PONTELLI, Baccio

Built between 1475 and 1483, in the time of Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere, the Sistine Chapel has originally served as Palatine Chapel. The Chapel is rectangular in shape and measures 40,93 meters long by 13,41 meters wide, i.e. the exact dimensions of the Temple of Solomon, as given in the Old Testament.

The architectural plans were made by Baccio Pontelli and the construction was supervised by Giovanino de’Dolci.

San Pietro in Vincoli was first rebuilt on older foundations in 432-440 to house the relic of the chains that bound Saint Peter when he was imprisoned in Jerusalem.

The basilica, consecrated in 439 by Sixtus III, has undergone several restorations. With the election of Francesco della Rovere as Pope Sixtus IV in 1471, Giuliano della Rovere (later Pope Julius II), the nephew of the pope, became titular Cardinal of San Pietro in Vincoli. He undertook the restoration and embellishment of the church, he financed the renewal of the interior and a new portico designed by Baccio Pontelli.

The photo shows the portico.

The history of the papacy and of the city of Rome - during Francesco della Rovere’s reign as Sixtus IVV (1471-84) is one of expanding power, expressed in increasingly monumental artistic commissions. One of his first projects as pope was the complete rebuilding of the church of Santa Maria del Popolo. The architect was the Florentine-trained Baccio Pontelli. For the fa�ade Pontelli echoed the recently completed fa�ade of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, although in this case using travertine rather than the typically Florentine geometric marble revetment. The temple form of the upper story is echoed in the pediments of the doors The lower part of the facad extends the width of the building.

Pontelli also designed a grand interior space, now transformed by later remodeling.