Luigi Vanvitelli architetto della Fabbrica di San Pietro in Vaticano per il Giubileo del 1750: opere e documenti

The work carried out by Luigi Vanvitelli (1700-1773) as architect of the Fabbrica di San Pietro between 1736 and 1773 has yet to be fully explored, especially with regard to the secondary aspects relating to the ordinary and extraordinary maintenance of the Vatican Basilica. In addition to the consolidation of the main dome of St. Peter's Basilica (1743-1748), various other works were carried out in preparation for the Jubilee Year of 1750. Vanvitelli joined the Fabbrica in 1724 and is documented in 1726 as assistant to the then chief architect Antonio Valeri (1648-1736). In November 1736, he was appointed architect in charge of reviewing measurements and finally, on 1 January 1754, he took on the role of chief architect, which he held until his death. For the Jubilee of 1750, various works were carried out in St. Peter's Basilica on the orders of Pope Benedict XIV Lambertini, but Vanvitelli's authorship of these works has not always been emphasised. These were important works to improve, restore and embellish the Basilica: from the transfer of Michelangelo's Pietà (1749), to the new decorations for the tribunes of St. Peter's (1750), from the ‘luminaria’ of the Basilica and St. Peter's Square for the opening ceremony of the Holy Year 1750, to the restoration and new lighting of the Vatican Grottoes (1750), as well as various ordinary and extraordinary maintenance works carried out by Vanvitelli in collaboration with Carlo Marchionni and with the most skilled craftsmen in force at the Fabbrica of St. Peter. New documentary acquisitions from the General Historical Archives of the Fabbrica of St. Peter, some of which are unpublished, shed light on these interventions, which we intend to report here, highlighting previously unknown aspects of Vanvitelli's Jubilee works, both from a technical-operational point of view and from an artistic, ceremonial and representative point of view.