St. Peter's as the centre of the Catholic Church

The painting by Passignano (1619) shows Michelangelo at the ceremony when the model of St. Peter's, with the dome he designed, was presented to the Pope. With the rebuilding of St. Peters during the Renaissance, the Popes built the largest church in the world as a manifestation of their claim to be "Caput mundi", the head of the world. Michelangelo's frescoes in the Sistine Chapel are also world famous.