# Interior view [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [ARCHITECT, Italian]() - Date: 1451-1500 - Technique: Photo ## Commentary San Pietro in Vincoli was first rebuilt on older foundations in 432-440 to house the relic of the chains that bound Saint Peter when he was imprisoned in Jerusalem. The basilica, consecrated in 439 by Sixtus III, has undergone several restorations. With the election of Francesco della Rovere as Pope Sixtus IV in 1471, Giuliano della Rovere \(later Pope Julius II\), the nephew of the pope, became titular Cardinal of San Pietro in Vincoli. He undertook the restoration and embellishment of the church, he financed the renewal of the interior and a new portico. The front portico, attributed to Baccio Pontelli, was added in 1475. The cloister \(1493-1503\) has been attributed to Giuliano da Sangallo. Further work was done at the beginning of the 18th century, under Francesco Fontana, and there was also a renovation in 1875. The interior has a nave and two aisles, with three apses divided by antique Doric columns. The aisles are surmounted by cross-vaults, while the nave has an 18th-century coffered ceiling, frescoed in the centre by Giovanni Battista Parodi, <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/p/parodi/giovanni/vincoli1.html'\)" href="/html/p/parodi/giovanni/vincoli1.html">portraying the Miracle of the Chains</a> \(1706\). There are many significant artwork in the church, the most famous being Moses <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/m/michelan/1sculptu/giulio\_2/index.html'\)" href="/html/m/michelan/1sculptu/giulio\_2/index.html">Michelangelo's Moses,</a> originally intended as part of a massive 47-statue, free-standing funeral monument for Pope Julius II. The photo shows the nave of the church. ## Related artworks - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Apse of a basilica]() - [Arsenale Gateway]() - [Arsenale Gateway]() - [Basilica di Sant'Antonio: Chiostro del Noviziato]() - [Basilica Santi Nereo e Achilleo]() - [Ca' Foscari: Façade]() - [Chamber of the millers]() - [Chiesa dell'Incoronata: Interior of the dome]() - [Cloister gallery]() - [Detail of the façade]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()