The Chair of Saint Peter

At the far end of Saint Peter’s Basilica, framed by Bernini’s great canopy over the high altar, rises the Altar of the Chair. It was built between 1657 and 1666. A throne of gilded bronze seems to float in the air, held lightly by four giant statues of Doctors of the Church. Two are from the West, Saint Ambrose and Saint Augustine, and two from the East, Saint Athanasius and Saint John Chrysostom. Above it, amid clouds and angels, the dove of the Holy Spirit shines in an alabaster window.

Enclosed within the bronze throne is a wooden chair decorated with ivory, long venerated as the chair of Saint Peter. Studies of it, most thoroughly in 1968, showed that it is mostly a ninth-century throne, probably given to Pope John VIII by the Emperor Charles the Bald in 875. It may incorporate older wood.

Whatever its date, the Chair stands for what the Church celebrates on the feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, 22 February: the teaching office Christ entrusted to Peter and his successors. “Thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18). A bishop’s chair is his cathedra, the sign of his office as teacher. Bernini made the Chair of Peter the climax of the whole basilica, built over Peter’s tomb.

Where

Altar of the Chair, Saint Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City

When to see it

Bernini’s monument is visible every day at the far end of the basilica. The wooden chair inside it is rarely shown.

Map

Find it on OpenStreetMap

Read about

Saint Peter