The facade of St. Peter’s Basilica is the work of the architect Carlo Maderno who completed it in 1614.
114.69 meters wide and 48 meters high, it presents an order of Corinthian columns and pilasters on which an imposing cornice with a central tympanum is set, crowned by a balustrade on which thirteen statues (almost 6 meters high) rise with the center the statue of the blessing Redeemer. An inscription on the entablature recalls that the works were carried out under Pope Paul V Borghese (1605-1621).
In the lower order there are the five entrances to the atrium, above which are the nine windows, three of which have a balcony. The central window is the so-called “Loggia delle Benedizioni”, from which the Pope appears to address the greeting message with the apostolic blessing urbi et orbi (to the city and to the world) immediately after his election and on the occasion of the Christmas holidays and Easter.
The restoration, completed in July 1999, allowed the recovery of some coloring or “scialbature” wanted by Maderno, hidden under the patina of the time.
