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| Court
of the Pigna (
Court of the Pine )
The Court of the Pigna constitutes the northern end of the great
renaissance Belvedere Courtyard that extended from the Papal Palaces to
Innocent VII's "palazzetto" and was subsequently divided into three parts
with the construction of Sixtus V's Library and the Braccio Nuovo of Pius
VII. The present courtyard which takes its name form the enormous
bronze pine cone set into the "nicchone", is bounded on the south
side by the Braccio Nuovo, on the east by the Chiaromonti Gallery, on the
north by Innocent VIII's Palazzetto and on the west by the galleries of
the Apostolic Library. |
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The colossal bronze pine cone was cast in the 1st or 2nd century by Publius
Cincius Salvius who left his name on the base. Prior to being moved to the
Court of the Pigna the jumbo pine cone was
situated in the Campus Martius, in the area that is still called "Pigna",
where it served as a fountain, water gushing from holes in the scales of
the cone. Possibly towards the end of the 8th century it was moved
to the entrance hall of the medieval St. Peter's, in the center of the
fountain covered by and ornate baldachin, identified in Renaissance drawings.
Finally, in 1608, during the construction of the present basilica, the giant
pine cone fountain was
dismantled and placed where it is today.
I do not
know anything about the giant golden orb found in the center of the Court of the
Pigna. I would guess that it is
a more modern work, possibly from the 20th century. In the photo
in the lower left the cupola of St. Peter's basilica is visible in the
background.
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Credit
for the Information in this tour:
Papafava,
Francesco. Ed. Guide to the Vatican Museums and City.
Vatican City: Tipografia Vaticana., 1986
Also, I have
included information from the exhibits at the Vatican
Museum and notes from the lecture of Professor B. Nucci
(University of Maryland University College - European
Division)
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