A Guide to
​St Peter's Basilica

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Monument to
​Queen Christina of Sweden

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Monument to Queen Christina of Sweden

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Monument to Queen Christina of Sweden (1691-1702) by Carlo Fontana

The monument to Queen Christina of Sweden was commissioned by Pope Innocent XII (r. 1691-1700) and designed by the architect Carlo Fontana (1638-1714).

Queen Christina (1626-89) is one of only three women to be honoured with a monument in the basilica. Christina ruled Sweden, a Protestant country, until her conversion to Catholicism obliged her to give up the throne. Shortly after her abdication, in 1654, Queen Christina (she had been given the right to keep her royal title) moved to Rome, where she shocked society with her eccentric and unconventional behaviour. 
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Queen Christina is depicted in a bronze medallion, the work of Giovanni Giardini. Lorenzo Ottoni executed the two putti, while the French sculptor Jean-Baptiste Théodon carved the marble bas-relief, which depicts the queen relinquishing her throne.  

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