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The relics

The main relics of the Basilica are in the transept. The papal altar in the centre houses the wooden altar on which, according to tradition, Saint Peter himself celebrated. Pope Urban V commissioned Giovanni di Stefano in 1368 to make the Cyborium that emphasises his presence: in it, at the top, there are reliquaries with the heads of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. The twelve paintings surrounding the Cyborium are the fifteenth-century work of Antoniazzo Romano and his school.

Above the altar of the Sacrament, at the left of the transept, there is a panel traditionally held to be part of the table of the last supper of Jesus.

The transept was fully renovated during the pontificate of Clement VIII, on the occasion of the 1600 Jubilee, who gave it its Mannerist appearance. Giacomo della Porta directed the architectural renovation, while the Cavalier d’Arpino oversaw the decoration with collaborators, depicting the stories of Constantine.

 

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