Synopsis:

Pope Julius II (1503-1513) had a really ambitious idea for the Old Basilica that was built by the Roman Emperor Constantine over the tomb of the Apostle Peter at Mons Vaticanus in Rome. He wanted to demolish the ancient building and construct an entirely new structure designed by the architect, Donato Bramante. The Pope apparently didn’t care about the importance the Old Basilica had for Christians or the fact that it contained nearly ten centuries of tombs, artifacts, and great works of art that provoked a lot of powerful memories. Demolition began almost immediately after Bramante produced his plan. However, neither Pope Julius II nor Bramante ever saw the completed building that was finished nearly a hundred years after work began and was completely altered in concept and design by several architects, including Michelangelo and Gianlorenzo Bernini.

The building today is a massive monument not only to the Apostle Peter but it is also a jaw-dropping, gargantuan structure that is larger, probably, than any other religious structure in the world. How did this happen and why? My presentation will attempt to answer these questions through a video introduction prepared by the Vatican that summarizes the history of the Old and New Basilica followed by a talk

and discussion of how a succession of architects grappled with the forms and meaning of the final design to produce a memorial not only to the Apostle Peter but also to the popes who consider themselves the successors of the Saint.

Presenter: John Hunter is a retired PhD art historian living in Oaxaca with his husband, Dr. Harold Kooden. Formerly an associate dean and professor at

Cleveland State University, John taught Italian Renaissance art history from 1982 to 2003. With his husband, they organized a Sunday Salon of friends in New York City to discuss the contentious issues of race, racism, and white privilege. This Salon now continues to this day discussing issues of aging via Zoom with a dedicated group of people—black, white, gay, non-gay, female and male. As of 2024, they have organized a similar salon on aging in Oaxaca for gay men. John is also a self-published writer of eight novels about black families and race, and a visual artist whose one-man exhibition took place in 2024 at the Godwin- Ternbach Museum of Queens College, City University of New York, and now in 2025-26 at Wayne State University in

Detroit. He is also co-chair with John Dumser of the Task Force planning the OLL 60th Anniversary Celebration.