The definitive project
In 1657 the first project was replaced by another with porticos without arches that formed a wide oval plaza and shortly after by another with colonnades with architraves. The portico responded in part to the liturgical requirement of the Corpus Christi procession, led by the pope through the neighboring streets of the Borgo and protected by large baldachins.[11] Furthermore, the height of the portico, without any construction on it, would not prevent the people from seeing the palace in which the pope resides or him from seeing and blessing them.
The intervention of Pope Alexander VII Chigi was decisive, allowing objections regarding the possible financial returns from the possibility of constructing buildings around the square to be overcome. When rethinking the project, Bernini had to juggle between the Pope himself and the prelates of the Factory, overcoming intrigues and oppositions.
In front of the façade Bernini contemplated a trapezoid-shaped space, the "straight square", whose shape was obtained by symmetrically turning the direction of Via Alessandrina with respect to the axis of the basilica. The divergence between the wings makes the back wall appear closer, and at the same time attempts to mediate between the need to make the axis of the basilica predominate in the square (underlined by the obelisk) and in the city the axis of the Via Alessandrina, centered around the bronze door.
Due to its trapezoid shape, one can also hypothesize an extrabiblical reference to Ariel "Ariel (angel)") ("lion of God"), because the lion was schematized with a trapezoid due to the larger size of its back, as in a trapezoid-shaped courtyard of the Temple of Solomon.
The two rectilinear wings must be detached from the central staircase, with the floor of the new basilica being 3.2 meters higher than the old one, due to the decision to create the "Vatican grottoes." The cornice of the porticoed sections ends exactly at the level of the lower order of the basilica, inserted by Maderno in Michelangelo's giant order. This creates the impression that a single architectural order surrounds the square.
What is the main axis in the city (the Via Alessandrina), in the square becomes the secondary axis, so much so that the Ferrabosco Tower, which marked the entrance to the Vatican palaces in correspondence with that urban axis, was demolished. Inevitably, Bernini, for the first time in the history of the square, imposes the axis of the basilica, but preserves within it the multi-centennial axis of the Borgo Nuovo, although completely hidden: neither the design of the pavement nor any sculptural work reveals it in any way, but nothing interrupts it, and the fountain in the northern exedra of the square is tangent to this route, precisely so as not to interrupt it. However, having to accept the obelisk as the center of the new square, Bernini had to rotate the main axis of the oval to make it parallel to the façade, thus giving a noticeable deformation to the trapezoid-shaped part.
Initially Bernini contemplated a limited development of the square so that it did not occupy any other area besides the "big block" and to respect the facades of the houses that faced it, with the intention of demonstrating the clear insufficiency of the proposal, but with the demolitions, an inevitable consequence of the definitive project, the Borgo neighborhood will change radically. Until then its houses extended beyond the apse of Saint Peter on the southern side, between it and the walls, but the demolitions necessary for the square divided it almost in half. The transformation of the Borgo later also corresponded to a change in the population: the neighborhood went from poor to aristocratic, and probably also became more Roman.
Bernini chose the oval because it was not an ellipse, a more difficult and unusual design and construction in religious architecture, and because the oval is the union of two semicircles that intersect at their respective centers joined by two arcs of circumference, a geometric figure appreciated by the Church due to its cosmological implications. The idea of the oval of Bernini and Alexander VII, in strong contrast to the longitudinal basilica, served to sustain the thrust of the sequence formed by the church and its parvis. Bernini maintained that "the church of Saint Peter, almost the mother of all the others, should have a porch that maternally received with open arms Catholics to confirm them in the faith, heretics to reunite them with the Church, and infidels to enlighten them toward the true faith," thus giving an accurate image of his intervention, still frequently recognized and accepted today.
However, the plaza had to be built on a slope, on which the position of the obelisk constituted a level that could not be modified. In the primitive solution with arcades it was thought that the unevenness would be absorbed by the basement, leaving the horizontal architectural order. In the final solution, the colonnade runs along an imperceptibly inclined plane, raised by three uniform steps: its texture, formed by equal intercolumnia, is deformed in the shape of a parallelogram from the floor to the ceiling.
