The Basilica of St. Peter in Chains is located in the historic center of Rome, in the Monti district.
It was built in the 5th century by Licinia Eudoxia, wife of Valentinian III and daughter of Theodosius II, Emperor of the East.
Licinia’s mother received as a gift from the Patriarch of Jerusalem the chains that had bound St. Peter during his imprisonment in Jerusalem.
The church was built specifically to adequately house this precious relic. The basilica also owes its name to the chains, which in Latin are translated as vincula.
Interior of the church, with a basilica plan, is divided into three naves, separated by 20 Doric columns of Greek marble.
The church is especially famous for having housed one of the masterpieces of Renaissance art since 1545: Michelangelo’s Moses.
The statue was sculpted in 1512 to adorn the funerary monument of Pope Julius II.
Michelangelo had designed a grandiose architectural and sculptural complex, but had to suspend its construction because the pope was entirely focused on the reconstruction of St. Peter’s Basilica.
The monument was completed only after the death of the pontiff, who is buried in the Vatican. The tomb of St. Peter in Chains is therefore empty.
Work depicts Moses seated with the Tablets of the Commandments he had just received on Mount Sinai. The moment depicted by Michelangelo is when Moses found the Israelites intent on venerating a golden calf, a sign of worshipping other gods.
Moses is depicted full of anger and appears to be about to stand up. This anger is perfectly expressed by the bulging veins and tense muscles that seem to bring the marble sculpture to life.
A curiosity: the horns on Moses’ head are thought to be a result of a mistranslation of the Book of Exodus. It says that, as he descended from Sinai, Moses had two rays of light on his forehead. In Hebrew, rays are translated as karan, while horns are translated as keren.
