The 13 Statues That Crown the Facade of St Peter's Basilica

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Christ the Redeemer by Cristoforo Stati

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The grand facade of St Peter's Basilica is crowned with thirteen colossal stone statues. In the centre stands Christ the Redeemer (6 metres high), and you may be forgiven for assuming that he is flanked by his 12 apostles. However, this is not quite the case. 

The basilica might be dedicated to St Peter, but the 'Prince of the Apostles' is nowhere to be seen atop the facade of the church. The twelfth figure is, in fact, St John the Baptist, who stands in the place of honour on the right side of Christ. 

The statues were executed between 1612 and 1614 by an assortment of sculptors. From left to right they are: St Thaddeus (Carlo Fancelli), St Matthew (Bernardino Cennini), St Philip (Simeon Drouin), St Thomas (Simeon Drouin), St James the Great (Egidio Moretti), St John the Baptist (Simeon Drouin), Christ the Redeemer (Cristoforo Stati), St Andrew (Carlo Fancelli), St John the Evangelist (Antonio Valsoldo), St James the Less (Cristoforo Stati), St Bartholomew (Egidio Moretti), St Simon (Bernardino Cennini), St Matthias (Giuseppe Fontana). 

The facade, which is 114.69 metres (376.3 ft) wide and 45.55 metres (149.4 ft) high, was designed by Carlo Maderno (1556-1629) and built between 1608 and 1612.

The building of the facade was undertaken during the reign of Pope Paul V (r. 1605-21). It is emblazoned with a long inscription, which proclaims, in letters one metre high: IN · HONOREM · PRINCIPIS · APOST · PAVLVS · V · BVRGHESIVS · ROMANVS · PONT · MAX · AN · MDCXII · PONT · VII (In honour of the Prince of Apostles, Paul V, Borghese, Roman, Pontifex Maximus, the year 1612, the seventh of his pontificate), which led one wag to quip, 'That's strange, I thought the church was dedicated to St Peter'. ​

St Peter's Basilica was finally consecrated by Pope Urban VIII (r. 1623-44) on November 18th, 1626.

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St Peter's Basilica

St John the Baptist, Christ & St Andrew

Christ the Redeemer Flanked by St John the Baptist & St Andrew