1506 - High - Cornerstone is laid for St. Peter's Basilica
For over 1000 years, the center of the Catholic church was the city of Rome, where the
apostle Peter had been crucified, upside down, around 67AD. The site of his burial was the central
point of a church called home by Peter's successors. The original St. Peter's Basilica had been built by Constantine in the 4th century and was showing its age. The time was deemed appropriate to begin the replacement of the venerable basilica with one taking advantage of the latest in art and architecture.
There had been previous investigations into replacing the church, but it wasn't until Julius II that significant efforts really began. Michaelangelo Buonarotti had been asked to start on planning Julius' tomb, without regard to cost. The resulting plans included more than 40 different statues (including Moses) in a massive design that might have been placed within the old basilica. Instead, though, Julius resolved to rebuild the church - and also had Michealangelo design a smaller tomb. (The tomb, much reduced in scope, would end up in a different church, San Pietro en Vincoli.)
"Basilica di San Pietro 1450" by H.W. Brewer (1836 – 1903)
Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
There had been previous investigations into replacing the church, but it wasn't until Julius II that significant efforts really began. Michaelangelo Buonarotti had been asked to start on planning Julius' tomb, without regard to cost. The resulting plans included more than 40 different statues (including Moses) in a massive design that might have been placed within the old basilica. Instead, though, Julius resolved to rebuild the church - and also had Michealangelo design a smaller tomb. (The tomb, much reduced in scope, would end up in a different church, San Pietro en Vincoli.)
In any case it was soon determined that the basilica would be rebuilt. Julius laid the cornerstone on April 17, 1506, attended by (among others) Cesare Borgia and Niccola Machiavelli. Included with the stone was an urn containing 12 medals, one for each of the apostles. The architect would be Donato Brumante, although many years later Michaelangelo would be brought in to handle the implementation of the dome, which would result in his unifying diverse design concepts from Brumante, Raphael, and others.
Julius' successor, Leo X, was an enthusiastic patron of the arts and did much to continue construction, which would ultimately require the next 120 years. He also introduced a new fund raising tool. The Basilica being a holy project, glorious to God, any money collected for it could be considered a good work on its face. As such, the offering of a freedom from purgatory would certainly be a reasonably expected reward. Surely, exchanging such indulgences for the next world for the wealth of this one would be a blessing.
Julius' successor, Leo X, was an enthusiastic patron of the arts and did much to continue construction, which would ultimately require the next 120 years. He also introduced a new fund raising tool. The Basilica being a holy project, glorious to God, any money collected for it could be considered a good work on its face. As such, the offering of a freedom from purgatory would certainly be a reasonably expected reward. Surely, exchanging such indulgences for the next world for the wealth of this one would be a blessing.
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