Chair of Saint Peter - wikipedia Chair of Saint Peter For the personal ordinariate of the Catholic Church, see Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter. Chair of Saint Peter Latin : Cathedra Petri Artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini Year 1647 -- 53 ( 1647 -- 53 ) Catalogue 61 Type Sculpture Medium Gilt bronze 45m cm ( ? ? ) Location St. Peter 's Basilica, Vatican City Coordinates Coordinates : 41 ° 54 ′ 8 '' N 12 ° 27 ′ 12 '' E ﻿ / ﻿ 41.90222 ° N 12.45333 ° E ﻿ / 41.90222 ; 12.45333 The Pope 's throne in St. Peter 's Basilica, Vatican City, last publicly exposed in 1867. ( From Wood Carvings in English Churches, 1910 ) The Chair of Saint Peter ( Latin : Cathedra Petri ), also known as the Throne of Saint Peter, is a relic conserved in St. Peter 's Basilica in Vatican City, the sovereign enclave of the Pope inside Rome, Italy. The relic is a wooden throne that tradition claims the Apostle Saint Peter, the leader of the Early Christians in Rome and first Pope, used as Bishop of Rome. The relic is enclosed in a sculpted gilt bronze casing designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and executed between 1647 and 1653. In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI described the chair as `` a symbol of the special mission of Peter and his Successors to tend Christ 's flock, keeping it united in faith and in charity. '' The wooden throne was a gift from Holy Roman Emperor Charles the Bald to Pope John VIII in 875. It has been studied many times over the years, the last being from 1968 to 1974, when it was last removed from the Bernini altar. That study concluded that it was not a double, but rather a single, chair with a covering and that no part of the chair dated earlier than the sixth century. The Chair is the cathedra of St. Peter 's Basilica. Cathedra is Latin for `` chair '' or `` throne '', and denominates the chair or seat of a bishop, hence `` cathedral '' denominates the Bishop 's church in an episcopal see. The Popes formerly used the Chair. It is distinct from the Papal Cathedra in St. John Lateran Archbasilica, also in Rome, which is the actual cathedral church of the Pope. Contents 1 Description 2 Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter 3 References 4 External links Description The relic itself is described as an oaken chair damaged by cuts and worms. The Chair has metal rings attached to each side, allowing use as a sedia gestatoria. The back and front of the chair are trimmed with carved ivory. This description comes from 1867, when the relic was photographed and displayed for veneration. The reliquary, like many of the medieval period, takes the form of the relic it protects, i.e. the form of a chair. Symbolically, the chair Bernini designed had no earthly counterpart in actual contemporary furnishings. It is formed entirely of scrolling members, enclosing a coved panel where the upholstery pattern is rendered as a low relief of Christ instructing Peter to tend to His sheep. Large angelic figures flank an openwork panel beneath a highly realistic bronze seat cushion, vividly empty : the relic is encased within. The cathedra is lofted on splayed scrolling bars that appear to be effortlessly supported by four over-lifesize bronze Doctors of the Church : Western doctors Saint Ambrose and Saint Augustine of Hippo on the outsides, wearing miters, and Eastern doctors Saint John Chrysostom and Saint Athanasius on the insides, both bare - headed. The cathedra appears to hover over the altar in the basilica 's apse, lit by a central tinted window through which light streams, illuminating the gilded glory of sunrays and sculpted clouds that surrounds the window. Like Bernini 's Ecstasy of Saint Theresa, this is a definitive fusion of the Baroque arts, unifying sculpture and richly polychrome architecture and manipulating effects of light. Above, on the golden background of the frieze, is the Latin inscription : `` O Pastor Ecclesiae, tu omnes Christi pascis agnos et oves '' ( O pastor of the Church, you feed all Christ 's lambs and sheep ). On the right is the same writing in Greek. Behind the altar is placed Bernini 's monument enclosing the wooden chair, both of which are seen as symbolic of the authority of the Bishop of Rome as Vicar of Christ and successor of Saint Peter. Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( February 2018 ) Early martyrologies indicate that two liturgical feasts were celebrated in Rome, centuries before the time of Charles the Bald, in honour of earlier chairs associated with Saint Peter, one of which was kept in the baptismal chapel of St. Peter 's Basilica, the other at the catacomb of Priscilla. The dates of these celebrations were January 18 and February 22. No surviving chair has been identified with either of these chairs. The feasts thus became associated with an abstract understanding of the `` Chair of Peter '', which by synecdoche signifies the episcopal office of the Pope as Bishop of Rome, an office considered to have been first held by Saint Peter, and thus extended to the diocese, the See of Rome. Though both feasts were originally associated with Saint Peter 's stay in Rome, the ninth - century form of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum associated the January 18 feast with his stay in Rome, and the February 22 feast with his stay at Antioch. The two feasts were included in the Tridentine Calendar with the rank of Double, which Pope Clement VIII raised in 1604 to the newly invented rank of Greater Double. In 1960 Pope John XXIII removed from the General Roman