(8 Oct 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Vatican City, Vatican – 8 October 2024
1. Tilt down of the top of the baldachin covering the main altar in St. Peter’s Basilica
2. Wide of the baldachin covered by the scaffolding needed for the restoration work
3. Mid of two cherubs holding a key and a crown at the top of the baldachin
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press:
"I’m standing here on the top of the Baldacchino of St Peter’s Basilica. This is the canopy that covers the altar, the main altar. Workers have been cleaning it and restoring it for the past several months. It’s the first time in 250 years that it has undergone such a cleaning. It’s due to be reopened to the public at the end of the month. Pope Francis will celebrate a mass here and it will return in all of its splendor. Workers have told us that what has surprised them the most in these months of restoration was to rediscover the gold, the gold plate that covers much of the wood and the copper that will really be able to shine once again. They’ve also told us what they have found here, the remnants of the past works carried out by the ‘sapnpietrini’. These are the workers who care for the basilica. They’ve talked about the nuts and the bit of a sandwich that they found here that might be 200 years old. A shopping list from the 1800s listing bread and tomatoes. Clearly, it fell out of someone’s pocket. Also, the sole of a child’s shoe. This is a possible indication that children were often used to clean this structure because of their agility. It was a trade that was passed down from father to son. And so very often in the inscriptions and the graffiti that you see on some of the pieces of wood, you see the same names repeating themselves, a sign that this was a trade that really went on generation to generation."
5. Inscriptions on the wood at the top of the canopy
6. Scaffolding covering the baldachin in St. Peter’s Basilica
STORYLINE:
Workers have been cleaning and restoring the baldacchino of St Peter’s Basilica, marking the first comprehensive work on the 10-story tall canopy that covers the main altar in 250 years.
The baldacchino, or baldachin, is due to be reopened to the public at the end of the month.
The restoration and conservation project, funded entirely by the Knights of Columbus and using the expertise of Vatican Museums restorers, was estimated to cost 700,000 euros when the project was announced in January.
The baldacchino is considered one of the most complicated multi-material art works of all time, with its marble, bronze, wood, gold, and iron.
It eventually involved numerous other artists and craftsmen, including the master architect of the period, Francesco Borromini.
Workers told The Associated Press that the most surprising finding during the restoration was the rediscovery of gold plate that covers much of the structure’s wood.
They also found remnants of past works carried out by the ‘sapnpietrini’ – the workers who care for the basilica – including remnants of food and a shopping list thought to have been left some 200 years ago.
AP video shot by Silvia Stellacci
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