Supreme Knight visits the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls
March 25, 2006

During his visit to Rome for the Consistory, Supreme Knight, Prof. Carl A. Anderson, met with Andrea Cardinal Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, Archpriest of the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls. For the occasion, Prof. Anderson presented His Eminence with a contribution from the Order for the restoration of the wood model of the Basilica created by Serafino Colagiacomi in 1844.
The model represents Luigi Proietti’s project for the reconstruction of the Saint Paul complex including the Basilica, the four-sided portico, built at the end of the 19th century by Guglielmo Calderoni, and the octagonal baptistery, which was never realized.

The model is made up of four different types of wood: oak for the base frame junctions, poplar and larch for the architectonic structures and cherry for the lathed and modeled elements. The purpose of the model was to summarize in a spectacular representation the entire complex, what had already been built, along with what was to be discussed, including details of the inside of the Basilica; such as, the new baldachin, the ceiling of the nave and the reproduction of the ancient series of the round Papal portraits.