Who commissioned the Baldacchino?

Who commissioned the Baldacchino?

• A. Urban VIII
• B. Julius II
• C. Leo X
• D. Clement VII

Answer: (A)

Patronage and display in Baroque church architecture are being tested here. The Baldacchino is Bernini’s monumental bronze canopy over the high altar in St. Peter’s Basilica, and it was commissioned by Pope Urban VIII in the 1620s, completed in the 1630s. Urban VIII used this commission to symbolize papal authority and to crown the sacred space of St. Peter’s with dramatic, programmatic sculpture and architecture typical of the Baroque. The work even carries Barberini symbols, tying it directly to his family and his reign. The other popes mentioned come from earlier centuries and are associated with different projects and stylistic periods, not this Baroque canopy.

Patronage and display in Baroque church architecture are being tested here. The Baldacchino is Bernini’s monumental bronze canopy over the high altar in St. Peter’s Basilica, and it was commissioned by Pope Urban VIII in the 1620s, completed in the 1630s. Urban VIII used this commission to symbolize papal authority and to crown the sacred space of St. Peter’s with dramatic, programmatic sculpture and architecture typical of the Baroque. The work even carries Barberini symbols, tying it directly to his family and his reign. The other popes mentioned come from earlier centuries and are associated with different projects and stylistic periods, not this Baroque canopy.