St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City Canvas Print

This design features a painting by the Austrian painter Carl Ludwig Hoffmeister (1790–1843). It depicts a view of the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter, which is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal enclave that is entirely within the city of Rome, Italy. St Peter's Basilica was initially planned in the 15th century by Pope Nicholas V and then Pope Julius II to replace the aging Old St. Peter's Basilica, which was built in the fourth century by Roman emperor Constantine the Great. Construction of the present basilica began on 18 April 1506 and was completed on 18 November 1626. Designed principally by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, St. Peter's is the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture and the largest church in the world in terms of its interior dimensions. While it is neither the mother church of the Catholic Church nor the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome (since these equivalent titles are held by the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome), St. Peter's Basilica is widely regarded as one of the holiest Catholic shrines.