OSHER 518 - St. Peter's, Rome

In 1502, Pope Julius II got tired of having rain trickling down his collar when he celebrated Mass. The cause? A badly leaking roof. The remedy? Replace the small, decrepit basilica, nearly 1200 years old. Julius, the Warrior Pope, was just the man to raise the new roof. He called on the greatest artists and architects of his time, among them Bramante, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Antonio de Sangallo the Younger. Julius's dreams were not fulfilled until 1626, when New St. Peter's was consecrated. The story of the building of New St. Peter's is as monumental as the building itself, and is the focus of this course.