--- description: Color and black and white photos, most of which never ran in LIFE, from a 1950 story, "The Search for the Bones of St. Peter." title: The Vatican: Photos Reveal What's Beneath St. Peter's image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc2b0d0e75c39337d/69877ca1cd1bba73796f4f24/150129-vatican-20.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [photography](/tag/photography/) ## photography Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # LIFE at the Vatican: Unearthing History Beneath St. Peter's by [Ben Cosgrove](/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 1, 2013 6:11 PM CUT  Classic sculpture adorns the Marci sarcophagus of Q. Marcius Hermes and his wife. Classic sculpture adorns the Marci sarcophagus of Q. Marcius Hermes and his wife.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 1, 2013 6:11 PM CUT The walled, pint-sized city-state known as [the Vatican](http://www.vatican.va/ "undefined") physically takes up around 100 acres in the center of Rome, but occupies a vast, measureless space in the lives of more than a billion practicing Catholics around the globe. Over the past few years, of course, the goings on in the holy enclave have also grabbed a lot of real estate in the world’s media, as Pope Benedict XVI — the 265th successor of Saint Peter — abruptly resigned as head of the faith and [Pope Francis](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/14/world/europe/pope-with-the-humble-touch-is-firm-in-reshaping-the-vatican.html "undefined") was installed. Here, as the most recent pope continues to puts his personal stamp on the ancient role — and appears willing to make the entire Vatican more open to the faithful — LIFE.com looks back more than six decades to a time when the church was actively unearthing its own secrets . . . literally. In 1950, LIFE reported on a years-long effort undertaken beneath the staggeringly ornate public realms of the Vatican, as teams of workers meticulously excavated the myriad tombs and other long-sealed, centuries-old chambers far underground. Nat Farbman’s color and black and white images in this gallery — most of which never ran in LIFE — were touted on the cover of the March 27, 1950, issue of the magazine as “exclusive pictures” for the story titled “The Search for the Bones of St. Peter.” --- > “” --- In the end, LIFE’s editors expressed their appreciation for “the privilege of guiding LIFE’s readers through these chambers where in the dust of antiquity can be traced the humble yet transcendent beginnings of the Christian faith.” [**\[MORE: Buy the LIFE book,** **_Pope Francis: The Vicar of Christ, From Saint Peter to Today_** **.\]**](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1618930990/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1618930990&linkId=0bea936e7191f40ee07b19ee4820eb57 "undefined") **NOTE:** In December 1950 Pope Pius XII announced that bones discovered during the excavation could not conclusively be said to be Peter’s. Two decades later, in 1968, Pope Paul VI announced that other bones unearthed beneath the basilica — discovered in a marble-lined repository, covered with a gold and purple cloth and belonging to a man around 5′ 6″ tall who had likely died between the ages of 65 and 70 — were, in the judgment of “the talented and prudent people” in charge of the dig, indeed St. Peter’s. To this day, of course, that claim has as many doubters as adherents. _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter at_ [_@LizabethRonk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk "undefined")_._  In a clutter of bones and artifacts the foreman of a team of Vatican workmen examines an ancient archway, St. Peter's, Rome, 1950. Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  The interior of St. Peter's basilica, with markers indicating the location of the excavation beneath the floor, 1950. Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  The tomb of the Caetennii (17 x 18 feet) was one of the richest and most lavishly decorated of all those excavated beneath St. Peter's. Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Tomb of the Egizio featuring elaborate sarcophagi sculpted with scenes of Bacchic rites. While most of the findings here were purely pagan, there were also Christian designs -- for example, of a palm leaf and a dove. Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scene during the excavation beneath St. Peter's in Rome, 1950. Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  The hunt of the Amazons is portrayed on a polychrome mosaic decorating the facade of the tomb of the Marci. Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scene during the excavation beneath St. Peter's in Rome, 1950. Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A workman cleans an inscription during the excavation beneath St. Peter's in Rome, 1950. Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Pope Pius XI, whose desire to be buried below St. Peter's nave led to the historic excavations, lies in his stone sarcophagus in renovated upper grottoes. Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  The oldest burial chamber found during the excavation beneath St. Peter's in Rome, 1950. Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scene during the excavation beneath St. Peter's in Rome, 1950. Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Workmen examining underneath the floor of Basilico. Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Workers gauge damage from water seepage during the excavation beneath St. Peter's in Rome, 1950. Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gauging damage from water seepage during the excavation beneath St. Peter's in Rome, 1950. Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  The oldest burial chamber found during the excavation beneath St. Peter's in Rome, 1950. Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A double row of burial chambers beneath St. Peter's, 1950. Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Inscription revealed during the excavation beneath St. Peter's in Rome, 1950. Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  An early Christian mosaic, possibly the earliest known, decorates the ceiling and walls of a mausoleum close to area where St. Peter is supposed to have been buried, Rome, 1950. Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Rich polychrome stucco work in the southwest corner of the Tomb of the Caetennii shows how resplendently it was decorated. Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Classic sculpture adorns the Marci sarcophagus of Q. Marcius Hermes and his wife. Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scene during the excavation beneath St. Peter's in Rome, 1950. Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Foreman of work crew, photographed during the excavation beneath St. Peter's in Rome, 1950. Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  The tomb of Pope Boniface VIII, beneath the Vatican, photographed in 1950. Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scene during the excavation beneath St. Peter's in Rome, 1950. Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3688165/life-at-the-vatican-unearthing-history-beneath-st-peters/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3688165/life-at-the-vatican-unearthing-history-beneath-st-peters/"},"headline":"LIFE at the Vatican: Unearthing History Beneath St. Peter's","datePublished":"2013-03-01T18:11:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:05:57.806Z","description":"Color and black and white images — most of which never ran in LIFE magazine — shot by Nat Farbman for a March 1950 feature titled \"The Search for the Bones of St. Peter.\"","url":"https://time.com/3688165/life-at-the-vatican-unearthing-history-beneath-st-peters/","keywords":["photography","Religion","Vatican","LIFE Magazine"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc2b0d0e75c39337d/69877ca1cd1bba73796f4f24/150129-vatican-20.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ben Cosgrove","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc2b0d0e75c39337d/69877ca1cd1bba73796f4f24/150129-vatican-20.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Vatican 1950","caption":"Classic sculpture adorns the Marci sarcophagus of Q. 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