A Guide to
​St Peter's Basilica

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Monument to Pope Innocent XI

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Funerary Monument to Pope Innocent XI

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Monument to Pope Innocent XI (1697-1701) by Pierre-Etienne Monnot
​(Benedetto Odescalchi, Como, b.1611/r.1676-89)
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The monument to Pope Innocent XI is by the French sculptor Pierre-Etienne Monnot (1657-1733). The pope is flanked by allegorical statues of Religion and Fortitude. The bas-relief depicts the Raising of the Siege of Vienna in 1683. The two seated bronze lions, at the base of the monument, allude to the coat of arms of the Odescalchi family, to which the pope belonged. 

Pope Innocent XI

Innocent XI is regarded as one of the outstanding popes of the 17th century, a man of high moral character. He refused, for example, to indulge in a common papal practise, that of nepotism. 

Innocent XI was beatified by Pope Pius XII (r. 1939-58) on October 7th 1956.

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