This is a view of the western end of the nave looking towards the altar in the apse. At the top of the picture the base of Michaelangelo's imposing dome is visible as is the beginning of the inscription in blue mosaic letters six feet high 'Tu es Petrus et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam et tibi dabo claves regni caelorum.' (You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and to you I give the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven.) Below the inscription and above the logge are four colossal mosaics of the Evangelists set in circular surrounds. On the top right St. John is depicted with the traditional eagle and on the left St. Matthew is visible. The lower niches are occupied by statues sixteen feet high. Below the mosaic of St. John is the statue of St. Helena, the mother of Constantine, holding a cross: she traditionally brought fragments of the true cross back to Rome from the Holy Land. On the right below the mosaic of St. Matthew is the statue of St. Veronica depicted with the cloth she reputedly wiped Christ's face with as he carried the cross. Gigante has chosen not to depict the high altar and Bernini's baldacchino which rises above it, both of which stand directly underneath the dome.
Giacinto Gigante was one of the founding figures of the Posilippo School.