st-peters-basilica-
34405923

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teawipqu5cq&ab_channel=arkitektofiles

https://www.academia.edu/19560256/72658385_12_architects_st_peter

https://www.britannica.com/biography