When the statue of St. Peter is dressed as the pope

This explains why its toes are worn down­–and why pilgrims can now only pray before it from a distance. Maybe the distance also intends to keep the statue from going through an episode similar to that of March 12, 2003, when the left hand of the statue (the one holding the keys) mysteriously disappeared. The work was immediately restored.

Tradition claims this is one of the very few late-medieval bronze statues preserved to this day. It has been widely attributed to the Florentine architect and sculptor Arnolfo di Cambio, who would have finished it at the end of the 13th century. However, since sculptors began signing their works relatively late during the Renaissance, some historians speculate this sculpture is an ancient Roman statue of Jupiter, slightly altered to make it look like the Apostle.

Another theory claims Pope Saint Leo the Great commissioned a statue of Saint Peter, made with the cast bronze of an ancient Jupiter statue, to thank the Apostle for saving Rome from Attila the Hun.

Make sure to visit the slideshow below for a virtual tour of Saint Peter’s Basilica.