A Guide to
​St Peter's Basilica

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Monument to Pope Leo XI

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Monument to Pope Leo XI

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Monument to Pope Leo XI (1633-44) by Alessandro Algardi
​(Alessandro Ottaviano de' Medici, Florence, b.1535/r.1605)
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Pope Leo XI, who only reigned for 27 days, was born Alessandro Ottaviano de' Medici, a member of the famous Florentine family and the great-nephew of Pope Leo X (r. 1513-21).  The brevity of his reign earned him the nickname 'il papa lampante' ('the lightning pope'). Pop

The monument, which stands in the third bay of the left aisle, was commissioned by the pope's great-nephew, Cardinal Roberto Ubaldini, and designed by Alessandro Algardi (1595-1654), a sculptor from Bologna who spent most of his working life in Rome.

Bas-relief

The two allegorical figures represent Magnanimity and Liberality, the work, respectively, of Ercole Ferrata and Giuseppe Peroni. The bas-relief depicts King Henry IV repudiating Protestantism in order to inherit the French throne; Pope Leo XI had been the cardinal legate to France when this happened. 

Coat of Arms of Pope Leo XI

Above the niche, a pair of angels support Pope Leo XI's coat of arms, as they attempt to fix it to the cornice.

​The bunch of roses at the base of the monument with the motto SIC FLORVI was the personal device of Pope Leo XI. ​

The Personal Device of Pope Leo XI

The epitaph reads: D. O. M. / LEONI XI MEDICI FLORENΤΙΝΟ PONT OPT MAX / QVI AD SVMMAM ECCLESIA DEI FOELICITATEM / OSTENSVS MAGIS QVAM DATVS / CHRISTIANVM ORBEM BREVI XXVII DIERVM LÆTITIA / ET LONGO ANNORVM MOERORE COMPLEVIT / ROBERTVS CARDINALIS VBALDINVS EX SORORE / PRONEPOS GRATI AΝΙΜΙ ΜΟNVMENTVM P / OBIIT AN AETATIS SVA LXIX QVINTO KAL MAII / M. D. C. V. (To God, the best and greatest. To Leo XI
Medici, Florentine, Best and Supreme Pontiff, who for the highest happiness of the Church of God, having demonstrated more than having been given, filled the Christian world with a brief joy lasting 27 days and with a long plan of years. Robert Ubaldino, great-grandnephew from his sister, placed this monument with grateful affection. He died at the age of 69,
on the fifth day before the Kalends of May, 1605). 

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