  
  About the Artwork
  
  
  In 1657, Pope Alexander VII recorded in his diary that he had spoken with the architect and sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who had agreed to design a new altar to hold the relic of the Chair of Saint Peter. This wooden chair was believed to be the throne of Saint Peter, the first Bishop of Rome. Bernini initially estimated the project would take at least two years, but he spent almost a decade &acirc;&#128;&#148; from 1657 to 1666 &acirc;&#128;&#148; designing and completing the monumental altar in St. Peter&acirc;&#128;&#153;s Basilica, Rome.
An unidentified artist working in Bernini&acirc;&#128;&#153;s studio created this detailed drawing for presentation and design approval between March 1657 and April 1658. Soon thereafter, Bernini and his workshop made a three-dimensional terracotta model, now in the Detroit Institute of Arts&acirc;&#128;&#153; collection.
  
  
  Title
  Study for St. Peter's 'Cattedra'
  
  
  Artwork Date
  1658
  
  Artist
  Workshop of Gian Lorenzo Bernini
  
  
  
  Life Dates
  1598-1680
  
  
  
  
  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  Italian
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
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  Medium
  Pen and brown ink and wash, heightened with white, over black chalk
  
  
  Dimensions
  Overall: 20 &Atilde;&#151; 13 1/4 inches (50.8 &Atilde;&#151; 33.7 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Drawings
  
  
  Department
  Prints, Drawings &amp; Photographs
  
  
  Credit
  Museum Purchase, Ralph H. Booth Bequest Fund
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum&acirc;&#128;&#153;s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems&acirc;&#128;&#148;no longer assigned&acirc;&#128;&#148;that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  2018.21
  
  
  Copyright
  Public Domain
  
  
  
