  About the Artwork
  
  
  This is the only surviving sculptural sketch for the Chair of Saint Peter, the focal point of the apse of Saint Peter’s basilica in Rome. Bernini designed a magnificent gilded bronze throne as a shrine to encase the most venerated relic in the Vatican, the chair from which, by tradition, Saint Peter himself had preached. The reliefs on this model refer to the most significant moments in the life of Saint Peter: on the back is Jesus’s charge to Peter, “Feed my Sheep”; on the left side, the giving of the keys to Peter; on the right, the washing of the disciples’ feet; and, below the seat, the miraculous draft of fishes. In April 1658 Bernini brought this terracotta model to his patron, Pope Alexander VII. The project represents the crowning achievement of Bernini’s career.
  
  
  Title
  Chair of St. Peter
  
  
  Artwork Date
  1658
  
  Artist
  Giovanni 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.
  
  
  
  
  ----------
  
  
  Medium
  Terracotta
  
  
  Dimensions
  Overall: 23  × 11 1/2  × 11 inches (58.4 × 29.2 × 27.9 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Sculpture
  
  
  Department
  European Sculpture and Dec Arts
  
  
  Credit
  Founders Society Purchase, Ralph Harman 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’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—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  52.220
  
  
  Copyright
  Public Domain
