Bramante, Miguel Ángel, Maderno y Bernini, 1506-1626
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Renaissance ·
chronological order 5
The largest church in Christendom, built in relays by the best of each
generation. Bramante drew the centralised Greek-cross plan (1506);
Michelangelo took over in 1546 and designed the dome that dominates the
city, completed by Della Porta after his death. Maderno stretched the plan
into a Latin cross and built the façade (1607-1626). Bernini closed the
whole thing off with the Baroque colonnade on the square, by then in
another era. Commissioned by Julius II on top of the 4th-century
Constantinian basilica.