Calendar the January 18 feast of the Chair of Peter, along with seven other feast days that were second feasts of a single saint or mystery. The February 22 celebration became a Second - Class Feast. This calendar was incorporated in the 1962 Roman Missal of Pope John XXIII, whose continued use Pope Benedict XVI authorized under the conditions indicated in his motu proprio Summorum Pontificum. Those traditionalist Catholics who do not accept the changes made by Pope John XXIII continue to celebrate both feast days : `` Saint Peter 's Chair at Rome '' on January 18 and the `` Chair of Saint Peter at Antioch '' on February 22. In the new classification introduced in 1969 the February 22 celebration appears in the Roman Calendar with the rank of Feast. References ^ Jump up to : `` Interior of the Basilica ''. Vatican State. Retrieved 20 March 2013. Jump up ^ Akin, Jimmy ( February 20, 2013 ). `` 9 things you need to know about the `` Chair of St. Peter '' ``. National Catholic Register. Retrieved 23 March 2016. ^ Jump up to : `` The Chair of Peter ''. Catholic Exchange. Sophia Institute Press. February 22, 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016. Jump up ^ John 21 : 17 Jump up ^ In late seventeenth - century Venice, Andrea Brustolon constructed a few grandiose armchairs that employ similar sculptural figures doing duty as front legs and armrest supports. Jump up ^ See Gesamtkunstwerk Jump up ^ `` The Tribune : Altar of the Chair of St. Peter ''. Retrieved 14 September 2014. Jump up ^ `` Catholic Encyclopedia : `` Chair of Peter '' ``. Retrieved 14 September 2014. Jump up ^ Variationes in Breviario et Missali Romano ad normam novi Codicis Rubricarum, I -- Variationes in calendario, 8. External links External video Smarthistory : Bernini 's Cathedra Petri ( Chair of St. Peter ) Media related to Cathedra Petri at Wikimedia Commons Altar of the Chair of St. Peter Catholic Encyclopedia : Chair of St. Peter -- article contains photograph of the chair of Charles the Bald Encyclopædia Britannica Online : Gian Lorenzo Bernini Gian Lorenzo Bernini ( works ) Sculpture 1610s The Goat Amalthea with the Infant Jupiter and a Faun Bust of Giovanni Battista Santoni A Faun Teased by Children Boy with a Dragon Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence Saint Sebastian Bust of Pope Paul V Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius Bust of Giovanni Vigevano Damned Soul Blessed Soul Bust of Camilla Barbadoni 1620s Bust of Carlo Antonio del Pozzo Neptune and Triton The Rape of Proserpina Apollo and Daphne Bust of Pope Gregory XV St. Peter 's Baldachin Charity with Four Children David Bust of Alessandro Peretti di Montalto Saint Bibiana Busts of Pope Urban VIII Bust of Monsignor Pedro de Foix Montoya Bust of Cardinal Roberto Bellarmine Bust of Cardinal Giovanni Dolfin Bust of Cardinal Escoubleau de Sourdis Bust of Antonio Cepparelli Bust of Cardinal Melchior Klesl Two Angels in Sant'Agostino Bust of Francesco Barberini Bust of Antonio Barberini Busts of Cardinals Agostino and Pietro Valier Memorial to Carlo Barberini Tomb of Pope Urban VIII Saint Longinus Sleeping Hermaphroditus ( mattress ) 1630s Statue of Carlo Barberini Two Busts of Cardinal Scipione Borghese Tomb of Countess Matilda of Tuscany Pasce Oves Meas Bust of Costanza Bonarelli Busts of Paolo Giordano and Isabella Orsini Statue of Pope Urban VIII Bust of King Charles I Bust of Thomas Baker Medusa 1640s Bust of Cardinal Richilieu Memorial to Alessandro Valtrini Memorial to Ippolito Merenda Memorial to Maria Raggi Truth Unveiled by Time Bust of Pope Leo X Ecstasy of Saint Teresa Raimondi Chapel Noli Me Tangere 1650s Busts of Pope Innocent X Bust of Francesco I d'Este Corpus The Vision of Constantine Daniel and the Lion Habakkuk and the Angel Chair of Saint Peter Saints Jerome and Mary Magdalen 1660s Statue of Alexander VII Busts of Alexander VII Elephant and Obelisk Angel with the Crown of Thorns Angel with the Superscription Bust of Gabriele Fonseca Bust of Louis XIV Equestrian Statue of King Louis XIV 1670s Blessed Ludovica Albertoni Tomb of Pope Alexander VII Statue of Pope Clement X Bust of the Saviour Architecture and fountains St. Peter 's Square Church of Saint Andrew 's at the Quirinal Palazzo Barberini Fountains of St. Peter 's Square Fontana della Barcaccia Fontana del Tritone Fontana delle Api Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi Fontana del Moro Paintings Self - Portrait as a Young Man Portrait of Pope Urban VIII Saint Andrew and Saint Thomas Self - Portrait as a Mature Man Portrait of a Boy Christ Mocked Related List of works by Gian Lorenzo Bernini Pietro Bernini ( father ) Luigi Bernini ( brother ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chair_of_Saint_Peter&oldid=841360113 '' Categories : Christian relics St. Peter 's Basilica Christian religious furniture 1653 works Sculptures of angels Hidden categories : Coordinates on Wikidata Pages using infobox artwork with the material parameter Articles containing Latin - language text All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from March 2016 Articles needing additional references from February 2018 All articles needing additional references Talk Contents About Wikipedia Azərbaycanca Беларуская Čeština Deutsch Español Esperanto Français Bahasa Indonesia Italiano Latina Nederlands Polski Português Română Русский Slovenčina Suomi 8 more Edit links This page was last edited on 15 May 2018, at 11 : 09 ( UTC ). 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Question: what is the name of the chair the pope sits on
Answer: Papal Cathedra