I Due Santi: Rome's Most Prominent Saints

One would perhaps expect to find the name Petrus (Peter) emblazoned on the façade of the Basilica di S. Pietro, the edifice built to honour the sacred relics of the first pope and the appointed “rock” of the Church (Matt. 16:18). However, the prominent inscription running across the front of S. Pietro features Paulus (Paul) in a central position instead. It was the proud Borghese pope, Paul V (r. 1605–21), who elected to honour his famous namesake in this special way upon his completion of S. Pietro in 1612, and doubtless this decision to use the apostle Paul's name to promote his own papal name ruffled some ecclesiastical feathers. Peter, after all, was a companion of Jesus and universally regarded as the “prince of the apostles,” whereas Paul was not among the first disciples, and violently persecuted the first Christians. Both history and tradition thus weighed against the pope's decision. Yet Paul V boldly put his own name on the façade of S. Pietro anyway, counting on his great power and influence to win over skeptics. History was not positioned entirely against this pope's plans either. Indeed, the presence of Paulus on Petrus's territory nicely symbolized the connection between the two greatest apostles of the early Church. In later centuries, the bond between Peter and Paul came to be further emphasized at the corners of the steps leading up to S. Pietro. Holding vigil over the Piazza San Pietro and guarding the entrance to the basilica are two grand statues, placed there in 1847. To the right is Paul, looking out toward the piazza and bearing a sword, a scroll, and a scowl; to the left stands Peter, clutching the keys representing the temporal and spiritual power of the bishop of Rome.

The origins of the Christian Church in Rome are bound up with the lives and glorious martyrdoms of these two men. In recognition of that fact, visitors have come to Rome for centuries to commemorate them and walk in their footsteps, and in doing so they have encountered many traces of their memory.