# Statue of St Peter on the Column of Trajan [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [PORTA, Tomaso della]() - Date: 1551-1600 - Technique: Bronze, height 400 cm ## Commentary As part of the extensive rebuilding of Rome, Pope Sixtus V capped the Trajan's Column with a large bronze statue of St Peter in 1587. Recognizing the incongruity of a monument to the Church's oppressor at the heart of Christendom, topped the Trajan's Column with a statue of St Peter sculpted by Leonardo Sormani and Tommaso della Porta. The artists for the statue were part of a stable of artists and architects whom Sixtus used for his numerous projects. Essentially as house artists, they worked well together and understood their patron's wishes. Although working on different projects, they belonged essentially to a large workshop directed by Sixtus's master architect, Domenico Fontana, and controlled by the pope. From 1585 Tomaso della Porta collaborated with Leonardo Sormani on a model for the bronze figure of St Peter placed on top of Trajan's Column in 1587 \(cast by Bastiano Torrigiani\). ## Related artworks - [Balaam]() - [Statue of St Paul on the Column of Marcus Aurelius]() - [Statue of St Paul on the Column of Marcus Aurelius]() - [Statue of St Peter on the Column of Trajan]() - [Statue of St Peter on the Column of Trajan]() - [Tomb of Cardinal Niccolò Caetani di Sermoneta]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()