Who sculpted the baldachin in St. Peter's Basilica?

Who sculpted the baldachin in St. Peter’s Basilica? Gian Lorenzo Bernini designed and led its creation.

St. Peter’s Baldachin is a monumental bronze canopy over the high altar in St. Peter’s Basilica, directly beneath the basilica’s dome. Pope Urban VIII commissioned it, and work began in 1623 before completion in 1634. Its purpose was to mark the traditional location of Saint Peter’s tomb while giving the altar a dramatic visual focus.

Bernini combined sculpture and architecture in a distinctly Baroque design. Four enormous twisted, or Solomonic, columns rise from marble plinths and support a curving canopy topped by angels, a cross, and a globe. The structure is about 28.7 metres high, allowing it to mediate between the vast scale of the church and the people celebrating Mass below.

Bernini was the principal artist, but the project involved assistants and collaborators, including Francesco Borromini, who contributed drawings or design work. That cooperation sometimes causes confusion, especially because Bernini and Borromini later became famous rivals. It does not displace Bernini as the canonical answer to this question.