The two semicircular wings of the colonnade are connected to the porch of the basilica by two arms or closed corridors, with windows and pilasters. The southern arm is currently used as an exhibition venue and is commonly called the "Arm of Charlemagne" because it is attached to the final part of the portico of the basilica, where the equestrian statue of said Christian emperor is located. The northern arm is called "Constantine's arm" and is famous for housing the Scala Regia.[12].
The choice of the "triple portico" was linked to processional use, but was also a theme reminiscent of the Old Testament, where the courtyard of the Temple of God was described by Ezekiel "Ezekiel (prophet)") as "porticus incta portici triplici" (Ez. 42, 3). Finally, it could also evoke the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Furthermore, the concavity of the square produces the "theater effect": when it is full of people, it allows the crowd to see themselves, as in a cavea.
The east façade of the New Palace (the papal residence) is located in one of the radii of the northern hemicycle, and the free front part (that facing east) of the northern hemicycle is parallel to the southern façade of the New Palace.[13] The central corridor is interrupted by projections with protruding columns, which break the linearity of the hemicycle; Behind it there are pilasters, but in the center of the hemicycle the interior of the hallway is shortened, unlike the perfectly aligned columns. With the position of the fountains, which stand between the observer and the avant-corps, Bernini hides the incongruity (the northern fountain had been renovated by Maderno, the "twin" one to the south was made by himself, together with Matthia De' Rossi).
The long list of 162 statues of saints—each corresponding to a column, as in many triumphal columns—represents the “ecclesia triumphans” in relation to the “ecclesia militans,” that is, the crowd of faithful praying in the square. The dimensions of the sculptures – made by Bernini's collaborators under his supervision, with real models tested in the square – are exactly half those of the basilica's façade, representing the twelve apostles and a Jesus made by Bernini (whose cross is aligned with the basilica's dome and the obelisk).
The enormous and complex modification of the urban form, due to the demolition of the last block between Via Alessandrina and the Borgo Vecchio - interrupting its continuity - is put to use on an architectural scale. The western part is the recapitulation of the urban axis and the place where it meets the architectural axis, which stops and cannot be extended into the urban dimension.
The contribution of Piazza Rusticucci to the success of the complex was decisive: it not only created the necessary distance to appreciate the dome above the façade, but also allowed one to contemplate the square and the portico and take advantage of this front space closely linked to the rest. The square was very off-center with respect to San Pedro, but towards the bronze door. After the demolitions of Piacentini it was replaced by the symmetrical Piazza Pio XII, where the Via della Conciliazione ends.
The complex shape of the square made it difficult to align the columns and establish order. The bases must also be deformed along the circumferential arc, as should the capitals if the Ionic or Corinthian order had been used. The Doric was therefore the order most appropriate to the geometry of the square, used by simplifying the entablature, without metopes or triglyphs, as was proposed in Vignola's theoretical work. The Doric order was also considered a heroic order appropriate to the figure of Saint Peter, as shown by the martyrium of the temple of San Pietro in Montorio by Bramante.
En realidad el gran orden continuo de la plaza es dórico en los soportes verticales —columnas, pilastras y lesenas— y esencialmente jónico (sin triglifos) en el entablamento, que era usado a menudo para marcar volúmenes curvilíneos, como —por ejemplo— el entablamento de la primera planta del Coliseo. Relativamente bajo y muy austero, el dórico proporcionaba un contraste simple y atractivo («contrapuesto» en palabras de Bernini), que engrandecería la altura de la fachada y aumentaría la magnificencia del orden corintio de la fachada.
The curved shape implies, however, the need to gradually increase the diameter of the columns from the first to the fourth row to compensate for the increase in the intercolumniation. This means that the proportions of the slender columns and intercolumnia on the interior side of the square are close to those of the Corinthian, while on the exterior – more voluminous – they are compatible with those of the Doric; The change in proportions would have been evident especially in the triglyphs, which were eliminated precisely for this reason.
