A Guide to
​St Peter's Basilica

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Monument to Pope Alexander VII

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Monument to Pope Alexander VII

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Monument to Pope Alexander VII (1671-78) by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
(Fabio Chigi, Siena, b.1599/r.1655-67)

The monument to Pope Alexander VII, which was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680), is situated above a door which is cleverly incorporated into the overall design. This was the first monument in the basilica to use such a conceit.

Pope Alexander VII by Michele Maglia

Pope Alexander VII, the work of Michele Maglia, is depicted kneeling in prayer, his papal tiara at his side. Beneath him a gilded skeleton, its head hidden by the drapery, holds aloft an hourglass. The door is flanked by allegorical statues of Charity (by Giuseppe Mazzuoli) and Truth (by Lazzaro Morelli & Giulio Cartari). Truth places her foot on a globe, her toe on England, which the pope had hoped to bring back into the fold of the Catholic Church. The figures in the background represent Prudence (by Giulio Cartari) and Justice (by L. Balestri).  

A Skeleton Holds Aloft an Hourglass

The realisation of the drapery is a tour-de-force example of the art of marble veneering. The drapery might look as if it was carved from solid marble, but it is, in fact, only made up of thin veneers of marble attached to a core of travertine. It is the work of Gabriele Renzi. 

Pope Alexander VII kept a coffin in his bedroom and a skull on his writing table to remind him of his own mortality.  ​

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