Embracing the Piazza San Pietro (St. Peter’s Square) are two oval shaped colonnades with nearly 300 Tuscan order columns each with an Ionic frieze on top. Standing tall along the balusters, which peak at 64 feet, are 140 statues of saints and martyrs. It took Lazzaro Morelli over a decade to carve half of the 96 original sculptures. Shown here are the male saints lining the south colonnade. This grand architectural ensemble was commissioned by Pope Alexander VII. The Baroque style was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Construction started in 1656 and was finished in 1667.