A controversial issue was the union between the new courtly scene and the pre-existing urban landscape. Bernini proposed a central "third arm" of the colonnade, separated from the sides enough so as not to encroach on the visual line between the Borgo Nuovo and the bronze door. Initially he proposed following the oval shape of the square (making its perception clearer), but later he arrived at a rectilinear version, which he later wanted to push back towards the Borgo. However, the Congregation, despite deciding to demolish the last block of the Borgo Nuovo, postponed any work for economic reasons. Shortly afterwards, after the death of Alexander VII, the possibility of this addition definitively disappeared: the mediation between the scale of Bramante's monument and the tiny scale of the city would not be marked by any architectural body.
The setting of the square is also presented obliquely in most of the old engravings and photographs. It is this awareness of union with the city that prevented for centuries the realization of the numerous projects for the demolition of the "spina" of the Borgo (the area between the Borgo Santo Spirito and the Borgo Sant'Angelo, where the Via della Conciliazione is currently located): still in 1882 the City Council of Rome decided to suspend the execution of the regulatory plan of 1881 in this area "for aesthetic reasons, there being doubts about whether this demolition could damage the effect from St. Peter's Square.
On September 10, 1586, Pope Sixtus V erected an Egyptian obelisk in the center of St. Peter's Square, where the ancient Circus of Nero was located. The obelisk is a piece of Aswan red granite from Egypt and is 25.5 meters high. It was brought from Egypt in the year 37 by Emperor Caligula and used in Nero's Circus in ancient Rome.
In 1817, the obelisk was converted into a sundial. Several marble discs were placed on the ground around the square forming a compass rose and a meridian. The meridian shows, on the one hand, the hours of the day according to the position of the sun and, on the other, the points that indicate the winter and summer solstices.
In the year 1490, during the pontificate of Innocent VIII, when the colonnade did not yet exist and therefore the square was not symmetrical as it is now, the first fountain, the right one, was built in a different position from the current one.
This fountain was restored in 1501 by the architect Alberto da Piacenza. Ornamental changes were made, such as adding a third marble basin at the top, from which four bronze ox heads were to appear and throw water into the middle basin. These heads were removed after the death of Alexander VI.
In February 1614, Pope Paul V ordered the construction of some fountains in the Borgo neighborhood and the renovation of the fountain in St. Peter's Square. The works were carried out by Carlo Maderno. The first thing he did was demolish the old fountain of Innocent VIII and build another one in its place. This new fountain was asymmetrical with respect to the façade of the basilica. After the colonnade was built, Bernini had the left fountain built, as well as the right. This left fountain was aligned with the obelisk and with the old fountain. Gian Lorenzo Bernini was finally able to inaugurate the two fountains in June 1677.
"The skill of the architect is known mainly in converting the defects of the place into beauty."[14] Bernini designed his project on all the links that the preceding centuries - and the popes and architects - had transmitted and imposed on him. Only in San Pedro could he work sufficiently in a single context, in successive phases and correcting himself. He thus managed to reorganize an entire area of the city. There are anomalies, only apparent symmetries, unusual solutions, hidden adjustments, abrupt connections frankly accepted, adaptations to the links imposed by pre-existing elements and artifices to mask their irregularity. Bernini does not consider proportions an absolute value but rather a dependent variable in a broader context.
The façade, too developed horizontally, low and wide, could not be raised without damaging the view of the dome. Defined by Bernini as a "crouching" façade, without any noticeable articulation in depth, it was modified in both an aesthetic and functional sense. The staircase in front of the church, as wide as the façade, was limited only to the central part; In front of the two lateral appendages, built as the base of the two incomplete bell towers, Bernini demolished the staircase, excavated the ground and lowered the floor of the square as far as the foundations of the two appendages allowed, bringing it as close as possible to the level of the plane on which the obelisk rests. In the part of the façade that was exposed below the order, he replicated the same plinth that was in the apse area of the basilica.
In this way, the new staircase seems like something added, improving the proportions of the façade. Not only that: on both sides of the staircase, two steps could also be traversed by carriages, and the original difference in level between the planes of the façade and the obelisk was reduced to only six meters, which with the 200 meters distance from the obelisk represents a slope of 3%, and therefore allows for a continuous pavement without steps and correct collection of rainwater.