Bernini's Baldachin restored

(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 8 - The famed Baldachin of St Peter's, the magnificent Baroque masterpiece by Gian Lorenzo Bernini that rises above the high altar in the Roman Basilica, has been restored and the wraps will come off on October 27, the cathedral's Cardinal Archpriest Mauro Gambetti announced Tuesday.
    The restoration has restored the contrasts between the dark base and the gold that is shining in all its past gory, Gambetti told the Vatican press corps.
    "It is a memorable, extraordinary restoration work," he said, explaining that the date of October 27, chosen for the official inauguration, is "highly symbolic." It is in fact the World Day of Prayer for Peace that Saint John Paul II launched in Assisi in 1986, and it is also the Sunday on which the closing mass of the Synod will be celebrated this year.
    "Pope Francis came to see how the work was progressing and he appreciated it very much", said Gambetti, underlining that the restored Baldachin "demonstrates the beauty that the Church should reflect".
    A work, together with the restoration of the ancient Chair (which will be exhibited from 27 October to 8 December in the same basilica) and the glass that protects Michelangelo's Pietà, "that leads us towards the Jubilee of hope (next year).
    "And we need hope in this world".
    The Baldachin is at the center of the basilica's central crossing, and directly under the dome of the basilica, and was intended to mark the location of Saint Peter's tomb in the vaults underneath.
    Commissioned by Pope Urban VIII, Bernini's work began in 1623 and ended in 1634.
    It is by far the most imposing structure in St Peter's. (ANSA).