Dome

Right side door, closed, fragment of figure recalling angels (archangel); In 1541, a Sicilian priest, Antonio del Duca (brother of the architect Giacomo del Duca), had a vision of angels in the ruins of the Baths of Diocletian. As a result, Pope Pius IV (1559-1565) ordered that a church be built within the Baths. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, to the angels, and to the Christian slaves who died building the baths. The bronze doors allude to these angels and martyrs. In 2006, Polish-born sculptor Igor Mitoraj created the new bronze doors as well as a statue of John the Baptist for the basilica. Mitoraj's sculptural style is rooted in the classical tradition. However, Mitoraj introduces a post-modern twist with ostentatiously truncated limbs, emphasizing the damage sustained by most genuine classical sculptures. Source: Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page (accessed 7/29/2012)